Jesus the reluctant healer?

How do we deal with the passages in the scripture where Jesus (after healing them) tells the person, "don't tell anyone about this?"

In Mathew, Mark, and Luke there are a number of healings where Jesus instructs the beneficiary to not speak of their healing to others.

It sounds crazy. "What!?" We are tempted to shout. "Don't you want people to know about you?" Not a good way to run a ministry Jesus. Not good marketing Jesus. 

So why would Jesus say this?

I believe the answer is in understanding Christ's eternal work.

To a sick man his greatest need is physical healing. The immediacy of his need presses upon him through the suffering of his illness.

Think of times in your life when you were in bed with a fever. What was your primary interest? Was it not to simply feel better? Your day-to-day concerns faded to the background in importance. Your immediate need overshadowed everything else in your life.

Jesus request for silence was a practical request. His primary mission was to bring life to a lost and dying race. He would not let the primary mission become overshadowed by the immediacy of physical illness. His mission is eternal healing. A man physically healed by his hand today could still be lost to the kingdom of God. 

It is a testimony of his compassion that he indeed did heal the sick. But his purpose was so much greater than this. Recall his statement to the Pharisees before the healing of the paralyzed man.

"Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, and walk'?" The healing of the paralytic was AFTER Jesus said to him "your sins are forgiven."

Humanly, we tend to view the healing as the real miracle and the words about "forgiveness" as just kind words leading up to the real miracle. But Jesus doesn't see it that way. He addressed the man's greatest need first.

I believe this provides insight into what Jesus says in John 14:12.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

Many believers read this verse with a twinge of guilt - thinking of the many miracles performed by Jesus, and noticing a lack of the miraculous in their lives.

On the surface that seems logical. But is it true?

From a human perspective what can be greater than praying for a sick person and seeing them instantly healed?

That is not a rhetorical question. There is indeed something greater. The answer to "what could be greater" is REDEMPTION. The redemption of a person's life for eternity.

Jesus said we would do "greater" works. The Greek word used is "megas."

In this context it means larger and of more significance.

Jesus used physical healing to demonstrate and establish his authority to grant eternal healing. He transforms temporary suffering into eternal grace. And today he extends that same authority and mission to his church.

Jesus didn't want his ministry to become a side-show for those who only wanted  a quick fix, entertainment, or a free meal. In fact he actively drove those away who weren't there for the right reasons (a discussion for another day).

Believers need to see the world through the same eyes that Jesus does. We need to see the miracle of lives redeemed for eternity.

Reality "check please"

Luke 5:30-32

30 But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus replied to them, “The healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus was confronted by the religious people of his day with the question - "why are you hanging out with these sinners?"

On its surface it sounds like a simple question. But let me rephrase it in a way that makes their assumptions more explicit. "(If you really are a righteous prophet) why are you hanging out with these sinners (instead of those of us who have dedicated our lives to righteousness)?"

Their question wasn't simply an indictment of the fact that these people were sinners (a point that Jesus didn't debate btw). Their question was an attack on the identity of Jesus. "If you hang out with sinners then you must really be a sinner, and certainly not a prophet."

Jesus responded in a magnificent way. Even hypothetically granting that if their assumption was true, they were still wrong to dissociate from sinners. Saying in effect "Let's agree that these people are indeed sinners. But shouldn't righteous people spend time with people who need righteousness, in the same way that doctors spend time with the sick?"

There was nothing more to be said. Jesus' point was irrefutable, there was no reasonable basis for the righteous to avoid sinners.

But there is another important point that can be drawn from the doctor patient metaphor. There is a subtext that Jesus leaves hanging in the air.

We've all known people who avoid doctors. You may be one yourself. Whether it's the fear of bad news, needles, cost, or simple inconvenience, many people would rather do anything else than seek the help of a doctor. But the reality is that we will all need the help of a healer at some point in our lives - whether we want to admit it or not. In other words - we are all sick.

To the religious Jesus said in effect - "I'm the healer come to help the sick - I'd help you too, but you won't admit your need for help."

Jesus wasn't rejecting the religious when he compared himself to a physician. They were rejecting their need of a physician.

Those of us who claim to know the living God must never place distance between ourselves and others, on the basis of our perceived spiritual healthiness. No matter how long you've known Jesus, you need his healing touch every bit as much as the worst sinner you can imagine. The distance between the best and the worst person in the world disappears when we look at  Jesus.