I am drawn to the conclusion that the healing power of Jesus was comprehensive. A touch of His cloak, the declaration of a word, the grasp of His hand, and the physical and spiritual transformation took root.
For this reason, the healing account of the deaf man in Mark 7:31-37 is worth exploring. The thoroughness of the work of Christ is matched by the intentional lessons He taught in the process. So when Jesus, a crowd magnet, drew the object of His attention away from the throng, I believe that there was meaning in the method.
Now isolated, Jesus demonstrates an unprecedented approach to healing. “He put his fingers into his ears and after spitting touched his tongue.” ~ Mark 7:33b (ESV)
In a private act Jesus invokes His healing touch in very personal ways. There was no claim of grandstanding for the seats were empty. It was Jesus and the wounded, broken and desperate recipient. A world of silence was confronted with the fingers of the master and a paralyzed tongue was attacked by the touch of a stranger. Add to all of this, spit. What a recipe, what a process.
Was Jesus experimenting? Was He pretending? Was He entertaining? No, for I believe that every word and every action of the Son of God was a divine stewardship.
In this act, Jesus made contact with the very areas of this man’s life that had caused him pain and embarrassment. By reaching into the depth of the distress that confronted this man every day, Jesus did more than restore, He liberated.
The healing power of Christ is effective enough to combat our darkest secret and our most exposed defect. And in this exemplary act, Jesus touched the very areas of deepest disappointment and need. He empowered what had been impotent.
What we ignore, what we work to cover-up or cover-over, Jesus discretely and gently acknowledges and encounters. Our pain becomes His platform, our brokenness provides the raw material for His masterpiece.
No wound too deep, no pain too personal, no shame too permanent that a touch from the Savior can’t restore.
Our pain, His purpose, His process… His plan.
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