As we’ve been reading through the Gospel of Mark, one thing that has stood out is the variety of ways Jesus has brought healing to people.
Mk 5:1f – Jesus heals a demon-possessed man, who didn’t seem to want to be healed.
Mk 5:21f – Jesus heals Jarius’ daughter in response to the faith of her father.
Mk 5:24f – Jesus heals a woman who had bee hemorrhaging for 12 year, who simply touched Jesus’ garment.
Mk 6:6f – Jesus sends out the 12 to cast out demons and as they do so, they also heal.
Mk 6:53f – Jesus healed those who touched the fringe of his robe.
Mk 7:24f – Jesus casts out a demon from a Gentile woman’s daughter, based on her faith, without ever seeing the girl.
Mk 7:31f – Jesus heals a deaf man by putting his fingers into the man’s ears and then by spitting on his fingers and putting them on the man’s tongue.
When we try to say that this – whatever the this is – is the way Jesus healed and therefore the way he heals today, we reduce Jesus to a magic worker. He is Lord, God, and he heals any way he wants to heal.