Take heart

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Psalm 101; Matthew 9:18-26

"Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well."
(Matthew 9:22)

[We arrived home yesterday, with our luggage. We had a great time in Massachusetts. The first few days were with my family, first on Cape Cod at my parents, then in Acton at my brother John's for a family gathering which was capped off by the Patriots' exciting win over the Giants to be the first team ever to go 16-0 in the regular season. We watched it in HD which my brother gets over the air with a special antenna (he does not have cable or satellite) - it was amazing. Then we dropped the boys and Monica off at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston while Brooke and I drove over to Logan to find our luggage (yes, this was Sunday afternoon after arriving on Thursday night). From there we drove to Andover for a few days with Brooke's family including spending the nights with her 92 year old "Aunt" Gini Andrews in Ipswich (Ipswich claims to have more houses built in the 1600's than any other town in America). Gini spent five years serving the Lord at L'Abri in Switzerland, with Francis Schaeffer and Os Guinness, and is the reason that Brooke and her brother came to Christ. Brooke's brother Roger has five children all around our boys' ages and they love hanging out together. It was great to be with family. If you're reading this, I miss you.]

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I have to say that I've been sporadic this past week in my Bible reading, missed several days. In reading today's passage, and reading over chapters 8 & 9, I was struck by how often in these 10 miracle accounts, these signs demonstrating his authority (cf. 7:29; 8:27), Matthew refers to faith as the trigger or connector that brought about salvation and wholeness, or it's absence causing fear.

It's specifically referenced in about every other story:
the centurion (for his slave),
the calming of the storm ("O you of little faith"),
the paralytic (Jesus saw the faith of those who brought this man to him),
the woman with the issue of blood, and
the 2 blind men (tomorrow's reading).

The healing stories where faith is not mentioned are:
the leper ("If you will, you can make me clean"),
Peter's mother-in-law and the multitudes oppressed by demons,
the 2 demonized men living among the tombs,
the dead girl,
a man unable to speak (caused by a demon - 9:32f).

This is worth more in-depth consideration than I will give it here, but let me make a few observations:

(1) While faith is very important and moves Jesus on a number of occasions, there is not one pattern to follow to get healed or relieve your life of pain (ie. if you have enough faith...).

(2) in four of them other people are central to the healing: the faith of others twice is a determining factor, in a third people brought to Jesus many who were oppressed by demons and he cast out the spirits with a word, and in a fourth a father kneels before him expressing his faith that if Jesus would lay his hand of her she will live.

(3) three of them record Jesus casting our demons (with no mention of faith). In two of these people are brought to Jesus (the "many" of 8:16, and the mute of 9:32). In the other Jesus encounters the two demonized men (it does say they met him, but then they cried out "what have you to do with us, O Son of God?"). In all of these it seems people struggling with significant demonic influence don't come on their own to Jesus to be delivered, at least not while "under the influence."

(4) In summary, we hear of all of the following factors in healing / wholeness / salvation:
- faith of the sick person, or of people seeking Jesus on that person's behalf
- the will of Jesus ("if you will, you can make me clean")
- the compassion of Jesus (touching the unclean, affirming outcasts, etc.)
- the power of Jesus (to cast out demons, to still wind and waves, over death itself)
- the priority of forgiveness over physical healing, but also its connectedness (9:1-8)

I'll reflect a little bit more on this over the next couple of days, but for today let us be faithful to seek Jesus' healing word or touch for those we know who are hurting, and let us take heart, fear not, and trust in him and his compassion, his power, his will, his timing, and his forgiveness.