Christ: The Healer of Humans and Nations

Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’? 2 Kings 5:12-13

With the news of the death of another friend or relation or someone close to us there is always a temptation to ask why and wonder if God is still answering our prayers. When nations are inundated with numerous crisis, bad leadership and economic difficulties again many are tempted to start questioning the efficacy of our prayers and God’s willingness to answer us.

Jesus Christ after His earthly ministry gave authority to His disciples and those that will believe to “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation”(Mark 16:15) and that “these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18).

Unfortunately it appears at times that this authority is eluding us. We are many times so carried away by the logic of this world that we ignore Scriptures. Like Naama in 2 Kings 5:12, we are asking if ‘the rivers of Damascus, are not better than all the waters of Israel”. We fail to realize that the power is not in how eloquent the words are said or the church or gathering or the ‘man of God” but the power is Jesus Christ. He is the healer of all humans and nations. Just like the servants told Naama, “wash and be clean”, believe and you shall be healed. “Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” John 11:21. She forgot that Jesus could have just said the word from any location He was and Lazarus could have received his healing. He speaks to storms and they obey Him.

God is sovereign, His ways are not our ways. All He requires from us is obedience and trust in Him. Even when He seems to be silent when we have prayed and believed, He wants us to keep trusting in Him because He has His plans for us, plans “to give you (us) a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). The story is told of the following words “scribbled across a wall of a synagogue where hundreds of Jews were housed for later extermination in a gas chamber during the holocaust…: “I Believe in God even when He is silent”

By living our faith in a loving, caring God, we bring healing hope to others. By not sinning and by choosing to be forgiving and compassionate, we make healing a part of our daily lives. In our own homes, parishes, and communities we can bring Jesus’ healing touch to the sick, to the outcast, to the dying and to our nation. Let us therefore step into this week holding Christ’s healing hand and affecting people around us.

Do have a blessed week ahead.