The healing ministry of Jesus

I think we can all agree Jesus’ healing ministry was glorious. But what is the application for us as Christians today? Are we to expect such healing in our churches? How should we apply His healing ministry now?

One of Jesus’ lesser known miracles happened on the way to the house of the more well-known Jairus, the synagogue ruler. The crowd followed Jesus on His way, curious to see what would happen. Among the crowd was an anonymous female. She had been bleeding for 12 long years with a menstrual ailment. She suffered immensely for precisely as long as Jairus’ daughter had been alive. She hired doctor after doctor to look her over, and the treatments made her worse. When she saw Jesus, she snuck up behind Him, thinking, “If I just touch His clothes, I’ll be healed.” 

For a Jewess to have a flow of blood was to make her ceremonially unclean according to Torah. That would make this woman perpetually unclean for the last 12 years of her life. Anyone she touched became unclean until sundown. Everyone in the crowd she bumped or brushed up against would become unclean with her. She also touched Jesus! She was willing to risk extreme social embarrassment and anger from the crowd and, at least in her mind, even defiling Jesus Himself, simply to touch the hem of His garment.

Immediately, the blood dried up and she was healed. Twelve years of suffering, endless doctors, painful medical treatments, a lifetime of savings, and in less than a minute she was healed. Jesus has power. Jesus changes lives.

But her worst fear came true. “Who touched my clothes?” We savor our spiritual privacy, but Jesus knew exactly what He was doing. He wanted her to own this. She was terrified to have to come clean in front of everyone. But she did. That must have been incredibly difficult: to confess her sickness in front of the crowd, to admit how she snuck up on Jesus, to open up about details of her healing.

“Jesus prepares us for a day when our bodies will not break down. His healing ministry was meant as signs pointing us to a future day, when sickness and death will be no more.”

Jesus’ response was pure love. He said to her, “daughter.”  What a picture of adoption: His daughter and very own. It is interesting to see the contrast between Jairus and this woman. Jairus is mentioned by name; she is anonymous. Jairus is a synagogue ruler; she is perpetually unclean. Jairus is a father seeking the healing of his daughter, but there was another seeking healing for this daughter too, and His name is Jesus.

“Your faith has healed you.” Her faith was evident. Faith always has an object, and Jesus was clearly the object of her faith. That is why she sought Him out and touched Him. That is why she told Him the whole truth, as difficult as that must have been. “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” She was not to leave thinking she has stolen something from Jesus (as if that were possible), or worried she has done something wrong

Why doesn’t Jesus heal us like He healed her? If He’s the great physician, why do we still contract sickness, get injured, experience death? No doubt Jesus does still heals people today at times. I’ve seen it, as I’m sure many of you have seen it. It’s not the norm, but it is an exception that we enjoy and celebrate. Every miraculous healing we experience, for ourselves or with our church family, similarly points us to Jesus as the one who has the power and who changes lives.

Why doesn’t He heal us all? Oh He will. Jesus did not intend to merely keep us perfectly healthy for this momentary life. Everyone eventually gets a sickness or injury that overtakes them. This woman, healed of this sickness, eventually died of something else. Now she is with Jesus, awaiting the resurrection. The great physician prepares us for a day when there will be no more sickness or death. Jesus prepares us for a day when our bodies will not break down. His healing ministry was meant as signs pointing us to a future day, when sickness and death will be no more.

Jesus wants us to look to Him in our sicknesses, sometimes for healing in this life, but always with our hope for the next. Sometimes it is “Daughter, be healed.” And other times it’s “Daughter, be patient. The time is coming.”

Rick Harrington is a pastor at First Baptist Church - Haverhill in Massachusetts. He is the author of the books "How to Find a Church: Seven Steps to Becoming Part of a Spiritual Family" and "The Weight of Preaching: Heralding the Gospel of Grace". You can follow his writing on his blog The Lamp Post.