So…yesterday I talked about the family of Jesus and a bit about evil spirits, the occasion being the passages in Matthew and Mark showing Jesus healing a man from demon-possession, and his family saying of Jesus, ‘He’s out of his mind.’ Neither part of my discussion touched the real message of the passage. So here goes.
I am enthralled by the healings of Jesus! Especially this one. Matthew tells us that the ‘demon-possessed man…was blind and couldn’t speak. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.’ Instantly! He restored functions that naturally take years to fully develop, especially speech. In my imagination I can see Jesus in the man’s mind, first throwing out its destructive occupant; then working to heal the physical defect in the eyes and throat, the ability of seeing and speaking nerves to both transmit and receive usable data, and then the centers in the brain that controlled sight and speech to function normally. But that wouldn’t be all. For speech the man would need a usable vocabulary, a strengthened tongue and voice box, and subtle instructions to the lungs to control air flow. Finally, the healing had to convince that dormant brain and its functions that it and they could operate normally, so that it would even make the effort. I am enthralled!
As I have read the gospels over and over I have come to believe that Jesus had decided that he simply would not allow disease or disability in his presence. In the Mark passage it says, “…Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat.” It wasn’t because he was simply in conversation with people. They were healing, restoring, and putting lives back together! And apparently there were so many in need of their care that they literally had their hands full.
In my brain is a vision of my life as I enter the presence of Christ in Heaven. I will be wearing a magnificent new body, and I will feel the wild strength of eternity coursing through me, but that will not be the best of it. I believe that when I come fully into his presence I will be healed of all the diseases of my mind and soul. My addictions, depressions, lack of full faith in all its expressions, uncertainty, and fears will be banished forever. In their place I will finally find what it means to be fully forgiven by the God of creation, and to be restored to perfection. There I fully expect to shout with an astonishment and joy so powerful that only heaven can contain it.
And that will only be the beginning.
Prayer: “Father and Brother, I am so eager for your heaven!”