The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JESUS THE HEALER
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JESUS THE HEALER
Lesson Plan:
1. Preaching the Gospel
2. Healing Peter's Mother-In-Law (vs 29-31)
3. An Evening for Healing (vs 32-42;
4. Praying in the Desert (vs 35-37)
5. An Excursion through Surrounding Country (v 39)
6. Transformation of a Leper (vs 40-45)
7. Jesus Teaches a Seminar
Lesson Setting:
Time: A.D. 28. The same day as our last lesson, and the days following. Early in the Galilean Ministry
Place: Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee and surrounding country Jesus in the Synagogue, at Capernaum
1. Preaching the Gospel
One of His hearers was a demoniac, under the power of evil spirits. Jesus cured him, as in our last lesson. This is the beginning of one of the busiest days recorded in the life of Jesus; but it was a specimen of many days, as to the kind of work Jesus was doing in carrying out His mission. In a wicked world Jesus was not at this time belaboring the Romans or the Pharisees; and He never did pour out the vials of wrath upon the common people or upon His disciples, as some elders, deacons, teachers, and ministers do today in their earnestness to make folks better. He did indeed blast the rocky hearts of the Pharisees with His dynamite "Woes," when all else failed, and they were ruining their nation; but His ordinary preaching was Good News, the grace of God, salvation, hope, health, light, heaven, peace, a nobler life, a higher ideal. He was no pessimist that sees only evil; He was not the kind of optimist that sees only the good. His work is not only to see the good, but to make things better. Standing in the midst of evil, He pointed to the stars; living in darkness, His face was toward the dawn. His preaching was of the light.
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-31 (Also read Mk. 4:39 and Lk. 4:38, 39)
2. Healing Peter's Mother-In-Law
Note that Mark's story is the more picturesque. Immediately after the synagogue service, Jesus and the four fishermen He had called went to ... v 29 ... "the house of Simon and Andrew," who, though natives of Bethsaida, a seaside village a short distance to the northwest, had made their home in Capernaum. Peter was married, and had a house as well as a fishing boat.
v 30 ... His "wife's mother lay sick of a fever." Luke calls it a great fever, of a severe, malignant, and dangerous type. The Greek for 'fever' is derived from 'pur,' "fire," as our word 'fever' is akin to the Latin fervere, "to be hot, to boil." The quantity of marshy land in the neighborhood, especially at the entrance of the Jordan into the lake, has made fever of a very malignant type at times the characteristic of the locality, so that the physicians would not allow Josephus, when hurt by his horse sinking in the neighboring marsh, to sleep even a single night in Capernaum, but hurried him on to Tarichaea.
v 31 ... "Took her by the hand." To express His kindly sympathy and courtesy and to make it evident that the miraculous cure came from Him. Luke adds that he rebuked the fever, commanded it to go as if it were an enemy.
v 31 ... "Immediately the fever left her." Obedient to Jesus as in the case of the centurion (Matt 8:8, 9), and of the storm on the lake (Mark 4:39).
v 31 ... "And she ministered unto them," showing the completeness of the cure. This is one instance of the eternal power of Jesus to bless the home.
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:32-34 (Also read Matt. 8:16, 17; Lk. 4:40, 41)
3. An Evening for Healing
v 32 ... And at even, when the sun did set" (was setting), they brought unto him to the door of Peter's home (v 33). The multitude came after sunset, (a) Because the heat of the day would have been too distressing to the sick; (b) Because they did not wish to violate the sacred rest of the Sabbath day. At sunset the Sabbath ended; and so they felt themselves free to act. By this time the news of Christ's miraculous power, two examples of which are reported, would have had time to spread over the city. People recognized both the power and the willingness of Jesus to heal, so that ...
v 33 ... "all the city was gathered together at the door."
v 34 ... "He healed many that were sick." All of them, says Matthew. He laid His hands on every one of them as he did on the mother-in-law of Peter (Luke).
v 34 ... "Of divers diseases." His power extended over every form of disease. There was no sorrow He could not alleviate, no trouble from which He could not deliver. Matthew refers to this work of Jesus as fulfilling Isaiah's picture of the promised Messiah, so that the people could see that that picture was fulfilled by Jesus in every line. Jesus took our infirmities and bare our diseases; bore them as a burden and bore them away.
v 34 ... "Suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him," and would testify that He was the Son of God while such testimony would injure His cause.
