Advent Devotional for Dec. 18
Thursday, December 18 Luke 7:11-17
Healing reminds us of God’s love.
As modern Christians, we often don’t know what to do with Jesus’ healings exactly. Why exactly does Scripture record Jesus’ healings and what are we supposed to make of them? His death and resurrection we more or less understand—in some mystical way, they reconcile us to God when we believe in him and make him our Lord. While his teachings are often cryptic, we basically understand why they are in the Scripture: to detail more fully for us the way to follow Him in our lives. But what do his healings mean? Are they examples for us to follow? Are they nice stories that prove Jesus’ good character? Are they meant to demonstrate Jesus’ power?
This story gives a bit of insight into what Jesus’ healings meant to the people who saw them. Jesus sees a woman weeping; she was a widow, and now her only son had died. Emotionally and economically, she was now alone in the world and did not know how she could go on. Moved, Jesus touches the bier on which the corpse lay, and the man regains his life. He begins to speak and Jesus gave him to her mother, a sign that she would have the one she loved back, who was also the one who provided for her. The response of the people is telling: they are afraid, and then they remark that Jesus is a prophet, and a sign that “God has looked favorably on his people!”
The eyewitnesses to Jesus (and the gospel writers who wrote and arranged these biographies) evidently understood that healing was a reminder that God has not forgotten us, that God still loves us. In one fell swoop, Jesus has given a man his life back, fixed a woman’s broken heart, and saved her from poverty. People see this and recognize that Jesus is a sign from God—a sign that God has kept his promise to his people. In the same way, so we should give thanks for the healings we see, because they keep alive the awareness that God still loves and watches over his people today.
Healing reminds us of God’s love.
As modern Christians, we often don’t know what to do with Jesus’ healings exactly. Why exactly does Scripture record Jesus’ healings and what are we supposed to make of them? His death and resurrection we more or less understand—in some mystical way, they reconcile us to God when we believe in him and make him our Lord. While his teachings are often cryptic, we basically understand why they are in the Scripture: to detail more fully for us the way to follow Him in our lives. But what do his healings mean? Are they examples for us to follow? Are they nice stories that prove Jesus’ good character? Are they meant to demonstrate Jesus’ power?
This story gives a bit of insight into what Jesus’ healings meant to the people who saw them. Jesus sees a woman weeping; she was a widow, and now her only son had died. Emotionally and economically, she was now alone in the world and did not know how she could go on. Moved, Jesus touches the bier on which the corpse lay, and the man regains his life. He begins to speak and Jesus gave him to her mother, a sign that she would have the one she loved back, who was also the one who provided for her. The response of the people is telling: they are afraid, and then they remark that Jesus is a prophet, and a sign that “God has looked favorably on his people!”
The eyewitnesses to Jesus (and the gospel writers who wrote and arranged these biographies) evidently understood that healing was a reminder that God has not forgotten us, that God still loves us. In one fell swoop, Jesus has given a man his life back, fixed a woman’s broken heart, and saved her from poverty. People see this and recognize that Jesus is a sign from God—a sign that God has kept his promise to his people. In the same way, so we should give thanks for the healings we see, because they keep alive the awareness that God still loves and watches over his people today.
posted by Michael Jordan at 6:00 AM
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