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Jesus empowered/expected his followers to heal.
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Jesus empowered/expected his followers to heal • Mt 10:1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness… 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. • An Imperative: A command
Jesus empowered/expected his followers to heal Luke 10:33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Good Samaritan teaches us that… • One doesn’t need to have a kinship with a person to care for their well being • Caring for a person’s well being takes time • Caring for a person’s well being is inconvenient • Caring for a person’s well being will cost us
Jesus empowered/expected his followers to heal Mt 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Caring for Sheep parable • People who can’t help themselves are still people of value“the least of these” • Caring for a person’s well being moves you into a position of expressing your love for God Himself • THIS CONCEPT CHANGED THE WORLD!
The culture at the time of Jesus discarded the sick and infirmed • "The world the Christians entered during the Greco-Roman era had a colossal void with respect to caring for the sick and dying,... Dionysius, a Christian bishop of the third century, described the existing behavior of the pagans toward their fellow sick human beings in an Alexandrian plague in about A.D. 250. The pagans, he said, “thrust aside anyone who began to be sick, and kept aloof even from their dearest friends, and cast the sufferers out upon the public roads half dead, and left them unburied, and treated them with utter contempt when they died” (Works of Dionysius, Epistle 12.5).
The culture at the time of Jesus discarded the sick and infirmed • How different from the behavior of the Christians! Dionysius tells us that the Christians, when it came to caring for the sick and dying, ignored the danger to themselves: Very many of our brethren, while in their exceeding love and brotherly kindness, did not spare themselves, but kept by each other, and visited the sick without thought of their own peril, and ministered to them assiduously and treated them for their healing in Christ, died from time to time most joyfully. . .drawing upon themselves their neighbors’ diseases, and willingly taking over to their own persons the burden of the sufferings of those around them. (Works of Dionysius, Epistle 12.4)
The contrast is also noted by modern historians. “When epidemics broke out,” says Howard Haggard, the Romans “often fled in fear and left the sick to die without care.” Haggard further notes that the Romans saw helping a sick person as a sign of human weakness; whereas Christians, in light of what Jesus taught about helping the sick, believed they were not only serving the sick but also serving God. Thus, Christianity filled the pagan void that largely ignored the sick and dying, especially during pestilences. In so doing, it “established the principle that to help the sick and needy is a sign of strength not weakness.” (Haggard pg 108 )This Christ-motivated humanitarian behavior, so admirably displayed by his early followers, also introduced “the notion that because God loves humanity, Christians cannot please God unless they love one another.” This, as Rodney Stark puts it, was revolutionary.
Jesus taught that his followers must “deny themselves.” • Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. • Mark 8:34, Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. • Luke 9:23, Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
The first “hospitals” were arguably founded by Christians because of their faith “…before Christian compassion for the sick and indigent was practiced, there were no established medical institutions (hospitals) for nursing and ministering to the general populace. Some might ask whether the pre-Christian shrines or temples of the mythical Greek healing god Aesculapius, of which there reportedly were more than three hundred, were hospitals. Historians of antiquity commonly contend that these shrines were not hospitals but places where people spent “only a single night and that for religious reasons.”
The first “hospitals” were arguably founded by Christians because of their faith • "Smout admits there is a modicum of truth to the belief that the Greeks and Romans had some form of hospital before the Christians introduced them, but he asserts that the Aesculapia or valetudinaria were not places where the sick of the general public were housed and cared for out of charity. 17 They were at best only places for treating soldiers. Charity hospitals for the poor and indigent public did not exist until Christianity introduced them. 18"
The first “hospitals” were arguably founded by Christians because of their faith • "The first hospital was built by St. Basil in Caesarea in Cappadocia about A.D. 369. It was one of “a large number of buildings, with houses for physicians and nurses, workshops, and industrial schools.” 21 Some historians believe that this hospital …ministered exclusively to the sick. 22 The rehabilitation unit and workshops gave those with no occupational skills opportunity to learn a trade while recuperating.
The first “hospitals” were arguably founded by Christians because of their faith • These units reveal additional humanitarian awareness, and it would be difficult to argue that this awareness had nothing to do with the spirit of Christ alive in St. Basil, the good bishop of Caesarea. After St. Basil’s hospital was built in the East and another in Edessa in 375, Fabiola, a wealthy widow and an associate of St. Jerome, built the first hospital in the West, …in the city of Rome in about 390.“
The first “hospitals” were arguably founded by Christians because of their faith "It is important to note—and the evidence is quite decisive—that these Christian hospitals were the world’s first voluntary charitable institutions. There is “no certain evidence,” says one scholar, “of any medical institution supported by voluntary contributions. . .till we come to Christian days.” And it is these Christian hospitals that revolutionized the treatment of the poor, the sick, and the dying."
