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Healing:
Miracle, Medicine, and Magic Howard Clark Kee
Jesus’ story of the man from Samaria treating the wounds of the traveler he found beaten up along the road raises the question, "How does healing take place?" Some people in the ancient world thought sickness and wounds could be cured by a miracle, but others relied on medicine or magic. Words with a variety of meanings are translated in the Bible as "miracle," but they all refer to something unusual that God did. As told in the Old Testament, God’s amazing actions for the benefit of his faithful people and the punishment of the wicked continue are found throughout the history of Israel. Throughout history men and women have claimed that they could get similar results by magic: helping themselves or their friends, doing harm to others through certain kinds of actions or words, or using objects (stones, or liquids, or almost anything) thought to have special powers. As a healer, Jesus compares his work with that of a
physician because he helps those in great need ("sinners"; Mark 2.17), and he
heals a woman who had spent all her money and become only worse "under many
physicians"
Jesus’ story Storytelling, Luke-Acts, and the Good Samaritan of the man from Samaria [Samaria/Samaritans] treating the wounds of the traveler he found beaten up along the road [Victim Beside the Road] raises the question, "How does healing take place?" Some people in the ancient world thought sickness and wounds could be cured by a miracle, but others relied on medicine or magic. Words with a variety of meanings are translated in the Bible as "miracle," but they all refer to something unusual that God did, as when he changed the order of creation by dividing the land from the sea. As told in the Old Testament, God’s amazing actions for the benefit of his faithful people and the punishment of the wicked continue are found throughout the history of Israel. How do humans perform miracles? Moses (Exod 4) and Aaron use rods and show that God’s power is greater than that of the Egyptian magicians who also used rods ( Exod 7.10–12). The source of power to transform and heal, as well as to punish, is God at work through his chosen agents. Throughout history men and women have claimed that they could get the results they wanted by magic: helping themselves or their friends, doing harm to others through certain kinds of actions or words, or using objects (stones, or liquids, or almost anything) thought to have special powers. Some deeds of the leaders of Israel did look like magic, although it was forbidden by the Law of Moses Oral and Written Law (Exod 22.18; Deut 18.10) and by the prophets of Israel (Mic 5.12; Mal 3.5). Actions that look like magic include Moses raising his hand to divide the waters for the people of Israel to cross (Exod 14.21–22), Elijah praying to God for the life [Eternal Life] of a child and then lying on top of him (1 Kgs 17.20–22), and the man coming back to life [Eternal Life] when his body touches the corpse of Elisha (2 Kgs 13.20–21). But the biblical writers believe the results come because God is at work, not because of human words or actions or because of some qualities in physical objects. Jesus [Jesus in Luke] compares his work with that of a physician because he helps those in great need ("sinners"; Mark 2.17), and he heals a woman who had spent all her money and become only worse "under many physicians" (Mark 5.25–34). His aim is to extend his healing benefits to those outside the bounds [Saved by a Foreigner] of the Jewish people (Luke 4.23–29) just as the prophets had done (1 Kgs 17.8–15; 18.1–2; 2 Kgs 5.14).
Jesus’ story [Storytelling, Luke-Acts, and the Good Samaritan] of the man from Samaria [Samaria/Samaritans] treating the wounds of the traveler he found beaten up along the road raises the question, "How does healing take place?" Some people in the ancient world thought sickness and wounds could be cured by a miracle, but others relied on medicine or magic. Words with a variety of meanings are translated in the Bible as "miracle," but they all refer to something unusual that God did, as when he changed the order of creation by dividing the land from the sea. But by God’s special act, the water of the Red Sea was moved away to let Moses and the people of Israel cross to Sinai, and then God made the water come back to drown the Egyptians ( Exod 14). The Jordan River stopped flowing in the same way so that God’s people could cross into their new land (Josh 3.14–17). When Israel later recalled these acts of God for the benefit of his people, they praised him (Deut 7.19; 11.3; 34.11–12; Ps 107). God’s amazing actions continue throughout the story of Israel, as when the man of God predicts accurately that God will punish those who make sacrifices to images of animals and also destroy their altar (1 Kgs 13.1–6). Sometimes the whole order of the universe changes, as when God helps Joshua and the army of Israel defeat their attackers by throwing stones down from heaven (Josh 10.11) and by making the sun and the moon stand still so that the Israelites had time to destroy their enemies (Josh 10.12–14). God also arranges that people or things are at the right place at the right time, as when a ram is caught in a bush just when Abraham needs it (Gen 22.13) or when Saul arrives at just the right moment for Samuel to anoint him with oil as Israel’s king (1 Sam 9.15–16). Sometimes there is direct punishment by God, as when Uzzah touched the holy covenant box (2 Sam 6.6–7). These acts of God for the benefit of his faithful people