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:35-38
4. Praying in the Desert
v 35 ... "In the morning ... a great while before day, he ... departed into a solitary place." In solitary communion with His Father He seeks what He needs after the exertions and excitement of the first two days of His ministry (at Capernaum). Although a part of Jesus' prayer was daily bread, vital air, the gate of heaven, yet there were times when battles were to be fought, great questions to be settled, guidance given, power to be received, when eternal issues depended on the decisions of the hour; at these seasons Jesus would be a long time alone with His Father, in closest communion and earnest prayer. So now at the beginning of His Galilean ministry. Later in the morning the four followed Jesus and found Him, and told Him "All men seek for the," (v 37) 'are seeking thee.' Jesus had decided what He ought to do, and ...
v 38 ... "he said unto them, Let us go" 'elsewhere'
v 38 ... "into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth," from God, as Luke says, "therefore was I sent." Preaching the gospel was His business and mission; to save men from sin, an evil worse than disease. And He did more for health and comfort and relief by preaching and healing, together than if He had spent all His time in healing disease. Through the Gospel the whole world will be saved from sin and disease.
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:39
5. An Excursion through Surrounding Country
v 39 ... "And he preached in their synagogues" the same Good News He had preached in the city. The synagogue was the best place for reaching the people, for it was their natural gathering place. Moreover copies of Scripture were very scarce and costly. Nearly all that the people learned about their religion was learned in the synagogues. Here Jesus could interpret the Scriptures truly, and show the people the prophecies of the Messiah, and enforce His teachings by them.
v 39 ... "And cast out devils." These miracles are mentioned by Mark as those that showed the greatest power, and best illustrated the work of the Gospel, as opposed to the Kingdom of evil. Matthew tells us that Jesus healed "all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people." Visibly and vividly was set forth the love of God and the blessings of the Gospel.
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:40-45
6. Transformation of a Leper
While Jesus was on this tour through Galilee "there came a leper to him" (v 40). Luke says "a man full of leprosy." The village of lepers near the Jaffa gate of Jerusalem contained a crowd of beggars holding up their handless arms; unearthly sounds gurgled through throats without plates. Their hovels were dens of corruption and death. The disease is not hereditary. It is contagious, but only by close personal contact. Although a leper in the street is no danger to the passer by, he must in his home be a danger to his family, and no other disease reduces a human being for so many years to such a hideous wreck.
v 40 ..."Beseeching him, and kneeling down to him." Matthew says he "worshiped him," and Luke that he "bowed his face to the ground" all expressing in different words the same act: kneeling down in the common way of worshipping.
v 40 ... "Saying unto him, If thou wilt." He had no doubt of His ability. He was not so sure that it came within the range of His purpose or mission to concern Himself with the outcast class of lepers.
v 40 ... "Thou canst make me clean." Note that in the case of lepers the word is always "cleansed," not "healed." The cleansing implied a cure. The emphasis was on the cleansing because of the intense impurity and repulsiveness of the disease, and because it rendered the victim ceremonially unclean, and thus shut him out of the temple, the synagogues, and to a large extent from the social life of his fellow beings. Their cleansing meant much more than getting rid of a disagreeable and often, doubtless, painful disease, repulsive to all their fellow men, it meant restoration to the worship and service of God. It meant also restoration to home, to friends, to society, to business, to almost everything that made life worth living. To those who have seen the terrible mutilations and disfigurements wrought by leprosy, and the horrible conditions in which lepers mostly exist, there is a peculiar aptness in the use commonly made of leprosy as a type of sin.
v 41 ... "Jesus, moved with compassion," not merely touched, but moved as by a storm. Illustration: The story is told of a great criminal on his way to English execution. On the way to his hanging, he was told about Jesus and forgiveness of sins. He replied to the minister, "If I believed what you say I would crawl across England on broken glass on my hands and knees to tell men it was true."
v 41 ... "Put forth his hand, and touched him," to aid his faith, to show His friendship in spite of his repulsive disease, and to teach him whence the healing came. Personal contact with one we help is a great power.
v 41 ... "I will: be thou clean." Then a marvelous change came over the man. The blessing was unspeakably great. It transformed his body and his whole earthly life. Jesus brought with Him an atmosphere of courage and hope. He unlocked the dungeon of giant despair.