Major Health Care Organizations were founded by “faith- ful” Christians who inspired others • About the famous Florence Nightingale: "She went to Kaiserswerth to observe its health care practices. The Christian spirit …greatly impressed her. Upon returning home to England, where her well-to-do parents expressed their disgust with her visit to Kaiserswerth and her nursing desires, she reported feeling “so brave as if nothing could vex me again.” In 1854 Nightingale went to Crimea, on the shores of the Black Sea. Here she nursed British soldiers wounded in the Crimean War. Sometimes she spent twenty-four hours on her feet or eight hours a day on her knees dressing wounds. She comforted, consoled, and wrote letters for many;"
Major Health Care Organizations were founded by “faith- ful” Christians • "“The Star of the East,” as (Florence) Nightingale was often called, returned to England after the war as a national heroine. Indeed, who has not heard of her! At home she devoted the remaining fifty years of her life to promoting hospital reform in administration and in nursing. In 1860 she founded a school of nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in London. 56 This humble, compassionate woman, who was propelled by her love for Christ to help the sick and dying, lifted the art of nursing to a level of dignity, honor, and medical expertise not previously known. Today there are thousands of nursing schools indebted to her principles. She accomplished what she did because she never doubted her own words: “The kingdom of heaven is within, but we must also make it so without.”
Major Health Care Organizations were founded by “faith- ful” Christians • "another Christ-minded person labored to spread humanitarian aid to unfortunate victims. He was Jean Henri Dunant (1828–1910), the son of a wealthy Geneva banking family. In 1859 Dunant witnessed the suffering of wounded soldiers at the Battle of Solferino in Italy’s struggle for unification. “Never shall I be able to forget,” said he, “the eyes of these victims who wished to kiss my hand.” Five years later (1864), he and four associates, together with twenty-four delegates from sixteen nations, formed the International Red Cross. …life was not always kind to him. He lost his banking fortune, was expelled from his country, lost his good name, and lived as a virtual vagrant for many years in Paris.
Major Health Care Organizations were founded by “faith- ful” Christians • But God did not forsake him. A decade or so before he died, his native country Switzerland allowed him to return with honor and dignity, and in 1901 he received the first Nobel Peace Prize ever bestowed. What seemed to matter most to him was his faith in Jesus Christ. This is apparent from the words he spoke on his deathbed: “I am a disciple of Christ as in the first century, and nothing more.” (Gumpert, pg 300) Dunant’s Christian beliefs moved him to establish an organization that would console and bind up the wounds of battle-scarred soldiers. His faith apparently also led him to choose the Christian cross, the symbol of Christ’s suffering and redemption, as the new organization’s emblem. This symbol, a cross painted red…"
Christians started a movement of healing that has led to our extended lifespans • "By 750 A.D. the growth of Christian hospitals, either as separate units or attached to monasteries, had spread from Continental Europe to England. About this time the city of Milan in Italy established a hospital that specialized in caring for foundlings. During his reign in the eighth century, Charlemagne, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and a strong defender of the sick and poor, constructed numerous hospitals. And by the mid–1500s there were 37,000 Benedictine monasteries that cared for the sick. Nearly four hundred years after the Christians began erecting hospitals, the practice drew the attention of the Arabs in the eighth century.
Christians started a movement of healing that has led to our extended lifespans • Impressed with the humanitarian work of Christian hospitals, the Arab Muslims began constructing hospitals in Arab countries. Thus, Christ’s influence, which moved his followers to build and operate hospitals, spilled over into the Arab-Islamic world, demonstrating once more that Christianity was a major catalyst in changing the world, even beyond the boundaries of the West. In this instance, it changed a world in which the sick were once largely left to fend for themselves, to one in which they were now given humanitarian medical care, a practice not known previously. Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan had become more than merely an interesting story."
So What? • Throughout history Christians have set their own safety aside to step in and be present with people in the midst of physical trauma and illness. • Does today’s knowledge of illness and our emphasis on personal health move us forward in following Jesus’ command to heal or move us in the opposite direction? • How important is the ministry of presence in today’s healing process? • How important is the ministry of touch?
So What? • How far are you willing to “deny yourself?” • Being present with a person with a terminal illness? • With aids? • What is your cross? • That which you voluntarily do that could cause you personal pain and damage? • What does it mean to you to follow Jesus? • Self help? • Submission?
So What? • Challenge: Spend time with a person this week who needs healing. • What are you asked to do? • What are you unwilling to do? • What causes you to be humble as you spend time with this person? • What causes you to be arrogant as you spend time with this person? • What does it mean to “be Jesus” to this person?
