The Syro-Phenician Woman's Daughter: Devil Vexation

In Tyre and Sidon, (Zidon) after leaving Gennesaret, Jesus is encountered by a woman of Canaan regarding her daughter who is vexed with a devil. The setting of Tyre and Sidon is an interesting backdrop for a healing which involves the casting out of a demonic spirit, because these were the 'twin cities' on the coast which were known for riches, world trade and a host of decadent practices and lifestyles, including slavery. In the Old Testament, Ezekiel warns Tyre and Zidon that they are to be so judged for the degree of their wickedness that only fishing nets left out to dry will remain, and other prophets note their wickedness as well such as Isaiah and Joel:

Eze 26:3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.


Eze 26:4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.


Eze 26:5 It shall be [a place for] the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.

Yet it is here in the remnants of the once great cities, that a non-Israeli woman seeks and finds the healing for her daughter from the Savior who was the answer to the wickedness of those cities long before.

The woman is of Canaan, and she approaches the Lord with pleas for mercy:

....And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is greivously vexed with a devil. Mt 15:22

Jesus's response though, is initially one of non-response. It says he 'answered not a word', but the persistence of another gentile, would be used for an illustration to Israel, just as had the faith of the Centurion in the last study. She was apparently making quite a stir, begging for the well-being of her daughter, for the noisome woman caused the disciples to come to Jesus to send her away:

Send her away; for she crieth after us.

The clamoring and crying though showed the requisite faith which Jesus sought in all those he healed: she KNEW that Jesus could heal her daughter. In true form though Jesus does not give an expected answer, but answers from the depth of Heaven, saying

"....I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" 15:24

Is this an unkindness by the Lord? Is He telling the stricken mother that only Jews can be healed? There are a couple times in Scripture where it seems on the surface that Jesus is being less than kind, but that is a serious misunderstanding. The woman is a Canaanite: they were even in the day of Jesus idol worshippers. The woman is seeking healing from a Jewish man, a rabbi, a prophet (nabe), so her faith has already carried her over one boundary, for neither the Canaanitish people nor the Jews cared for a great deal of commerce among one another. Jesus's response though is very telling, because he does not first attend to the healing, but addresses his purpose, of being sent to Israel, and being for the sake of Israel. It is not that Jesus is unconcerned with the suffering of her daughter, but instead the passage emphasizes his concern with the lost of Israel. Salvation was of the Jews. The prophecies were of the Jews, the Jews were the oracles of God: the faith she had was being trained a step further.

The woman responds not with outrage or rebuke but enters into faith further, showing

1. worship

2.faith, and

3 supplication.

Then came she and worshipped him, saying 'Lord, Help me.' Mt 15:25.

This humility and heartfelt plea to the Lord, showed that she believed he was the Lord, or at least divine, because she fell in worship! While certain pagan groups occasionally treated a rare few as 'gods', such as Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:12) most did not fall in worship at a man's feet, yet this happens over and over in encounters with the Lord.

Some think this interchange between the Syro-Phenician woman and Jesus indicates prejudice or insensitivity but that is also not true. One must remember the predicament of first century Israel. The Syro-Phenicians with others farther north had:

1. Changed the ways of God
2. Intermingled with the Jews which was forbidden
3. Had a false system of worship, and
4. Were characterized by idolatry.

They were enemies of the Jews who hardly treated them well. Here though is not a political issue, but a grieving mom, begging for the true Lord's help and worshipping him. Yet Jesus replies what seems curtly:

"...It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." vs 26

While the word 'dogs' may seem abusive,and the word means exactly that, it was used in that day for 'evilworkers' and sorcerers (Ph 3:2; rEV 22:15) to refer to those to avoid who would ruin the faith of Israel, and were equated with murderers, adulterers and idolators who are kept outside the gate. He was noting that healing and the Gospel were for the more faithful Jews, at least first, but the woman continues in her plea for mercy:

And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbswhich fall from their Master's table.