v 43 ... "And he straitly," strictly, sternly, to make him feel the necessity of obeying, "charged him, and forthwith sent him away," from Him. "Sent him out" from the crowd or the place where He was. The Greek implies some degree of force. Apparently the cleansed man was not inclined to leave, but Jesus insisted on his going, and obeying His commands, both for Jesus' sake and his own. The charge was twofold: he was to "say nothing to any man" (v 44), that is he was not to loiter on his way talking to the people around him as in his joy he would be glad to do. His first business was to obey:
v 44 ... "show thyself to the priest" and make the required offering. This was "for a testimony unto them" (v 44) to prove to them that He was really cured. Otherwise, and till then, his testimony would have little effect. The spiritual value of the cure to the man himself would be lessened by want of this religious act; and still more by disobedience. Jesus seems to have realized that he needed to be taught to trust and obey His Word. His disobedience to this command hindered Jesus' work of preaching the Gospel by taking up all His time by healings, just as it had threatened to do at Capernaum.
v 45 ... "Jesus could no more openly enter into the (‘a’) city, but was without in desert places." Nevertheless the people came to him from every quarter to hear and to be healed of their infirmities (Luke). But Jesus withdrew Himself, and prayed, as He had in Capernaum a few days before.
7. Jesus Teaches a Seminar
Its Message to His Modern Disciples – Note: A Seminar, a shortened form of "Seminary," is originally a seed-plot, a nursery garden, ground where seed is sown for producing plants for transplantation; but is now used only figuratively. In a University environment it is a small group, of post graduate students, where each in turn presents a thesis to be discussed and criticized by the professor and the other students. This is an especially good method for teachers and adult classes. In the first part of this lesson we have been watching Jesus at work in His mission to transform individuals into members of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the world into the Kingdom of Heaven. What can we learn from His example as to the principles and methods His modern disciples should use in carrying on His work for the same ends? We have the same kind of work to do today, that Jesus and His disciples did in Palestine; the same needs, the same problems, and the same kind of powers.
Church 'Business': Jesus called on all men to repent, to turn away from all sin, to become children of God by choosing Him as their King and Lord; becoming citizens of the kingdom of heaven. He presented all the motives included in that kingdom – its powers, its joys, its duties, its privileges, its blessings, and its nearness to all.
First Work of the Church: Preaching the Gospel should not only be our chief and essential work, but that of the Lord's church, too. The 'business' of the church of our Lord is to preach the Gospel, present its motives, its power through the Holy Spirit, its ideals, its inspirations; to educate and train men and women for its work. Without this, all its work will end in failure.
The Next Work of the Church: Following Christ in His labor for the temporal and physical good of the people. He went about doing good. He cured all manner of diseases and sickness among the people. He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. He cleansed the lepers, He cast out demons, He gave sight to the blind, He restored the wildly insane. He was moved with compassion for the hungry and the suffering. He "Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases." He fed the hungry. He raised the dead. And to the poor the Good News was preached. "He loved the church and gave himself for it." By these miracles Jesus illustrated the Gospel of Salvation through visible object lessons. They set forth its principles as He had taught them. They expressed its spirit. They were specimens of its fruits. They proved its spiritual value. Every miracle is a visible picture before men of the character of God, of the nature of the Gospel, of the loving-kindness of our Savior, of His power to help, of the wonders of grace He can work in our hearts, of His power to deliver from the diseases of sin. They proved His authority as the Son of God. They were His credentials read and known of all men. They proved His power to forgive sins. They endorsed His message as a divine revelation of God and truth, and the questions which are ever puzzling men. If Jesus did not do works that man could not do, then the proof is gone that He was more than man and that His message was a revelation from God. The statement occasionally made today by certain writers, that "Jesus minimized miracle and healing," is not true. He placed it indeed second to spiritual life and deliverance from sin. The diseased body is of far less account than sinfulness of soul. He always refused to work a miracle for show, or for Himself, or to exhibit His power. That would have ruined the very purpose of His miracles. Always they were expressions of His loving-kindness, illustrations of His Good News, and therefore proofs of His mission and His power. And He repeatedly appeals to them for this purpose. Jesus is the revelation to us of our Father. Nature is so vast, so regular and unchangeable in its laws; and God so invisible, so infinite, that it is hard to realize His presence. But Jesus is God manifest. His teachings are divine truth, His life is the divine life so far as it can appear to human eyes, and His miracles are expressions of God's love and care, His power and willingness to help. God's nature, what our Father is, can be learned from the nature of Jesus our elder brother; He is a real person, not a mere force. Now we as disciples of Christ are to do the same kind of work in the world as Jesus did.