and the punishment of the wicked continue to take place in the later history of Israel. A
small group of people that are so faithful to God that they are willing to die are saved
from death by fire or lions (Dan 3.27–28; 6.22, 27). In such
unusual events the writers of the Psalms and the later teachers of the Law [Teachers in
Israel/Expert in the Law of Moses/Oral and Written Law] see God at work to preserve and
reward his people (Pss 1–5; 136; Neh 9). Miracles also
occur to show God’s approval of individuals for their leadership roles at various
times in Israel’s history: Elisha, for whom an axe–head floats ( 2 Kgs 6.1–7), and
Samson, who kills his opponents even though his only weapon is the jawbone of a donkey How do humans perform miracles? Moses Most of the biblical miracle stories are connected with God’s benefits to his people: the sick are healed; the dead are restored to life [Eternal Life] ( 1 Kgs 17.17–24); women who could not have children give birth ( Gen 21.1–2; 25.21–24; Judg 13.2–20; 2 Kgs 4.14–17). Aaron’s sister Miriam ( Num 12), those bitten by a deadly serpent ( Num 21), and King Hezekiah ( 2 Kgs 20) are some who were healed. But in both the Old and New Testaments [Formation of the New Testament] such miracles are signs that point to a larger meaning for the people of God. Exodus 7.3 and 10.1–2 celebrate the miracle of Israel’s escape from Egypt as "signs and wonders." Their experiences in the desert of Sinai are also evidence of God’s special purpose for them ( Deut 4.34; 6.22; 26.8; Josh 24.17). This belief is affirmed in the New Testament [Formation of the New Testament] ( Acts 7.36). A similar view of God’s miracles is confirmed by the prophet ( Isa 8.18) and even by the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar ( Dan 4.1–3), who saw how God preserved his faithful people in the fiery furnace. Yet when Jesus’ opponents want him to perform a miracle to prove that God is with him, he refuses ( Matt 16.1–4; Mark 8.11–12; John 4.48; 6.30). Only those who are God’s people can fully understand the meaning of God’s acts in their behalf ( John 2.11; 20.30–31). But when these events are public, there is the possibility that those who are not God’s people will recognize that God is at work there, as is noted especially in the book of Acts ( Acts 2.19–22, 43; 4.30; 5.12; 8.13). In his Letters, Paul claims that the unusual acts he has performed are given by God to confirm his message of the good news about Jesus [Jesus in Luke] and his role as apostle ( Rom 15.15–19; 2 Cor 12.12). In later generations of the church, the power to heal was believed to be at work within the life of the community, as when healings were performed within the group ( Jas 5.14–15). What place is there in the Bible for physicians? In the Old Testament it is said to be wrong for God’s people to depend on human healers, instead of directly on God ( 2 Chr 16.12). Physicians are first mentioned in the Bible as the ones who embalm the body of Jacob so it can be taken back to Palestine ( Gen 50.2–5). Job dismisses his critics as worthless physicians (Job 13.4), and Jeremiah says that God is to be the true physician and healer of his people ( Jer 8.22), since healing is God’s special work for his people ( Exod 15.26; Ps 41.5; Jer 17.14; Hos 6.1). Jesus [Jesus in Luke] compares his work with that of a physician because he helps those in great need ("sinners"; Mark 2.17), and he heals a woman who had spent all her money and become only worse "under many physicians" ( Mark 5.25–34). His aim is to extend his healing benefits to those outside the bounds [Saved by a Foreigner] of the Jewish people ( Luke 4.23–29) just as the prophets had done ( 1 Kgs 17.8–15; 18.1–2; 2 Kgs 5.14). Before and after the time of Jesus, Greeks and Romans went to the shrines of Asklepios, the god of healing, to be cured of their ailments, which were thought by worshippers of this god to be miracles. Some forms of ancient medicine also began there, but the cures described—such as eating the liver of a fox or drinking juice from an iris plant—had no connection with the cause of the diseases. In ancient Israel, those who lived in disobedience to God might be driven mad (go crazy) because of the defeat, sickness, and enormous losses that God would send on them ( Deut 28.28–37). The prophets warned against the madness of those who worship idols ( Jer 50.38) and those who falsely claimed to speak for God to his people ( Isa 44.25; Jer 29.26). Some evil powers are named: Lilith is a female demon that lives among the wild animals in the kingdom of evil ( Isa 24.12–14); Azazel lives in the desert, where evil sacrifices (goats) are offered to him ( Lev 16.26); Leviathan is the evil power that lives in the sea ( Job 3.8) and the "king of terror" ( Job 18.14). In the later books of the Old Testament, the evil power that accuses God’s people and leads them to disobey God is called Satan, which means "the Opponent" ( Job 1.6–12; 1 Chr 21.1; Zech 3.1–2). In the New Testament, the demons make people crazy ( Matt 8.28; 17.15; Mark 5.1–5). Jesus’ ability to drive out the demons and restore health to those controlled by them is evidence that God’s rule is already taking place in the world ( Luke 11.20). In Acts 10.38 Peter describes Jesus’ work of healing in the world as freeing those who were under the power of the devil. Jesus is the one who liberates those who trust him from sickness, from madness, and from the powers of evil, not by medicine or magic, but by miracle. |