I’m looking right at the other half of me – the person I am when I’m with my family, when I’m at church, when I’m the breadwinner for my family, when I’m on my own, when I’m with just my friends.”
A month after surgery, my friend was able to resume all these activities without hesitation and felt whole again.
The following Sunday, as he was preparing to preach a sermon, he felt the urge to go out and buy a new jacket to give to his wife, to replace the one that had fallen apart. A couple of days later he went out to give her that gift. To his surprise, he felt no anxiety or trepidation about going out by himself to do so.
He told me, “I think I’m healed. My body feels strong, and I have a peace about me that I didn’t know I had lost.”
Now don’t miss my point. There is not a single mention of medication, or talk about the benefits of prescription drugs for depression in these true accounts. But there is mention of the Lord’s touch, Jesus’ presence, grace, and power. These two men – one with terminal cancer and one with his body in a state of paralysis, both of them in the hands of their doctors and God – were healed because they trusted Jesus and relied on him. They were healed because God touched their souls and healed them.
I cannot help but think about Jesus’ words in John 11:25-26: “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.”
“He abode two days still in the same place where he was.” I often wonder how many times he had to “abode” before he healed his friend. Or more important, how many times had he needed to “abode” before he touched someone’s life?
What an experience this man had!
That is why I must share this passage of Scripture with you. This is a story about Jesus’ compassion for a friend in need. It is a story about God’s supernatural power in the life of someone who was suffering. It is a story about the value of friendship and the power of a compassionate God.
If you have never studied theology, read this passage. Read it now. And then look into the face of Jesus and see what it means that he “abode” with a friend in pain. Do you think you could do that?
When my friend walked out of the hospital, he asked for my help to go through his belongings and get rid of anything to do with his old life. But the Bible, my Bible, a book that was so dear to him – the Bible that had been with him for so many years, and that had touched him so deeply – was not an item he wanted to give up.
Then he saw the cover of the Bible. “This one,” he said, “this is the only thing I want to keep.”
My friend could not remember what the words on the cover said, because he had never looked at them. But those words seemed to be written there for a reason.
He said, “I can’t read, but I know this is my story. It’s my own story, and it’s true.”
I knew my friend loved his Bible. I knew he often read it and that it had affected him deeply. But I had no idea how much this Bible meant to him until I read this passage in Psalms in the New International Version of the Bible, from Psalm 73. It tells the story of God’s redemption of a righteous man:
Psalms 73:1-26New International Version (NIV)
1 “O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek you;my soul thirsts for you,my body longs for youin this parched and dry landwhere there is no water.2 I have seen you in the sanctuaryand beheld your power and your glory.3 Because your love is better than life,my lips will glorify you.4 I will praise you as long as I live,and in your name I will lift up my hands.5 My soul will be satisfiedas with the richest of foods;6 with singing lips my mouth will praise you.”
7 O God, I will praise you as long as I live;I will sing your praise on my harp.8 But now you plant[a] my severe enemiesas on my briers and thorns.9 The very sight of them is painful to me;I suffer severe distress.
10 How long, O Lord, must I call for help,but you do not listen?11 I cry out to you, “Violence!”but you do not save.12 Why do you make me look at injustice?Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
13 Destruction and violence are before me;there is strife, and conflict abounds.14 Therefore the law is paralyzed,and justice never prevails.
15 The wicked hem in the righteous,so that justice is perverted.16 The Lord[b] keeps the wicked under guardbut lets the godly go free.17 Therefore he fails to see their fate;the righteous he brings down by their own necks.18 My eyes are filled with streams of tearsbecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people.19 They use their power[c] to no good end;the taunt of their tongue[d] is against them.20 The Lord is at their sideas their protector;so that all who hate them will be shaken.21 The Lord will strike them down[e] in their anger,and fully destroy them;he will bring them to an end,their lifeblood will be poured out.
22 “How blessed[f] is the man whom God corrects;so do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.23 For he wounds, but he also binds up;he strikes, but his hands also heal.24 He will deliver you from six troubles,seven crises, or seven deadly disease,25 in fact from the hands of evil people,whose purpose is to hurt you.26 The Lord will guard you and keep you alive,so that you may not experience the sword.[g]27 You will thrust back your enemies in the day of your anger.”
As Christians we have a God-shaped hole in our hearts that only Jesus can fill. His healing comes in small doses. It comes in little pieces, little words, little steps. We have to be willing to bear with the slow pain and slow healing, trusting God’s words and God’s plan. This is the story of a patient in pain. It is the story of a man who waits, and waits, and waits, and is filled with hope.
Do not forget the story of the man Jesus healed when he said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” He also said, “Blessed are the poor, for the kingdom of God belongs to them.” Then he added, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” And the Bible tells us that “he who sent me is with me, he who has an ear, as it were, to hear. I spoke out to him; he heard me. I have been what I am because of him.”
Who is that? “He who has an ear, as it were, to hear”? That is God. He gives and gives and gives.
I will add one more passage from the Bible. That is how Jesus healed the sick man who brought him news about his friend Lazarus. “So he made a whip from some ropes and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’” And then Jesus said this: “How dreadful it will be for you people! What will you do on the day of judgment? For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get out of here, you who are doing wrong.” So the blind man left, hurrying away in fear and trembling.
This story is one of judgment and mercy, of justice and grace. It is a story that has more questions than answers.
Jesus healed Lazarus by bringing him out of the tomb. We have no idea
