Dcn Tom Lindell

My brothers and sisters,

In the Eucharistic lectionary for today, Mark chronicles Jesus and the disciples traveling to Gennesaret by boat, just down the West side of the Sea of Galilee probably originating in Capernaum. Jesus had just fed five thousand people with just two fish and five loaves of bread. Jesus sent his disciples ahead in the boat and joined them by walking on the water.

When they landed in Gennesaret, Jesus’ fame had already spread, and they were met by many people who had rushed to bring the sick on mats and laid them down in the marketplace. They believed that even if they just touched the fringe of his cloak, they would be healed.

Healing in that time was totally different from our current concept of healing. Illness and disease were regarded as God’s punishment for their sins, or the sins of their parents if the child was conceived by immoral acts. Consequently, those with chronic illness were ostracized from society, often living in squalor on the periphery of villages. Jesus’ deliberate closeness to these outcast “patients,” and his assurance that any presumed sins are forgiven, must have lifted a powerful mental obstacle to a person’s natural ability to heal. Of paramount concern was the person’s trust in the healing power of the healer.

Two elements distinguish the healing accounts from the other miracles. First, healing often occurred by simply verbally assuring the person that his/her sins are forgiven. Second, for someone bereft of human intimacy for years, or possibly most of his life, the physical touch of Jesus would have been an electrifying experience. Jesus’ affirmation of a diseased person’s innate dignity would have been a powerful stimulant to healing.

I will leave it to you to assess whether these accounts are miraculous physical cures or simple affirmations of forgiveness or touch. For me, so-called miracles as described in the Gospels (thirty are referenced), take second place to the life and ministry of Jesus to the poor and marginalized (widows and orphans), those who hunger and thirst, and those who struggle with the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. Although Jesus lived and died as a Jew, he was not obsessed with simply following the tenants of the Law to be observant.

—Dcn Tom