She is tenacious and will not let go. She never rails, never takes offense, never ceases right humility before the Lord, but reasons with the Redeemer that she is aware of Truth, and that she will settle for the smallest crumbs of what the Lord will offer.

The Reward of Persistent Faith

Does Jesus turn away and ignore her? No, it was never the way of Jesus to ever turn away those begging to be let into fervent faith. Faith as we have seen time and time again, was what Jesus was after, even requiring for healing. He immediately turns away from the sharp response, to a reward of the woman's faith, who is pleading not for herself, but for her child:

"O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt"

The reward of faith for this non-Jew, this Greek-Canaanite-SyroPhenician woman isgreat and immediate:

"...And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Mt 15:28"

This healing takes place right before the great multitudes are healed on a mountain beside Galilee.

The Vexation of a Devil

The parallel passage in Mark (7:25) speaks to the vexation as an "unclean spirit". The term appears 11 times in the Bible, 10 of which are in the New Testament and the Greek reads,
akathartos pneuma. Pneuma, as we have spoken of before in other bible studies is spirit with the connotation of air or breath; akathartos is rendered 'unclean' but applies to ceremonial uncleanness and/or moral uncleaness. The possession by 'devils' or demonic possession often carries with it a lewd characterization as well: whatever those walking in light and love and holiness are comfortable with, the demonic is equally uncomfortable with those things. Unclean spirits seem to love desert dry places (Mt 12:43) and are ferocious and violent, sometimes causing thrashing and unusual strength such as in the son who threw himself into a fire, or as in the Man of the Gadarenes whom chains could not hold, and found tombs a suitable habitat. An unclean spirit also, if cast out, wanders around dry places but with opportunity will return to a 'host'. The host we see in the New Testament is usually a person, and sometimes a child, but in one case, Jesus casts demonic spirits into a herd of swine who go charging over a cliff.

"Unclean Spirits" attend to the periphery of Jesus's ministry: from the announcement in the Synagogue of his ministry by the reading of Isaiah 61, his 'inaugural address' unclean spirits begin to occasionally cry out with howlings of 'i know who you are' but Jesus silences them.

In this healing, the daughter is not present, one of the few healings where merely the word of the Lord is spoken afar off, and the person is healed. This is one of the few where a devil is cast out without being directly in contact with the person. The mother BELIEVES and trusts, and the little Canaanite girl is completely well when her mother returns:

And when she was come to her house she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. Mk 7:30

Immediately following the casting out, Jesus departs to the coasts of Decapolis.

Sidon was the first city founded in Phenicia: and was know for breathtaking views, fruits and a fertile plain. There were many ruins and even today the 'King of the Sidonians' tomb may be found verifying the location. It was a place of Asthoreth worship, and Dagon and Baal worship---so that a history of demonic activity cannot be thought of as unusual, and either the mother's practices or that of relatives or acquaintances may have set the stage for the 'vexation'. However, in 1860 an expedition to the area found little verifying the curse of the prophets: the great story of the daughter's healing has lasted far beyond the one of the wickedness of the cities. The Lost Sheep of the house of Israel had but to wait momentarily for Jesus to return to healing Israel: the cause of healing for this woman from pagan surrounds was her humility, love and faith combined with trust and supplication, to provoke Israel to what was rightfully theirs.

Till next time: many blessings in the Name of Yeshua:
ELizabeth K. Best
----------------------------
note: this study is an updated version of an earlier study from 2005

Faith, In Israel: The Healing of the Centurion's Servant

Most of the healings done by Jesus were healings of the children of Israel. A few times though, and quite distinctly, Jesus heals non-israelis, even enemies of Israel, both in compassion, and to make a divine point. The healing of the Centurion's Servant is one such occasion.

The healing of the Centurion's servant takes place after the healing of the Leper, after the Sermon on the mount and before the healing of Peter's Mother-in-Law following teaching on Shabbat in the Synagogue. The healing is in Capernaum, Jesus' 'hometown' when he descends from the mount where He has taught the beatitudes.

