The healing miracles in Luke show God’s love for the suffering. Jesus showed that forgiveness of sin is involved in healing. We see this in Luke 5:17-26 (Jesus heals a paralytic) where part of the cure was to let the man know he had been forgiven. Jesus came to bring wholeness (of body mind and spirit) to people. The teachers of the law got angry that Jesus was forgiving sins but he proved he was the Son of God by forgiving the man and therefore healing him.
Another healing miracle in Luke is the faith of the centurion (Luke 7:1-10). In this miracle there is a centurion who has an ill servant. He sends some Jewish elders to ask Jesus to come heal his servant. This shows that the centurion respected Jesus as a Jew. Also when the Jewish elders came to Jesus they told Jesus that the centurion loved the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for them. This made Jesus realise that the centurion was good so he agreed to heal the servant. When Jesus was not far from the house the centurion sent some friends to Jesus to say that Jesus did not have to come into the centurion’s house. This again showed that the centurion respected the Jews as it would have made Jesus religiously unclean to enter a Gentile’s house. The centurion also passed the message on that if Jesus just gave the word his servant will get better. This shows that the centurion had faith in Jesus and the fact that he could heal from a distance. Jesus saw all these things and healed the servant just as asked. This showed that Jesus had compassion for the centurion, as he was a good man, and that he felt sorry for the man as he loved his servant very much.
There are three nature miracles in Luke. The nature miracles are important because they showed God’s power breaking into the world. In the story of Jesus calms the storm (Luke8:22-25) we are told that Jesus and his disciples are on a boat and there is a great storm. The disciples have no faith and they panic and wake Jesus up. He calms the storm, by rebuking the wind, showing that he is selfless. Also we see that his identity is hidden as even his own disciples do not know who he is, but their faith is deepened.
Another example of nature miracles is when Jesus feeds the five thousand (Luke 9:12-17). This miracles shows that if you have faith, great things will happen. In this miracle Jesus shows that he is selfless and he wanted all the people to eat and be content. He obviously loved the people so he provided them with food to strengthen their faith.
There are only two miracles in Luke in which Jesus raises people from the dead. These miracles showed that the power of God was stronger than death and nothing could stand in God’s way. In the story of Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:41-42, 49-56), Jesus helped the girl because when the father asked Jesus for help he had faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus healed the girl by telling her to get up. When Jesus said this she woke up and everyone was overjoyed. In the story we also see that Jesus helped Jairus because he was a devoted father and that Jairus didn’t want to take advantage of Jesus. We know this because in the story someone said "Your daughter is dead; don't bother the teacher any more." This shows that Jesus wanted the people to have faith and not give up. That is another why he helped the father, because Jesus wanted to strengthen the father’s faith.
The other story, in Luke, in which Jesus raises people from the dead is the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-15). In this story a widow’s only son has died so he is being carried out of the city in a coffin. In this story Jesus feels very sorry for the mother as she has no husband and no other son’s to take care of her. She is alone and Jesus felt compassion for the woman. He then touched the coffin and told the son to rise. The son did this and the widow was very happy.
In Luke there are several stories in which Jesus casts demons out from people. These miracles showed that the Kingdom of God is stronger than the Kingdom of Satan. In the story of the man with demons at Gadara (Luke8:27-35) Jesus casts demons out of a boy and sends them into a herd of pigs who drown. Jesus healed this boy because he felt compassion for him and he saw how the demons possessed him. Also the boy called Jesus Son of the most high God. Jesus would have seen that the boy recognized him as the Son of God and seen that he had faith that Jesus could help him.
Jesus performed miracles to show people he was the son of God and to reward people’s faith. Also, Jesus felt compassion for many people. From the miracles in Luke we can learn a lot about Jesus. For example he was selfless and he had compassion for a lot of people. Jesus was universal. He helped everyone from women to children. The miracles in Luke are a good way for us to get information about who Jesus was and what he wanted to say.