What About Miracles? – What is a 'miracle?' It is not God breaking His own laws, nor changing His laws, but God as a personal being using His laws by His own infinite power, just as we use them without limited power. It is the action of personal will, guided by wisdom, intelligence, love, in and through the laws of God.
First: The light and motives of Christianity have developed the forces of civilization in a wonderful degree, and every invention and discovery can be made useful for the betterment of men both body and soul. It has inspired men to give and labor for the healing of men, by the discovery and use of God's laws not known before. Jesus promised His disciples that they should do greater things than He did in Palestine. And this promise has proved true, not only in the moral changes from sin to holiness, from the diseased to the healthy soul, but in the physical blessings which He is working through His disciples. Public and private institutions spring up everywhere under the influence of Christianity, as herbs and flowers under the genial influences of springtime. They do not work miracles, but are better than the power of miracles, as the prolonged sunshine is better than a flash of lightning. Blind asylums have opened many eyes, and caused people to read and work even without sight. Hospitals have cured and cared for multitudes of sick and insane. We cannot raise the dead to life, but the average length of life has been greatly increased.
Second: Medical men are part of the church and the two are working together to make men healthier, to cure disease, and to make, as Jesus did, the healing of the body a means of healing the soul. We are learning the power of suggestion, of hope. There has been a great development of the science of mind and its applications to health.
Third: Service of God through service of man is the privilege of every disciple of Christ. He needs the work, and the world needs him. Put in practice the Gospel of Health, and impart that Gospel to others. The help for the body and the help for the soul go together. We must not be so full of work for health and wealth of others, as to have no time or thought for the deliverance from sin, and the imparting of eternal life. Jesus, as we have seen, while He healed all that came to Him, had to refuse to give all His time to this work. On the other hand no amount of preaching by those who oppress others and neglect the sick and poor, will have any worth, but hinder the cause of Christ. The Christian spirit abolishes sweatshops, destroys unhealthy tenements, demands good wages for employees, and makes the store and factory healthful and comfortable. And so does the Christian community. The Social Spirit is the spirit which says, 'I am my brother's keeper.' It is as old as the spirit of unselfish service. It is the essential Christian spirit, taught and exemplified by the Master. He said: "I am among you as He that serveth;" "The Son of Man is come not to be ministered unto but to minister;" "As the Father sent me into the world so send I you." He came to serve, and every disciple is sent forth to serve. Indeed service is the necessary expression of love. When Peter thrice professed his love, Jesus thrice insisted that he must show his love to his Master by service to his fellows. The fundamental idea in Christian endeavor, so far as service is concerned, is to give the young people a chance of practicing their Christianity through deeds of kindness. The same should be true of Bible school classes. Every class should be organized for this purpose, from the youngest class to the oldest. As Christ always refused to perform any miracle for show, or to manifest His power and goodness, so everyone who would do good must do it from real love and sympathy, or his efforts will fail. Jesus did not heal en masse, but one by one, giving exactly the sympathy and help each one needed. But, like Jesus, we should preach the duty and the principles of reform, while not necessarily taking sides on the various theories. Jesus, after these times of healing many, retired from the crowds and prayed. Every worker for Jesus needs much prayer. The spiritual fountains must be filled with living waters from heaven. There are many cases of sickness, which man cannot cure; but we can help to transfigure them and to make them work out everlasting good.
Illustration: A great statesman of England was sought one day at his home, by a stranger. The caller was told by the wife that her husband was in a nearby city, on business. The stranger said, "Then I will go and find him." But recalling that he had never personally met the man he sought, he turned and said to the wife, "As I have never met him, how shall I know him?" "Oh," she said, "you will find him helping someone."
Illustration: In a most eloquent funeral eulogy, a preacher used these words: "If everyone to whom he did some loving service brought a flower to his grave, he would sleep tonight beneath a mountain of flowers."
