Psalm 29, Mark 10:46-52

Introduction

My friends, one of the major challenges that we face in life is illness. Illness, together with sadness and loneliness, are real and close reminders of our mortality. And often, too often, sickness and loneliness and sadness come with pain, pain of body and soul, that is hard to bear.

In addition there is the uncertainty. Will I ever be whole again. Will I ever be able to travel again? Will I ever be fit enough to do this or that again?

Now, let us not forget what we may justly call the miracle of modern medical science. How many of us are being kept alive by medical guidance and medicines that our parents had no access to.

Indeed when we hear of miracles in the Bible and in the ancient world in general, let us not forget that they were the exception rather than the rule. Even if 0.1% of people were cured by a miracle, that still leaves 99.9% of people who were not cured.

The whole matter of health and healing is elusive and complicated. On the one hand, we have wonderful medical help available to us. At the same time we face the terrible epidemic of cancers and AIDS and of other illnesses where there is no cure yet.

And then there is the social inequality between rich and poor. In our country, for instance, the indigenous people have a life expectancy that is 20 years less than ours.

It is understandable if we would look for a great miracle worker who could wave his or her magic wand and cure my disease and the diseases of the world.

But that is not part of our experience. We hear of miracles here and there. We know of people who travel to the Philippines and to India and to Mexico for miracle cures. But we in the West, we, the children of the enlightenment, remain somewhat suspicious at that point. What we can't feel and see, what we can't satisfactorily explain to ourselves, we remain cautious about.

Jesus the healer

As far as our faith in Christ is concerned, the fact is, and there is a wide consensus amongst scholars at this point, that Jesus was a healer. Jesus performed miracles of healing. He healed people like Simon Peter's mother in law (Mk 1:30f.), he exorcised demons, and he was even reported to still the storm, raise people from the dead and feed a few thousand people with some loaves of bread and a few fish.

Jesus made a two fold connection with his miracles:

Kingdom of God

... if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you." (Luke 17:20)

So wherever Jesus is concerned with healing human life it is a sign that God is doing something for God's people, for God's earth. By healing people, by raising the dignity of woman and children, by giving hope to the oppressed and food to the poor, Jesus is creating words and indeed visible words that speak about the ways of God having arrived in the midst of human history.

Faith

The other matter that Jesus emphasised in his healing miracles is the importance of faith. Faith means awareness of God. Being related to God. When there was no faith, Jesus could not perform miracles (Mk 6:5f.). Many of the healing stories lead into the interpretation: "your faith has made you well". When 10 people were healed physically, Jesus said to the one who returned and praised God that his faith had made him whole (Luke 17:11-19).

Obviously, Jesus' concern was not only physical healing but making a person whole.

But before we become to technical let us look at a healing miracle story.

Healing blind Bartimaeus

Let us look into one of those miracle stories and see how the evangelist spoke about it.

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. 20 km to go. Uncertainty is looming. Gethsemane is not far.

He had just encountered a young man who was on the search for life and meaning. Jesus had invited him to follow him but his heart was bound to his possessions. He went away grieving (Mk 10:17-22).

James and John, the sons of Zebedee had asked him to have special places of honour when they get to glory.

And now he leaves Jericho for the last leg to Jerusalem.

A blind beggar, the Son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road, crying out: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He had heard that Jesus was coming, and Jesus was associated with healing.

That was nothing new in the ancient world. The word "God" was synonymous with the expectation of miracles and many miracle workers and healers were known in the ancient world. We shall therefore have to ask whether Jesus was one of the many or whether there was "more" to him.

Blindness was misfortune. A blind person was unemployable. We are not surprised, therefore, that he was a beggar. That was the only way to survive. Healing was unlikely. If at all, it would occur at the end of time when God would usher in God's kingdom, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

While the crowds tell the beggar to be silent, Jesus hears! Don't forget what is happening. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem where he will be crucified for the sins of the world. The cross and the resurrection together with Jesus' life will be the focus of hope for the blind of the world. Can Jesus overlook a blind beggar here and now?

Of course not.

Jesus meets him at his point of need. Bartimaeus did not ask for a special place in glory, like James and John did. He just wanted to see. And he did not take his healing for granted. He was deeply grateful.

Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well."

That is important for understanding Jesus' healing miracles. Faith is part of it. When there was no faith, Jesus could not perform miracles (Mk 6:5f.). Faith means awareness of God, relationship to God. Healing therefore had a bodily and a spiritual dimension. It was holistic.

The evangelist underlines this. Bartimaeus becomes a follower of Jesus. "Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way."

What a contrast! Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He had experienced opposition. He must have reckoned with the possibility of death. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem does not only go up in a geographical sense. It is a steep, stony and difficult journey.

The man with riches had said "No" to Jesus. The blind beggar said "Yes" - and joins Jesus on the way to Jerusalem.

Results

Is there something in the healing miracle stories that is not only interesting to know but that is also helpful for our living? Here are a few points that I find helpful.

1. Healing was an important part of Jesus' ministry. Amongst other things, Jesus was a healer. He was concerned with the brokenness of life and tried to restore it wherever possible. To those who wondered whether he was the Messiah, he would say: Have a look at "what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them." (Matthew 11:2-6). In Jesus' words and deeds, love and grace become events. God's ways become visible, even if it is only for a fleeting moment. Jesus was concerned with the celebration of life - and healing the sick was part of it.

2. Jesus' healing was holistic. It was different to magic. Magic does its miracle independent of the people's participation. Where, then, is the difference? Two things are clear. I have already mentioned them.

Relation to God. Health does not only have to do with our body, but also with our soul. We are created with body and soul; and we are created to live in community. Our relation to God is important. The miracles of Jesus are therefore linked to what God is doing in the world. We all know people who may be frail in body, but who are more healthy than a person with a perfect body.

Faith. This goes hand in hand with the emphasis on faith.

Here is the World Health Organization definition of "health": "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

3. Perhaps we have emphasized physical healing too much and underestimated the importance of being "healthy" in a holistic way.

You may remember that the Apostle Paul asked for physical healing, but his request was not granted. "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness," God said to him. Just as Bonhoeffer did not succeed in fleeing from prison. Both had to learn and both built a theology around that experience.

• Paul learned to say: "whenever I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:9)
• Bonhoeffer said. "God allows himself to be pushed out of the world on to the cross. God is powerless and weak in the world and only as such and in such a way is he with us and helps us. According to Matthew 8:17 it is clear that Christ does not help us because of his omnipotence, but by virtue of his weakness, his suffering!"

4. The miracles of Jesus contain an invitation. They are his practical, his concrete commitment to eliminate human need.

To hear those stories today is not only of historical interest. It is Jesus' invitation to us to join the healing and thereby the celebration of life.

Wherever people tell the story of Jesus, just before he entered the city of God, that he heard the cry of a blind beggar and healed him, there people cannot ignore the blindness, the violence, the hopelessness in our indigenous communities.

Wherever people tell the story of feeding thousands with a few bread and some fish, people will link their faith with the many attempts to eliminate hunger and poverty in the world.

Wherever people hear the story of Jesus healing his friend's mother in law, there they will engage themselves for making human life human.

5. Jesus' miracles are signs. They are visible words to announce the new heaven and the new earth when God will be God. Our God is a good God and miracles are heralds, they are forerunners of the time when God will be God in our midst, when "he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more ...."

In the mean time let Christ be formed in us and let us grasp the invitation of joining God to bring healing into our needy lives and into our needy world.