"If Jesus Is A Wayshower, What Did He Show Us?" – Part 4 of Series – "Jesus' Approach to Healing"
“If Jesus Is A Wayshower, What Did He Show Us?”
Nancy Detweiler, M.Ed., M.Div.
Revised 2005
Part 4 of Series
“Jesus’ Approach to Healing”
The four gospels are filled with accounts of Jesus healing. Jesus’ approach to healing can teach us much about why illness occurs and how healing may take place.
In Matthew 8, a leper kneels before Jesus, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean. He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
In biblical times, leprosy was a highly contagious disease, requiring purification. Although Jesus could heal the disease, the man had to fulfill the rites of purification before a priest in order to be ritually clean. Rituals portray symbolically a greater truth or universal law. The purification ritual reminds us that no healing can be permanent unless we seek purification of the error thinking and behavior that brought about the dis-ease. That the ritual was to take place in the Temple, or synagogue, signifies that the God within the temple of our being is the Source of all true healing. As we turn inward and commune with God, purification and healing is available. In order to be lasting, all external modalities of healing must be accompanied by our own commitment to internal purification and healing.
I would caution all of us: dis-ease can serve many purposes, both in an individual’s life and in the lives of those within the family and community. In John 9, Jesus healed a man who was born blind. When asked who had sinned, the man or his parents, Jesus responded, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” Before incarnating, this man had volunteered to be born blind in order to assist Jesus in his teaching ministry. Souls may volunteer to incarnate with, or confront a health challenge, so that others might evolve spiritually as a result of caring for or associating with them.
Whenever Jesus met someone who truly had faith in the healing process, he responded with enthusiastic praise. Faith plays a major role in healing. Once unwavering faith in healing exists, it is simply a matter of time. Again in Matthew 8, a Roman centurion came to Jesus, requesting, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress. And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed ….’ When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith ….’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.”
Faith involves intuitive knowledge of Truth. The centurion was attuned to the Father manifesting through Jesus. His inner knowledge allowed him to believe, without a tinge of doubt, that his servant would be healed. The servant’s healing also serves as an example of distant healing. When we participate in a healing prayer circle, the energy we send to the names called goes to each individual. What that person does with the healing energy is his/her choice. The servant was ready to be healed, thus he received the energy—sent to him by Jesus—as the means of healing.
In Matthew 9, we have an example of Jesus forgiving sins (sins = error thinking and behavior) as a modality for healing. A group of friends brought a paralytic, lying on a bed, to Jesus. As they approached him, Jesus perceived that the man’s paralyzed body was a result of past or present life negative karma. The universal law—”We reap what we sow”—had manifested in the paralytic’s life. Jesus intuited that the karmic debt had been paid, that the man was now ready to receive healing. He simply said, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At that moment healing occurred. Then to prove, to the religious leaders observing him, that the Father within each of us has the power to forgive and heal, Jesus commanded the man to: “Stand up, take your bed and go to your home. And he stood up and went to his home.” This man had earned the right to be healed by paying off his karmic debt. How? We cannot be sure; very likely, by accepting and dealing with his physical condition in the most positive manner possible. His healing also served as an example to others. God’s grace is available to all of us as we sincerely seek to forgive self and others. Then, we must be willing to transform the way we live our lives, so that we manifest an outer expression of a true inner healing. Jesus commanded the man to stand up, take his bed, and go home. His friends were no longer to carry him. Instead, he was to assume responsibility for his own life.
An example in Matthew 15 is curious because Jesus appears to respond on the basis of prejudice. A Canaanite woman begs him to heal her demon possessed daughter. Jesus ignores her pleas, but she is loud and persistent. Finally, he speaks to her: “‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”
In Bible metaphysics, a Canaanite individual symbolizes the material consciousness that seeks fulfillment solely on the physical level. Israel signifies those who seek God. (Charles Fillmore, Metaphysical Bible Dictionary) So what appears to be prejudice is actually Jesus’ recognition that to offer spiritual teachings and healing to one who is not seeking God is to waste the energy. When the Canaanite woman reminds Jesus that the dogs eat the crumbs from the master’s table, she is expressing her desire to receive from the Master, even though she had not previously sought God. Jesus recognized her persistence and the unfolding of a higher consciousness within her, and healed her daughter.
Persistence is often required of us. Persistence builds stamina, self-discipline, and the capacity to concentrate on lifting our consciousness to a higher level. This example also proclaims our capacity to be “our sister and brother’s keeper.” The Canaanite woman was persistent in seeking help for her daughter, who was helplessly possessed. The mother’s transformed consciousness served as the avenue through which her daughter was healed. It is the same for us. We can, by lifting our consciousness to a higher level, serve as an avenue of healing for those around us. And, when enough of us lift our consciousness, the critical mass will be attained and all of humanity will begin to perceive Light instead of darkness.
The last example is found in John 5. Jesus entered the pools of Bethesda. Many invalids sat around the pools, waiting for an angel to stir the waters. It was believed that the first person to step into the waters, after the angel stirred them, would be healed. Jesus perceived one man, ill for 38 years, was ready to be healed. He asked him: “‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat, and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.”
This man had been ill for 38 years. 3+8=11 or the number vibration of self-mastery. He was ready to be healed; however, a prerequisite for healing is the desire to be healed. Jesus could intuit that the man had accomplished his soul’s purpose in his prolonged illness. But, did he want to be healed? Wellness could mean great changes in his life. Chronic illness can provide many perks that the individual may not be ready to give up, such as the constant attention and caring of others. At least one staff member at Unity Village is very firm in asking each of his potential clients: “Do you want to be healed?” If the person hesitates and is not sure, the healing work is postponed until the individual is ready and can affirm unequivocally: “I want to be healed.”
Jesus recognized that healing is temporary unless the individual truly desires to be healed. While it is possible to be cured from one condition, the same will re-occur—or another will take its place—if the healing is not desired and if the person is not willing to make the necessary changes in lifestyle. In following Jesus’ command to take up his mat and walk, the man revealed through his actions that he was ready to transform his life. He chose wellness, not dis-ease, and set about integrating wellness into his lifestyle.
Our movement toward healing requires that we consciously make the choice to release the old way of life and embark on a new adventure—that of accepting wellness into our lives. Receiving a healing can mean that we must make an honest evaluation of our lifestyles and determine the factors that contribute to dis-ease. May we all love ourselves enough to make the changes needed to create an environment and lifestyle that brings about healing and allows us to maintain a state of wellness.
In the words of the Apostle Paul, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? …. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
We glorify God by caring for our physical, emotional, and mental health … by wanting to be made well and by graciously receiving a healing … by knowing that physical death is the ultimate healing—if the individual chooses that avenue of returning to spirit realms. Physical death, for that person, signifies the completion of soul work assigned for this incarnation. Once the soul’s mission is finished, we are freed to return home.
There is, however, another way. As we move into the Golden Aquarian Age, the multitudes have been granted the opportunity to ascend into the 5th dimension of higher consciousness without having to go through physical death. Planet Earth is scheduled to ascend to the 5th dimension; we are granted the choice to ascend along with it. We may do so by purifying our energy field and lifting our conscious awareness to the level of the Peace, Love, and Light that characterize the 5th dimension. Death will be no more.
UNITY’S PRAYER OF PROTECTION
The Light of God surrounds me,
The Love of God enfolds me,
The Power of God protects me,
The Presence of God watches over me.
Wherever I am, God is.
And, all is well.
BENEDICTION
Go forth, knowing that your healing comes from “the Lord [who] upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down.”
Affirm: You, O Lord, raise up “the eyes of all who look to you; and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is just in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:14-18