The Roman Centurion who encounters Jesus seems an unlikely person to humble themselves before the Lord and Savior and ask for mercy for a mere servant. To begin with, the fellows chosen as centurions, were hardly chosen for their affability: they were brutal, strong and totally dedicated to Rome, and among the least likely who would ever approach a Jewish Rabbi and ask in faith for him to aid a suffering servant. On this day in Israel though, near the early part of Jesus' ministry of healing and preaching, the encounter both brought the Roman guard to trusting in the Redeemer, and to show all Israel, what God required in a people of faith, to exact the power and work of God in the nation .

This healing also bears another distinction: it is one of the few where the one who is healed, does not encounter Jesus. Yet ironically, the healing is one in which the Messiah points to the nature of faith behind all the healings: trusting in the Son of God.

The fact that the healing took place in the town Jesus lived is also remarkable, because even the divine Rabbi himself had pointed out that "a prophet is a prophet everywhere but in his own country". The Centurion, without us knowing why he was there on that particular day (they were all over Israel, but could have been sent to 'assess' this itinerate teacher), saw something in the Lord that impressed him so, that he confronts him about the healing of a servant sick at home. The request was simple:

"Lord my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented."

and the Savior's reply was equally simple:

"And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. Matt 8:7"

The Centurion's Act of Faith

Men of war rarely are concerned with the tender affection for a servant's suffering: they most often have a more brutal outlook on life, a 'matter-of-fact' approach to daily trivia. They also rarely see themselves as less than anyone, save for a superior officer, a higher 'order', and it was hardly a Roman stance to humble oneself before the Jews in general, much less before a 'country' preacher from Nazareth and the surrounds. The humility of the Centurion before God is eminent in this gentile soldier. Rome, most likely including himself, had been crucifying Jewish men, imprisoning others and some years before had set a group of zealots afire, burning them alive for protesting and taking down the Roman eagle insignia on the Temple, a sign of idolatry. The emphasis here on the man's humility needs to be seen in the context of the 'zeitgeist' of Israel in that hour. If one may speculate, it is not unlikely that the Centurion was of a slightly more humane sort, since he is noted in Luke as having built a synagogue for the Jews, and and that having most likely seen or heard of Jesus healing others, sent Jewish elders to Jesus on his behalf. (Not all of the healings Jesus did are recorded in the Scriptures). When the Centurion then espouses his 'unworthiness' for the great honor of the healing of a servant, it must be seen as the exceptional act that it truly is, and why Jesus later commends it.

"The Centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." mt 8:8

A Roman soldier noting his own 'unworthiness?' Think of how phenomenal that was to the crowd who attended. Rome did not bow to Israel, Israel was being required to bow to Rome. His request of the Lord was also one of utter trust: he was not looking for a sign or a miraculous act, or a feeling, but placed his faith in the WORD of the Lord. "Speak the Word only..." was the apex of his faith. It was faith in the Word of the Lord without requiring His presence or even his touch.

The Rationale of Rank and Order in Heaven and Faith

Faith is so critical among the virtues, in heaven's eyes, that nothing really surpasses it, save for Love itself: we are saved by faith, and faith alone, and the healings of Jesus are for the purpose of faith and salvation. The word 'faith' in the Greek is:

πίστις or 'pistis'

and it means belief, fidelity, or trusting in the truth, particularly of God. He is after our trust as He is after our Love. We can actually love God without really exercising life-giving faith: what's not to love? He saves, protects, keeps, provides and comforts. He is always there. But do we trust him? Even in daily life, we can love some one but not trust them, yet that is because people are not always trustworthy. God is. So to go to the depths of Love for God, the very thing He saves us for, is to go to the depth of faith and trust.

