Like A Domestic Servant?

I had a Paul-on-the-way-to-Damascus experience early yesterday morning.  I didn’t really have a good night’s rest and finally gave in and got up much earlier than I normally do.  After brewing a fresh steaming cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, I shuffled with my eyes half open into my study and somehow ended up reading from Matthew chapter eight.  This has always been a favorite chapter of mine when I want to read verses about Jesus healing the sick.

So with my wife in mind, I read on in earnest.  It was as I began to study some of the individual Greek word meanings that I “saw the light” of God’s fresh revelation!  Matthew specifically points out Jesus’ activities in healing the sick as the visible demonstration of what the prophet was expressing in Isaiah 53:4.  This Old Testament prophecy that Peter declared as being completed for us in I Peter 2:4, talks about the power and legal standing of Jesus’ stripes for our healing. It is one of the main defenses that we are using in standing against the attack of the enemy against my wife’s health.

Matthew 8:16 concludes the telling of these events by saying: “and (He) healed all that were sick.” (KJV)  According to both Strong’s and Thayer’s, the word “healed” (that is also used in many of the stories describing Jesus’ activities throughout the Gospels) expresses two points.  The most common that I have seen in the past 35 years is “to heal, cure, restore to health and to make whole and complete” through the laying on of hands and prayer during church services. (ie; Mark 16:18)

The clarifying light that I saw yesterday though, came from the initial use of the word where it implies: “to serve, to wait upon menially, to relieve.”  Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines menially as “to attend to someone’s every need, like a domestic servant.”  This additional usage of the Greek word really struck a nerve in me.  I began to see that Jesus did not just pray for the sick but He also ministered to their physical needs in the giving of comfort and relief to their pain and weariness.

I have often read of Lepers in some of the former Leper colonies overseas who commented about the extreme peace, joy and comfort they received when Christian Missionaries would minister to their physical needs.  Many related how the actual touch of the missionaries upon their diseased limbs was the greatest medicine of all.  These are people who had not felt a physical human touch for years!  The Missionaries came in to their colonies under the direction and calling of the Holy Spirit and were therefore not afraid to be close and personal with the sick.  I have also heard similar stories of Christians who ministered to plague victims during epidemics around the world in the past as well as in current times and never caught the sickness.

In our personal experience over the last four plus years, we have seen lots of good meaning Christians share many kind words with us, but few take the time to actually visit or attend to my wife’s physical needs.  It has been kind of an eye opener to me as I have also recently spoken with other Christians who have dealt with long term illnesses with loved ones who related similar circumstances as ours.

I was blessed beyond measure last week when we took our car into a Christian friend’s automotive shop to have some work done.  This family was actually one of the very few who physically have reached out to us.  When Piper and I were ready to leave one of the owner’s sons, a young man who had been a student of ours in Children’s Church and later on a class assistant, came over to my wife, bent down and took Piper’s hand, looked her sweetly in the eyes and said good-bye. Piper was really tired that day and did not really respond, but that didn’t stop Cody from ministering to her (and to me!)  That to me folks, is a demonstration of what the author was trying to convey by his usage of the word “healed” in Matthew 8:16.

I guess I am a little confused as to why we don’t see enough of this.  Maybe it is the extreme busyness of people’s lives, a lack of teaching or just plain fear.  Now I will say that I do know of some churches whose congregations excel at physically ministering to the menial needs of their sick.  But this should be the rule and not the exception.  I think that we need to see a greater resurgence of this side of Jesus’ healing ministry in order to be more like Christ... and to be more effective in the world.  What about you?

Have a great week.  Stay in tune to the Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”