1. Jesus’ First Healing

In recent times we have been reflecting upon the person, nature and role of Jesus as it is recorded in the Gospels. Mark commences his gospel with the baptism of Jesus, his fasting in the wilderness and being exposed to the temptations of satan. Then, he prepared for the launching of the Galilean Ministry by gathering together the first disciples. From there, “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach” (Mark 1:21).

Capernaum is a city located on the eastern shore of the sea of Galilee. In the synagogue of that city Jesus began to teach on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a weekly day of rest and worship, observed by Jewish people, which begins the sunset of Friday and ends the next sunset. In Judea, each city had at least one synagogue, a house of assembly and prayer, where Jewish worship services took place. During the service they read and listened to lectures from the Jewish Bible. Anyone could give lectures, providing they received permission from the ruler of the synagogue.

When Jesus spoke there, “The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law” (Mark 1:22).

“The teachers of the law” were people who gave lessons based on the Torah (the first five books of the law as revealed by God to Moses), and the Mishner (The Jewish Oral law). The latter is a compilation of directions about how to practice teachings of the Torah in daily life. Thus lectures from the law teachers were practical and detailed in all activities of life. In contrast, Jesus taught them as one who had divine authority. His essential message was: “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).

The audience was impressed and amazed because they found in Jesus’ words completely different and new. In that synagogue there was a man possessed by an evil spirit and he began to cry out: “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24).

‘Spirit’ is ”רוּחַ -rouah” in Hebrew and “¦Ð¦Í¦Åύ¦Ì¦Á-pneuma” in Greek, which originally meant breath or wind. In ancient times, humans thought supernatural power presented itself in the form of breath or wind. Where a spirit was perceived to be coming from God it was called ’spirit’ whereas another which might come from a demoniac existence was called an ‘evil spirit.’ Ancient people considered psychological illness to be caused by such evil spirits, because the symptoms produced the inability of communication with other humans, extending to that with God.

Jesus made the evil spirit quiet as Mark recorded: “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek (Mark 1:25-26). Jesus’ first healing in the Gospel is the exorcism of a demon. Naturally the crowd in the synagogue were amazed: “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him” (Mark 1:27).

According to the Gospels driving out evil spirits and healing people was a feature of Jesus’ early work. But, for one’s modern reasoning mind, those works which go beyond our human ability to comprehend, are sometimes difficult to accept. Therefore we often leave out or gloss over the issues and the preaching methods of Jesus as the Gospels faithfully record. But I think it would be meaningful to seek attentively the messages we can derive from these episodes of exorcism and healing that Jesus chose to perform in the early days of His ministry.

2. Wrong Spirit in Today’s World

To us, who live in the 21st century, the portion of Mark chapter 1, might be descriptive of a cultic exorcism. But, despite that, Mark recorded similar cases repeatedly in his Gospel. For example,"Calling the twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits” (Mark 6:7). And: “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them” (Mark 6:12-13).

In Jesus time, sickness was considered to be a punishment by God for sin. The people of that time thought God used evil spirits for that purpose. Therefore the sick, especially lepers, were excluded from communities and considered cursed by God. Mentally deranged people were also thought to be impure and therefore prohibited from entering into public spaces. But Jesus was moved with compassion (Mark 1:40–45), because he knew that sickness is not a curse from God. God loved the world so much he gave his only son to grant us salvation and forgiveness (John 3:16). Such a merciful God would never want the sick to be excluded from society. And Jesus, in accordance with God’s love continually drove out evil spirits and healed the sick.

In today’s world those who suffer from psychiatric illness are also suffering from social prejudice. In Japan, the number of suicidal cases increased to 30,000 last year. If statistics were to include the number of failed attempts, the total would be more than 300,000. The majority of those who suicide are people who are severely depressed and afflicted with a range of psychiatric conditions. If we count their family members there might be more than 1 million people who are suffering from a sickness in kind.

We are living in a society where people think and behave egocentrically, and neglect the needs of others. Neurotic, deranged and depressed people can sometimes no longer cope with the everyday stress of life and suddenly explode into violence. For example, recently an arrested murderous aggressor confessed to the police that he wanted to kill because he was frustrated. However even today’s medical researchers cannot fully explain the real cause of some illness related behaviour.

Currently the world economy is undergoing a severe recession, which is hurting industry and causing job losses. During the good times of business expansion, many large Japanese companies employed temporary workers without the guarantee of welfare benefits. Now, they are cutting the jobs of those employees who are not covered with social security. As a result, they have no way of obtaining their essential day-to-day needs. Many of these workers will need help as they suffer through stress related illness and neurotic conditions. Some may perceive this to be unlucky, others might see it as an evil spirit in their midst.

The World Health Organisation describes health as a dynamic state of complete physical, psychological, spiritual and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. I would like to draw your attention to the expression, ‘physical, psychological, spiritual and social well-being.’ That is exactly what Jesus sought for the sick people of his day. In other words to save those who were excluded from societies due to their physical or mental state. In God’s Kingdom there is no segregation.

3. Our Search for Healing

Today’s invocation verses are Matthew 8:16-17, “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.’”

We find in the synoptic Gospels 115 episodes in total concerning the healing works of Jesus. The sheer number explains why writers have considered them to be an important part of Jesus’ ministries. However, some contemporary churches do not place much emphasis on the healing ministries. Even Paul does not refer to those episodes in his letters. Many still wonder if there is such a thing as divine healing in the Christian community today.

But I think the modern church should take seriously the healing acts of Jesus and his disciples. In many instances, Jesus healed people who were considered to be sinners. For example, a man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man, “I am willing, be clean!” (Mark 1:41). Even on Sabbath days healing ministries were conducted by Jesus who, for instance, said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone” (Mark 3:3).

Jesus carried the burdens of the sick, the lonely and depressed by accepting social accusations and personal intimidation. He shared their pain. The modern church can still learn from the Gospels by sharing the pain of socially excluded people, by reaching out to them in their hour of need. Jesus commenced His ministry with the words, “The time has come” (Mark 1:15). He healed the sick and dispossessed with a word and a touch. He nurtured the afflicted into a sane and sensible relationship with God.

The miracle of healing gave authority to Jesus’ teaching and preaching, and many still believe that God has given today’s Christian church the same miraculous ministry. So, the time has come for us to try and do whatever we can for the social victims of today. We can pray with sincerity for those who have lost their jobs and others in society who have a wrong spirit. With a word and a touch we can help the healing process of those afflicted with illness and special needs. By so doing, we will be following in the footsteps of Jesus.