Jesus' approach to illness was the right one. He did not refuse anyone who needed help. His motive was compassion, not publicity. In fact, he often instructed the people he healed not to tell anyone. He did not scold those who came to him for their lifestyle that might have contributed to their disorder. He did not charge anything.
Apparently he realized that social isolation is one of the worst things about being sick, so part of his healing technique was to reintegrate the person back into society. He recognized that disease was not a legitimate part of the natural order, but a larger disorder that affected the individual.
Still he did not speculate about it. He just went ahead and healed. But he did not speculate his healing as isolated "miracles" He saw them rather as preliminary hints of a whole new order of things, one that lies beyond human grasping but can be discerned by those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Chapter "Why the Crowds Came", in When Jesus Came to Harvard, Making Moral Choices Today by Harvey Cox
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment