Sitting here at IHOP (international house of prayer) and thinking about the issues of healing (as a focus/ministry) and what was Jesus' reason for doing it in the first place. They're praying for Terri Schiavo... for her to be healed and awaken when they take out the feeding tube.
makes me think.
The guy leading said something about Jesus being "the God of Life." But what about the 'God of death.' I know, there are so many directions to go from here, and so many principals, but just bear with my wandering thoughts... It makes me think about Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes... about it being appointed that all men will die once... Is God scared of death? Is it beyond Him?
I reflect on what I've sensed from Mark 5 from the sermons as of late at Jacob's Well. Why did Jesus heal certain folk? What was his purpose ultimately? Some he healed and instructed to go and tell what happened, while others he instructed to go and tell no one. It seems that 'healing' and 'raising the dead' wasn't an end in itself, but just a part of what it was in him bringing the Kingdom of God. He said in Matt 9:6, "so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..."
"He came to seek and to save those who were lost." That we may know salvation --- that we may be freed --- It seems that Jesus used healing as an attention getter and a qualifier (that he was qualified to do bring the kingdom)...
Often, healing came to those (as Jairus and the bleeding woman) that were completely desperate...
[ insert some working definitions:
--> Faith : an absolute recognition of reality, and a byproduct of a right orientation to Jesus ]
...that they had been brought to/forced into by suffering, the correct understanding/recognition of reality [faith].
How does this play out when I'm not dying or bleeding persistantly?
Was the healing used to prove/convince those who yet had believed in Him? And yet didn't Jesus refuse to give some people signs/miracles because of their unbelief?
What does it look like practically to have that 'correct orientation' to Jesus when we're not dying?
(from here it led me to think about many people who have had this right recognition...
--> the apostle paul: had correct understanding of reality w/ regards to marriage (1 cor. 7) to ourselves (1 cor. 9) ...heck, all of 1 & 2 Corinthians!
--> and others...
No comments:
Post a Comment