One of the reasons that the Centurion trusts the Lord is not merely because he saw other healings, but because he sensed the power of the Lord, and the authority of the Lord. Power and authority are two commodities which Roman soldiers understood. The Centurion understands implicitly Sovereignty, rank, order and leadership, as he conversely understands surrender to authority obedience and the necessity or quick obedience in battle. He is able to apply 'soldiering' to the divine order and battle as well. The Roman officer shows his understanding of sovereign authority and being under authority:

Mt. 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

The Centurion expects obedience from those below him, so he expects to obey those above, and in Jesus he recognizes such power and authority, that it illicits utter trust, to the point that he does not even feel worthy to have him under his roof, this great Sovereign whom he has encountered in Israel this day. This happens elsewhere in the scriptures. When Jesus stands before Pilate, Pilate's premiere question is whether He is a King. Another Roman Ranking leader says

Mar 15:2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest [it].

Isn't it noteworthy that there is such a sense of kingship about Jesus among the leaders of Rome and the leaders in that day of the Jews (in Roman collusion). Those men knew authority and what makes a leader. Herod in Jesus' infancy sends to kill the newborn infant king, sensing his eminent overthrow. The leaders of Israel when Jesus is 12 listen to him attentively in the Temple. I used to wonder why Jesus was only questioned and not arrested or killed when He overthrew the moneychangers: the reason: it was His house, His rule, and they could sense it. They question him instead about WHERE his authority comes from, not whether he has it:

Mat 21:23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

And by the time He is given over to the death on the Cross, Pilate sets his charges over His head much to the consternation of the Pharisees who have just crowned him with thorns, placed a scepter of reeds in his hand

Mat 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put [it] upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

and Pilate in unalterable Roman edict posts His crime:

Mat 27:37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

He does so in every language of the time and area. That the Roman Centurion then, recognizes immediately the greater authority of Messiah and the veracity of his word (the way, THE TRUTH and the life..), so much so that his entire trust is place in Jesus' word and command. It is such an impressive display of faith by a gentile, much less a Roman officer, that Jesus commends his faith and clear understanding of the divine nature of authority, rank order and obedience to Israel when he says,

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled and said to them that followed Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.

Now, it is not unlike God to use Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy!

(".... I will move them to jealousy with [those which are] not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." Dt 32:21)

Jesus certainly in the line of Jacob does not mean to 'supplant' Israel with Gentiles, but to invoke them to jealousy, that they may follow what is excellent in faith and other matters. He was sent first to Israel, to the '...lost sheep of the house of Israel' as had been all the prophets, because the Jews were sanctified and called out, set apart for a purpose to bear the Word of God, the Oracles of God, the Messiah, and the glory of God. The Jews were supposed to, at that point in history have been the leaders in faith, so when an excellent spirit in the form of a Roman Centurion exhibits that life-giving faith, not even for himself but for another at a much lower level of society, Jesus holds up his example before all Israel, that they might not be replaced by it, but take their rightful place in the doing of it.

Jesus Commends the Faith of Gentiles

Following the commendation of faith Jesus commends another well known account in the Tenach of great faith in a gentile woman encountering a prophet of God in the Widow of Zarepheth (Serpta) who was obedient to a prophet:

Luke 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Serepta, a city of Sidon unto a woman that was a widow. (Her son was brought back from death,)

and the healing of the Syrian King Naaman:

...and none of them [Israeli lepers] was cleansed, saving Naaman, the Syrian.

Naaman the King of Syria was OBEDIENT. He was a little particular in obedience to get rid of his leprosy, in that he wanted to wash in 'better rivers' in Syria, but he obeyed the prophet and was healed. Likewise, the Widow encountering the Prophet of God obeyed and her son lived. Jesus commends the FAITH of these two non-Israelis, not to replace Syria for Israel, but for Israel to learn to take the lead. In the New Testament he also commends the faith of the Syrophoenician woman and seeks the faith and understanding in Samaria of the woman at the well. He was interested in faith above national and ethnic boundaries.

That faith is such a pre-eminent value is self-evident: Jesus commends it above even the Chosen status of the Chosen people, and the apostle Paul notes in Romans that 'they are not all Israel that are of Israel'. Love is the greatest value, but real love is integrated with faith. The Jews are His first and Chosen people, but the ways of God are eminent and not compromised. Right order is faith in the hands of the Jews, to teach the nations, but the Lord is not above a topsy-turvy example to rebuke Israel.

