“The Healing Miracles of Jesus”
Mark 7:31-37

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost—September 9, 2018

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus dramatically heals a man who is deaf and mute.  Jesus communicates to him with a special sign language what he is about to do.  He puts his fingers into the man’s ears, to show him that he will restore his hearing.  He touches the man’s tongue, to show him that he will restore his speech.  Then Jesus looks up to heaven with a deep sigh, to show him the source of this healing.  With this special sign language Jesus is telling the deaf and mute man, “I am going to heal you, I am going to open your ears, and loose your tongue, and this healing comes from heaven—it is a miracle.”

As we read through the Gospels, we see that about 70% of Jesus’ recorded miracles are healing miracles.  As Matthew reports, “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.  The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.”

When we read about “The Healing Miracles of Jesus,” it raises some questions in our minds: Why did Jesus perform so many healings?  Why aren’t people miraculously healed like that today?  Does God want us to use doctors and medicine, or should we rely on faith alone?  And why do people get sick in the first place?

You are invited to follow along the sermon outline on the last pages of the bulletin as we look at “The Healing Miracles of Jesus.”

Point #1) Sickness Is Not a Punishment for Christians

It is true that sickness has been caused by sin in a general sense.  The Lord warned Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”  The phenomena of sickness and death are a direct result of the Fall of humankind into sin.  Why do people get sick?  Simply because we don’t live in paradise anymore.  Sickness is part of the decay and corruption brought into the world by the Fall into sin.

But, even though it’s true that sickness in general is the result of humankind’s Fall into sin, the Bible says clearly that for Christians sickness is NEVER a PUNISHMENT for sin.  As we just read from Psalm 103: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” 

Your sicknesses cannot possibly be a punishment from God, because God’s own Son took all your sins upon himself, and suffered the punishment for you.  As Isaiah says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Your sicknesses cannot possibly be a punishment from God, because there simply is no punishment left for you to endure, there is no penalty left for you to pay.  It’s all been paid for you, by Jesus, on the cross.

So, if sickness is never a punishment for Christians, why do we get sick in the first place?  God sometimes allows sickness to affect us, NOT as a punishment, but in some way for our good.  As Paul promises in Romans, “And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love him.”

John reports that one time Jesus and his disciples came upon a man born blind.  “His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’”  Just like we often do, the disciples jumped to the conclusion that this man’s malady must be a punishment for someone’s sin.  Their only question was, “WHO sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  But, Jesus sets the disciples straight: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”  Jesus tells the disciples, “You’ve got the wrong attitude, you’re asking the wrong question.”

In the same way, when you experience sickness and you ask, “What have I done to deserve this?  Why is God punishing me?” Jesus says, “You’ve got the wrong attitude, you’re asking the wrong question.”  The right question, the right attitude is: How can even this be part of my loving heavenly Father working all things together for my good?  How can even this be so that the work of God might be displayed in my life?

Point #2) Jesus’ Healing Miracles Served a Specific Purpose as Fulfillment of Messianic Prophecy

In today’s Old Testament Reading, Isaiah prophesies, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.”  And there are lots Old Testament passages like that, prophesying that one sign of the true Messiah, one way to recognize the true Messiah when he comes, will be his miracles of healing.

Jesus himself says that is the purpose of his miracles, to testify that he is the Messiah: “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. . .  Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

Matthew and Luke report, “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.  So he replied to the messengers, ‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.’”

John the Baptizer asks, “Are you the Messiah?” and Jesus replies, “Look at what I’m doing: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear.”  Jesus’ miraculous works of healing fulfill the prophesies, and they answer for him: “Yes, I am the Messiah!”

Peter puts it this way in Acts: “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you, by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him.”

So, why are 70% of Jesus’ recorded miracles healing miracles?  Why did Jesus perform so many healings?  Jesus’ healing miracles served a specific purpose, a fulfillment of Messianic prophecy, a sure sign that he is the promised Messiah.  As John says toward the end of his Gospel: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Point #3) Healing Miracles Are Still Happening

Sometimes advertisements will say, “Five out of ten doctors recommend . . .”  Well, in a recent survey, five out of ten doctors said they have witnessed in their own practices incidents of healing that could only be called miraculous.  And, in a recent Gallup Poll, 30% of Americans said they themselves have personally experienced an extraordinary healing, and most of them attributed their miraculous healing to one person: Jesus Christ.  Healing miracles are still happening!

As James says in today’s Epistle Reading, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.”

Point #4) “Ordinary” Healing Is Also the Work of God

That quote from James might give you the idea that really sincere Christians should reject doctors, and rely on faith and prayer alone for healing.  But, actually, James is saying the exact opposite.  James is saying that faith, prayer, and medicine all go hand-in-hand. 

When you hear the phrase “anointing with oil,” you probably envision a ceremonial dabbing, of a few drops of oil, that some churches practice.  There’s nothing wrong with that ritual, but the “anointing with oil” James recommends is not just a ceremonial dabbing of a few drops of oil. 

You may have read about a medical study released just last week, in which people with a variety of illnesses were given a diet high in olive oil, the equivalent of nine tablespoons a day, and it had an amazing healing effect, on a wide range of ailments—as good or better than many modern medicines and medical treatments.

Back in Bible times, olive oil was widely used as a medicine.  That’s the meaning of the phrase “he anoints my head with oil” in Psalm 23.  And in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus says that the Good Samaritan bandaged the injured man’s wounds, “pouring on oil.”

In the same way, when James says we should pray for the sick while also “anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,” the original Greek words James uses refer to what was at the time a well-established, widely-practiced medical treatment: bathing in and vigorously rubbing a person with olive oil, which modern medicine has shown does indeed have a beneficial medicinal effects.

So, far from telling us to avoid doctors and medicine, James is actually recommending the best medical treatment available in his day.  “Is any one of you sick?  He should call the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well, and the Lord will raise him up.” “Use medicine,” James is saying, “but do it with faith and prayer, in the name of the Lord.”

Jesus himself upholds the principle that the sick need a doctor when he says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”  And Paul tells us that his dear friend and co-worker, the Gospel writer Luke, was a medical doctor.  “Dr. Luke” probably accompanied Paul as his personal physician, for Paul tells us that he suffered from severe sicknesses.

In his ministry here on earth, Jesus miraculously gave people food in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and he miraculously gave people drink by turning water into wine.  But, that doesn’t mean that today we are to rely on faith alone for food and drink.  In the same way, just as we normally receive our food and drink in the ordinary way, through farmers and grocers, God normally provides us with healing in the ordinary way, through doctors and medicine.  But, it is still God’s hand at work, providing for us through these means.  Actually, it takes greater faith to see God’s loving care and God’s healing power behind what seem to be ordinary means.

Point #5) Christian Healing Ministries Carry on the Healing Ministry of Jesus

To a large extent, modern medical science was born and nurtured in the bosom of the Christian Church.  The majority of the hospitals in our country were begun by Christian groups.  That’s why so many hospitals have Christian names, like St. Luke’s and St. Joseph.

Those who work in the medical field are performing an important Christian service.  There are also many opportunities to volunteer to help the sick, such as at the hospital or in a hospice program.  And when you help and care for family and friends who are ill, which is often a great burden and a struggle, you have Jesus’ precious promise, “Whatever you have done for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you have done it unto me.”  Finally, James says, “PRAY for one another that you may be healed.”  All these Christian healing ministries carry on the healing ministry of Jesus.

I close with a prayer of the Apostle John: “Beloved, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, just as it is well with your soul.”