Post-feast of the Dormition; the Holy Martyr Myron (249-51).
2 Corinthians 7:1-10; Mark 1:29-35.
Read Mark 1:29-35
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
One of the most well-known aspects of Jesus’ earthly ministry was the healing of the sick. The passage we reading today’s Gospel, “…they brought to him all who were sick…and He healed many who were sick with various diseases” has parallels both in other evangelical accounts of Jesus’s ministry (see for example Matthew 4:23-24 and 15:29-31), and also in the description of the apostolic ministry (see Acts 3:1-5 and Acts 5-12-16).
In fact, Jesus points to His work of healing one of the signs that He is fulfilling the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised…” (Matthew 11:4).
Think about what it meant to be sick for a long period of time, or even permanently disabled in the 1st century – it could mean the inability to provide for oneself and ones family, which could lead to poverty and exclusion from society.
To be miraculously healed restored an unhoped for hope to those healed and drew large crowds of people after Jesus and the Apostles – who brought their sick and placed then at the feet of Jesus. This was a powerful confession of their need and their realization that Jesus could in fact help them. Yet, the physical healings – and the restoration of an earthly hope that they brought were not the point of Jesus’ ministry. Everyone he healed eventually died.
Rather, The Lord wanted to bring physical comfort and a restored hope to people in order to dispose them to hear of the deeper healing He wanted them to receive; the healing that we all need. Jesus wanted them, and us, to embrace a healing of the heart that lasts forever; not just a healing of our body that only lasts till the grave.
True healing always starts with the dawning realization that we need healing. Whereas physical pain is a powerful indication that we need physical healing, all too often we are oblivious to the indicators of the spiritual illnesses that are the real threat our lives. We use all kinds of “medications” – distraction, entertainment, consumerism, etc – to keep ourselves numb to spiritual illness. But, like the crowds, if we realize our need, we begin to search for someone who can help us. That search requires the humility to be placed at Jesus’ feet, a place of confession and dependence.
As we reflect on the Gospel today, let us ask ourselves: are we humble enough to stay at Jesus’ feet for and ask for a healing that goes deeper than the alleviation of physical pain and actually bring life to the soul?