Healing and Intimacy

This morning I have been reflecting on the story of the man that was born blind, but healed by Jesus on the Sabbath (John 9).  This is such an interesting story for it illustrates several realities I believe we see when the Lord moves in healing and miracles today.  When confronted with healing and miracles we have several options available to us:

1) We can say the person never was sick or in need of healing.(Denial)
2) We can say that if the person was healed that it is of the devil. (Cessationism)
3) We can acknowledge the person is better but believe that this is the result of some human innate ability. (Humanism)
4) We can acknowledge the healing but assign the source to some other god, or spirit. (New Age)
5) We can acknowledge the healing but find fault in the one who prayed, or their ministry, looking to discount this so we can go back to our normal religious life and practice (spirit of religion)
6) We can accept the healing is from God and worship Him and give Him praise. (Faith)


If we look at the story the true purpose of the healing is shown to us in the following verses - John 9:35-38 NIV:

[35] "Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 

[36] “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 

[37] Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 

[38] Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him."

I believe that the purpose that the Lord has for healing and miracles is to bring individuals to relationship with Him!  He wants people to realize that He is real, that He loves them and that He can be involved in their lives.  He is demonstrating His very real love, and His desire is that we understand this.  He is not healing just for the sake of healing, as some sort of calling card of effective ministry, but He is inviting those healed into relationship with Him.

The Greek word translated worshipped is the word proskuneo and it literally is meaning to kiss the hand, like a dog licking his master's hand. It is more normally defined as:

1) to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence
2) among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence
3) in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication
     a)  used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank
         1. to the Jewish high priests
         2. to God
         3. to Christ
         4. to heavenly beings

I personally like the affection shown by a dog to one's master, as a picture of pure affection, of acknowledgement of one's master or Lord, of the delight in his presence, of the single-minded focus.  When our dog Charlie was still with us, I would come home from any trip, no matter how short, and she would come running to greet me at the door.  She would put her head between my legs and wrap her front paw around the back of my leg.  She seemed so excited to see me and expressed her affection by wanting to be as close as possible.

Earlier in my walk with the Lord, I read somewhere a definition of worship as "running to and embracing" and this is what I think of when I read verse 38 above. The healed man was probably close enough to hug Jesus, to bow down at His feet, to grasp His sandalled feet, to kiss His feet, or His hands and he probably did them all.  The Lord desires our affection, because He loves us, not because He is some warped master.  His purpose in healing this man wasn't just that his life would be better, but rather that He might have relationship with him.  If it was just to make his life better, than Jesus would have never sought him out after healing him.

In summary, I believe that we must always couple healing prayer and ministry with the invitation to deeper relationship, to greater intimacy.  The Lord, in His compassion and love, is inviting us to draw deeper, expressing His love through physical touch. He wants us to know of His love for us, and wants us to understand that He is good and able to affect our lives in real ways.  He desires an interactive relationship, one that is more than just worship from a distance.

Amen!