Healed Forever


When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Today’s reflection is specially for those of us who have wondered why some prayers for healing are answered and others are not. Especially because in the passage we are reflecting upon today, it says that ALL who touched the edge of Jesus’ cloak were healed. On another occasion, people who had various kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus and laying his hands on them he healed them all (see Luke 4:40). A little later, when he was giving his sermon on the mount, people came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and again, he healed them all (see Luke 6:19).

The first thing to realize is that although there were occasions when Jesus healed everybody who came to him, there were other occasions when he did not. One notable example was when he was in his hometown in Galilee, Scripture says "he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:58). But even apart from this, Jesus certainly didn’t heal everyone everywhere. For instance, when he was in Jerusalem, he healed an invalid lying by the pool in Bethesda, but there were others who were also sick there whom he did not heal (see John 5:1-15). He also did not heal on demand!

Consequently, we realize that his healing was not indiscriminate. It was always with the purpose of authenticating who he was and what he had come for. It was to let us know that he was the Messiah and he had come to save the world. Consider If we keep this in mind, we will not be offended if we are not healed, although we pray fervently for it. We will also not be offended if he does not answer our prayers to heal others. Jesus is not so concerned about our physical well being as he is with the well being of our souls. Our bodies will perish; our souls will not.

Besides, even if he heals us, it doesn’t mean we won’t fall sick again, no? Consider Lazarus. Jesus performed the “ultimate” healing miracle with him. Jesus brought Lazarus back to life after he had spent four days in the tomb. But Lazarus died again, didn’t he? However, in another way, he had received eternal life. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus declared on this occasion. "The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25). "Do you believe this?”, he asked.

Do we believe this? Then we truly are healed. Forever..



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