Monday: Healing the Body
Study Mark 2:1-12. What can we learn regarding the connection between physical sickness and sinfulness? What lessons should we not take from this story, as well?
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
Contrary to biblical doctrine, ancient Greek philosophy separated the spiritual (soul) and physical (body) dimensions of human existence. Believing that human souls were immortal, many Greeks devalued the importance of their bodies. Because bodies were temporal, passing away with time, they were considered less valuable than was the enduring soul.
In fact, in one of the most famous texts from antiquity, Plato depicts his teacher Socrates, who is about to face death, as waxing long and eloquently on how corrupt and evil the body is, and that at death his immortal soul will finally be free to do all the things that the body has hindered it from doing.
The Bible, of course, teaches something radically different. Human bodies are the direct creation of God, who fearfully and wonderfully made them (Ps. 139:14). Furthermore, bodies are not separate from souls. Body, mind, and spirit are merely differing aspects of human personality or existence, not independently existent entities. Consequently, whatever affects the body affects mind and spirit, the other interrelated aspects of personhood. Thus, whenever Christ healed, He was not merely eradicating cancer or curing heart disease; He was transforming the physical, mental, and spiritual human experience.
Jesus healed more than just bodies. Christ always healed whole persons. His wholistic approach recognized that physical health was inseparable from spiritual health. Through physical healing He effected spiritual transformation. That was, to a great degree, the whole purpose. After all, why heal people who in the long run will die anyway and face eternal destruction at the end of time?
Though sickness can result directly from sinful practices, so often people, even infants, get sick for no obvious reason other than that we are all victims of a fallen world. Why is it so important to keep this sad truth in mind when seeking to minister to anyone who is sick or who is agonizing over a sick loved one?
(18)
Greek philosophers believe that the body and soul are two different things.....but for us seventh day Adventist we believe that breath is combined with the body to make a living soul.
The point i want to note is that people often gave their lives to Rabbi(teacher) when they are in trouble, for instance when we are sick. So what God is trying to say is that we should give our lives to him as a wholesome and that includes mind, body and spirit; so that he can take control of our life and lead us to our greater and wonderful future.
When we are physically and mentally fit then our spiritual growth will be much better.
He is the great Physician to the broken hearted, the maim,the sick, deaf...etc. While human do not value their lives as the should, he is still reaching out to heal us in our broken state whatever the disease.
We have hope only one can healing us and can renewal our bodies mentally like phisycaly and spiritually is Jesus Christ ?
[Moderator's Note: Please use full names when commenting. Thank you.]
Jesus Christ is our spiritual and physical healer. His more than willing to heal our broken hearted and tormented spirits.let us commit our lives and all we are to the Master of all creation.amen
Heal our land Lord and forgive our sins
I would like to take the opportunity here to consider Mk 2:1-12 from a different point of view. It seems to me that what Jesus did was a two staged event. First the actual healing:
I do believe that if Jesus went no further than to forgive the man his sins he would have been overjoyed with only that. The load of sins seems to have been the thing that was dragging him down the most and was the first thing Jesus addressed. I will even go so far as to say that if condemnation is lifted that a person can put up with just about anything but when it is not the weight of those things tend to crush the life and spirit out of a person and to drive him/her into depression that ends up tearing down everything else. As Solomon once said, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones” (Prov 17:22 NKJV).
After that then a second attempted healing only this time it was a spiritual one that was ruthlessly cut off by the ones it was intended for. Unlike the paralytic they did not have faith and therefore could not be healed of their spiritual disease. As Christ said, “And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:`Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them” (Mat 13:14-15 NKJV quoted from Isa 6:9-10). In spite of that they were given evidence that Jesus was who He said he was and that He had power to heal – even the sins that weight us down. If they had believed they would have been healed of their sins just like the paralytic was.
We often quote our favorite Christian sayings like "Jesus is our all", "He is our healer", "He heals broken hearts", and so on. However, we need to understand that Christian living in more that quoting Christian words. Jesus heals the broken-hearted through us by our taking the broken-hearted and sharing our time with them. Our contribution to the healing process is by sharing with those who are sick. Cleaning a house, cooking a meal, and listening to a lonely older person are all pragmatic ways of discipling the sick.
Our church's emphasis on the health message has never been just a philosophy. It is more than a good idea. It should be a lifestyle.