“Your faith has made you well.”* Like many things Jesus says, these words make me uncomfortable. I am instantly transported back to my high school logic class: if it is true that having faith makes you well, then the logical implication is that being unwell must mean you do not have faith. And the idea that people suffering from illness would be healed if they just had more belief is the kind of cruel victim-blaming in modern Christianity that I can’t abide.
But as I wrestled with Jesus’ words, it occurred to me how familiar they were. Jesus speaks not only to this Samaritan who has been healed of his leprosy (the only one of the ten healed who returned to Jesus to show his gratitude), but also to the women who has been hemorrhaging for twelve years, and Bartimaeus who is blind. All three people are suffering not only physically, but socially as well. The Samaritan and his nine companions suffering from leprosy were probably isolated from the rest of their community given the highly contagious nature of their condition. The woman’s illness rendered her ritually unclean, so she was likely excluded from key aspects of community life. Whether Bartimaeus was poor because he was blind or blind because he was poor we don’t know, but we do know he was left to beg kindness from passersby.
But they share more than that. All three dared to come close to Jesus, despite the fact that doing so was improper, transgressive even. The Samaritan threw himself at Jesus’ feet even though both Jewish and Samaritan religious leaders generally taught that it was wrong to have any contact with the opposite group. The woman dares to reach out and touch him despite her “uncleanness.” Bartimaeus yells out for Jesus, drowning out those who would hush him.
All three inspire us with their boldness. They call out to us through the millennia: rules be damned, when you need Jesus, go get you some Jesus! Maybe this is the “wellness” of which Jesus spoke — not about their physical healing, but the fact that through their courage they refuse to be outsiders any longer. On the contrary, they experience these intimate moments of connection with none other than Jesus himself. No longer objects of pity or revulsion, today we see them as paragons, role models who show us the way: out of isolation and into love.
–Erica Lloyd, Seekers Church
- Are there areas in your life where you need courage to reach out?
- Can you remember a time when reaching out for Jesus made you well in ways you did not expect?
