Leviticus 10:1-2
Aaron's sons did things that the Lord hadn't commanded them to do in worship. They were not doing anything the was AGAINST the rules, but they were trying to make up their own ways of worshipping God, thinking that they could "improve" on what God had come up with.
Leviticus 11
I have always heard that the laws that were handed down to the Israelites were for the purpose of being set apart from other nations, and I get that. I understand that reasoning and the importance of that. But what I don't get is why they could eat particular animals but not others. What makes a rock badger, or a lobster, or an owl, unclean? Why those specific animals?
Leviticus 13:9
If you are cleansed of a leprous skin disease, one of the things you have to do is shave off your hair, ALL your hair, including your eyebrows. Because the leprous skin disease wasn't humiliating and embarrassing enough.
Mark 1:20
I love the image of James and John not only leaving immediately to follow Jesus, but that they probably jumped out of the boat into the water, getting soaked, and then trying to run through waist deep water to the shore where Jesus, Simon, and Andrew were standing, all the while with Zebedee and the hired men watching from the boat, wondering what in the world was happening.
Mark 1:43-45
I wonder if the man who was cured ever went and presented himself to the priest or made the offerings he was supposed to make to God. He certainly didn't keep his mouth shut about the whole thing like Jesus told him to.
Mark 2:5-12
What was the paralytic man thinking in between when Jesus told him his sins were forgiven and when Jesus told him to take up his mat and walk. Was he wondering why Jesus hadn't healed him, or was he rejoicing that his sins were forgiven?
Today's wonderings:
What do we imagine healing to be? How do we understand it? Is it physical, spiritual, emotional, or some combination of the three? Or is it something that we can't really qualify or quantify because we really don't understand exactly what it means unless we understand the situation?
For example, take the paralytic man whose friend pulled a McGuyver when they hauled him up onto the roof, dug through the ceiling, and lowered him down in front of Jesus. What was he expecting was going to happen? What were his friends expecting was going to happen? Were they bringing him to have Jesus heal his paralysis, or did they want him to hear the incredible message that Jesus was preaching, so that perhaps he would have some reassurance and hope in life, even if he was still paralyzed?
So often when we think of healing, we think of it in the physical sense. And in today's world, with all the science and technology, it is hard for us to comprehend or hope for physical healing. We hear the doctors report, that there is nothing more to be done, and we give up, convinced that the situation is hopeless and we must let go. Sometimes, this is the logical and rational conclusion, and we must accept that no one will live forever.
My family faced this 3 years ago when my father suffered a massive and sudden brain aneurysm. We were told by the doctors that there was no coming back from what had happened, that even if he did recover, he would never be the same. We all agreed that my dad would not want to live like that. Some would say that we had given up hope. I do not agree.
At that time, we decided to let go, to say goodbye. I still believe that if it had been the will of God to miraculously heal my father, that my dad would have been healed. But that did not happen. And, to my knowledge, no one prayed out loud for that in front of my family. The pastors and priests that were there to support us never once uttered the word "heal".
But what they did do is pray for us to have comfort that we were able to say goodbye, that we we confident in our decisions regarding what to do, and that we would have peace. They prayed for spiritual and emotional healing for my family, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
I like to think that the paralytic was eternally grateful to Christ not only for being healed physically, but for being healed spiritually and emotionally. I cannot even fathom what it must have been like for him to stand up, pick up his mat, and walk out of that house. But what I would imagine was even more amazing and incredible would have been that Jesus Christ, savior of the world, God incarnate, looked him in the eyes, and said to him, "Son, your sins are forgiven." I cannot imagine a more life-changing event than that.
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