(B) Discuss the meaning of healing miracles with reference to present day belief and Christian life.
The healing miracles of Jesus are very powerful to Christians today as they show God’s love for the suffering. Christians believe that miracles show God’s love for the suffering and they show God’s love in practical action. They show that Jesus had compassion for people, therefore helped them by healing them or the ones they loved. Jesus wanted people be healthy and he also wanted them to be whole, in mind, body and spirit. Christians know that forgiveness of sin and repentance is involved in healing. Faith is involved in miracles as well, as often faith leads to miracles, not the other way around.
There are ten healing miracles in Luke altogether. All of these miracles can teach and help Christians today. They can teach Christians how to live their lives and how to treat others. For example, in the story of the Woman with the Haemorrhage (Luke 8:43-48) we see a lady who has been bleeding for twelve years. She touches Jesus’ cloak and is immediately healed. When Jesus asks who touched him and she replies he tells her that her faith has healed her. This shows Christians today that if they have faith then miracles will happen and if they have faith, good things will happen. Also we learn that if you are honest and repentant that Jesus will forgive and be kind to you. He will not get angry with you and he will not punish you.
Another example of a healing miracle in Luke is the man with swollen limbs (Luke 14:1-4). In this story we see Jesus asking high priests if he can heal on the Sabbath. When none of them reply he heals the man. This shows that Jesus believes that even on a holy day like the Sabbath (when Jews believe you should not work) that if someone needs your help then you should help them and not turn them away. This shows Christians today that they should be compassionate. It also teaches them not to get too tied up with unimportant things but help people instead.
Christians today believe that the miracles happen because the Bible reports them as having happened. Roman Catholics believe that miracles still happen today and are documented and examined as part of Catholic life and belief.
Catholics believe that if people are seriously ill or near death then a priest can put some blessed oil on the sick person’s forehead and call upon God to heal the person. This is called the sacrament of the sick.
Catholics believe that the miracles that Jesus performed were an important part of the ministry of Jesus. They believe that each miracle reveals something about who Jesus was. Catholics also believe that faith in Jesus is needed if a miracle is to take place.
People do believe in miracles though. We know this because many people go on pilgrimages to holy places such as Lourdes. There have been many claims of healings from Lourdes but there is also scepticism. There are people who don’t believe that the miracles happen today. They say that it is just in the mind. The people that think this are probably atheists. It is mainly Catholics who go on pilgrimages as they believe that miracles still happen today.
Most Christians might not just take the miracles at face value. They might not believe them to be true but they may believe that the miracles stories can teach us something about how we live our lives. For example they might believe that in the story of the paralyzed man (Luke 5:18-25) Jesus heals a man even though he has sinned. Jesus heals the man because he is repentant and because Jesus sees how much the man’s friend want to help him. Some people may believe that this story teaches us to have compassion for people who are hurt or ill. Also it teaches us to forgive people but also to be repentant ourselves when we do something wrong. It teaches us that if we are repentant then God will forgive and heal us. Christians might read the miracles and get this response out of them. They may not believe that Jesus actually did these things but that the stories are told to teach us how to live our lives without giving us a set of rules.
Some Christians believe that going to a church’s healing service and praying can heal them or one that they are praying for. An example of a church where healing services take place is Addingham church, in west Yorkshire. On the first Sunday of every month they have a healing service where you can go. Hymns are sung and the bible and prayers are read. Then those who wish to be healed or wish for others to be healed come to the front of the church, say the name of the person who they want to be healed. Then the minister will place his hands on the head of the person and prayers are said. The prayers said are for the healing of the body, mind and the spirit.
Bibliography
The sources I have used are:
- The Collins concise dictionary
- The Good News Bible
- Bible Gateway (internet site)
- R.Cooper – Luke’s gospel
- http://www.life4seekers.co.uk/aplaceforgodinourworld/Response.htm
- http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/part2_2.html