Sue Agnew

Dear friends in Christ,

During Lent, the Daily Office readings have followed the Gospel of Mark, and I’ve been struck by the number of stories of healing.

Soon after Jesus’ baptism, he is challenged in the synagogue by a man with an unclean spirit, whom he heals. Then they go to Simon and Andrew’s house, and Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. And by sunset people are lining up at the door to be healed.

Reading my assigned text much later in Mark, the healing of the blind man Bartimaeus, made me wonder if Jesus was annoyed or frustrated or dismayed by continually being expected to heal people. Wouldn’t he have preferred to spend his energy teaching about the Kingdom of God?

This is, of course, me imagining Jesus reacting as though he were fully human.

In the scripture discussion group (5:30pm-7:00pm on Mondays), Reading Between the Lines, we often talk about the tension between Jesus being fully human and being fully divine, speculating whether he was simultaneously both, or sometimes one and sometimes the other.

Why so much healing? Was physical healing part of the schtick of itinerant charismatic prophetic figures?

The expectation historically associated with the Messiah was more a warrior than a healer. Did Jesus see physical healing miracles as part of his mission?

A couple of stories in other Gospels suggest that Jesus wasn’t necessarily eager to be a miracle worker either. He expressed reluctance at the wedding in Cana to address the wine issue. And, after the multiplication of loaves and fishes, he chided the crowd at the next stop “You’re just here because I gave you bread last time.” Did he feel the same impatience at constantly being presented with people seeking physical healing?

Jesus is described as being moved by pity or feeling compassion for the people he was healing. How he must have grieved to know that there were scores more that he could NOT heal, merely because of overwhelming numbers or lack of time or access. 

The next story after the healing of Bartimaeus is Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, so this is a particularly good time to think of the human side of Jesus. Being aware that he was fully flesh and fully human while being subjected to unimaginable humiliations and tortures, leading to his death, reminds us that he did not travel this road as a superhuman deity but as a real person. What a sacrifice for us!

Yours in Christ,

—Sue