The heartcry of the Chosen is to have fulfilled the eternal covenant, the everlasting Covenant and be the children of Abraham Isaac and Jacob before God in Heaven. It is the end of faith. Jesus commends faith in a Gentile though over no faith in a Jew, who is one only of the flesh: that is his point, not 'replacement'. The Jews are being instructed to 'own that part of their inheritance.

Mt. 8:11 And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the Kingdom of Heaven, faith is first. The Jews are called the "Children of the Kingdom" and warned of eternal judgment in turning away from the God of Israel.

But the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 8:12

Rebellion and carnal living is anathema to faith. They lead to separation from God and both lead to a diminishing or even eradication of faith, needed for salvation, healing and a walk with God.

The Reward of Faith: The Servant with Palsy is Healed

We have barely mentioned the 'type' of healing here, which is critical: it is 'palsy'. In an earlier study we looked at the healing of palsy by one of the apostles in the Book of Acts, but it is the 'incurable' Palsy, with muscular deformity and atrophy that makes this act of faith even more prominent.

And Jesus said unto the Centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, So be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed the same hour. 8:13

Here again among the healings of Jesus we note the 'immediacy': not weeks, days and hours of the palsy beginning to disappear with stiff limbs loosening up, but an immediate cessation of the condition and all symptoms. All because someone intervened and begged for mercy for another! Not even the Centurion had to enter his own house for the healing to occur. There is no mistake that Jesus was the agent of healing: this is not some mustering of faith as a sort of 'mind over matter' as New Agers would like to believe, but FAITH in the Healer, the Lord God. The Centurion trusted the 'King of the Jews' sensing His power and authority over even the 'unchangeable' things of the world, such as palsy. His word was enough.

The implications of this healing are varied:

1. Jesus speaks, and is not even present, but the man is healed, noting the ubiquitous power of God.
2. Jesus heals a Gentile's servant noting that God is no respecter of persons, or of lowliness of the state of a human being in his beneficence.
3. Jesus stresses faith over race and nations, while keeping the Jews first, as a separated and sanctified nation.
4. Jesus uses this healing to teach of eternal life and judgment
5. Healing can be as in this instance, by word, without touching, metting faith
6. Jesus points to rank and order in Divine authority and surrender, and
7. Vicarious requests for healing in faith are honored.

This healing of a palsied servant, without the request of the servant, without Jewish heritage, without even the faith of the servant (eminent in most healings) shows the power and authority of divine healing. Jesus is healer, but he is also 'Commander in Chief' and nothing is too hard for him, or beyond the loving touch of his healing, including the atrophied condition of a servant in Israel, nor the hard heartedness of a Roman soldier, of the order who would later crucify the healer.

Speak the word only, Lord, and we shall be healed.


Till next time.
Elizabeth K. Best
Judah's Glory Bible Studies
Healing of Christ Series: The Centurion's Servant.

(will post a pdf copy shortly).

Healing Virtue: The Power of Healing

In the study of the healing of the Lord and Savior, most read over the particulars of the individual healings, and preaching in the modern world tends to use the healings as a 'metaphor' or 'springboard' for other issues and doctrines. The power of God in healings is seldom more than mentioned: we praise God for His power, we talk about Holy Spirit healing and the gifts, and we sing songs which at least speak of the power of Almighty God, but only rarely is the power behind healing really attended to. Only thrice in the New Testament is 'healing virtue' truly dealt with by name, after the healing in Mark and Luke of the Woman who touches Jesus' garment, and also once again though not by name, it the Book of Acts, when it is noted that persons who saw the healings by the apostles desired even an item of clothing, and the report is that persons were healing by the touch of a handkerchief. The idea of clothing having 'power' of any kind is not reckoned in modern thinking, and it was not really the clothing per se at all, but the power of God which goes out in healing. That power, again is referred to as 'healing virtue'.

The two mentions in the Gospel are as follows:

Mar 5:30 And Jesus immediately, knowing in himself thatvirtue had gone out of him. turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

Luk 6:19-And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed [them] all.

Luk 8:46 -And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

Virtue: The Power of Healing

The word 'Virtue' used in the above passages, is not the same word 'virtue' as used when referring to a type of moral purity or excellence and honor. The word 'Virtue' used in these passages on healing is:

Dynamis

the same root as the word 'dynamite' and used in similar words to note an intense power, ability, miracle strength, abundance of power, and sometimes refers to the power of a ruler, or an 'administrative power'. The healings then that Jesus did, and later his apostles and disciples, can be fairly said to be pointing to His Kingly power and glory, in a divine sense, but also a very real 'power' that when Jesus lays hands on the sick, infirm,possessed or deaf and blind, causes them to be made whole, as though no impairment had ever been. The power of God in 'virtue', appears to be a work/power that heals human beings, but more than that, in Jesus and later Paul, there is something so great about it that it lingers even on the garment of the Lord, or of those indwelt by the Holy Spirit:

Act 19:12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

One must first consider, that the 'power' in the healing miracles is that of the power of the Holy Spirit: it is not a 'substance', not a 'method', not some electrical conduit as modern minds would prefer so they could dismiss it, but the living glory of God, the power of God, the 'existence' of God and one could carefully and not occulticly use the word 'force' in proper context, which emanates from the Holy Spirit. The power in Christ, and his disciples was so great that even touching the hem of a garment caused healing and the casting out of demons away from the physical presence of Jesus and Paul.

The 'healing virtue' is mentioned in the woman with the issue of blood, in Luke and Mark, and less clearly in Mt. 9:22, resulting in immediate healing, and peripherally in one of the 'healing of the multitudes' passages when the crowd clamors just to touch Jesus, because virtue is perceived as coming out of him. These were real healings, not placebo-effect acts of the imagination, or some desire-bent effect.

In other healings, where Jesus touches or commands the sick to arise, or devils to depart, there is a direct contact or verbal directive which one could see alone as some quality of the Savior alone, in his "administrative' authority. These passages though brief seem to teach though that the power of God in healing is

1. felt and known(e.g. Jesus perceives virtue has left him when touched)
2. affects the immediate garment that touches in the examples either Jesus or Paul,
3. the Virtue or dynamis-power heals, makes right, makes whole a dissensioned state of a human being.

While this is the clear teaching of the passages, and is self-evident, a note of caution must be added: today there is a 'miracles-market' in which a lot of feigned healings and power, or even worse 'emulated' power goes out claimingto be the same thing as the healing virtue of Christ. TV ministries try to entice with purchasable 'prayer cloths' or oils, or one mass mailing gimic sends out paper prayer rugs or other items that supposedly have a special blessing or healing effect, and these merchandising scams are despicable: they play on the longing of people in distress who are desperate for healings. NEVER in scripture is healing associated with a charge.

Gehazi and Naaman and the 'Cost' of Charging for Healing

While most consider healing a 'New Testament' phenomenon, a 'post-pentecost' gift, the healing by God's power is also mentioned in the Old Testament.

When Elisha is confronted by Naaman for the healing of leprosy, Naaman offers a reward of clothing, gifts and so on, which Elisha turns down flat. Throughout the Old and New Testament, no association could be made between healing or prophecy and the payment of fees, monies or reward for the free gift of God, the free healing 'virtue'. What could one reimburse God with for His power? The finest riches would never be sufficient. Elisha's servant Gehazi finds out, when he runs after Naaman on his way back to Syria and tells him he will accept the reward. When Gehazi returns to Elisha, the Prophet is abrupt and definitive, and the chastisement is severe for thinking there could be a reward or purchase of God's power of healing:

2Ki 5:26 And he said unto him, Went not mine heart [with thee], when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? [Is it] a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?
2Ki 5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper [as white] as snow.

Not only was the servant rebuked for asking or receiving a reward, but he was cursed with the same disease as Naaman, and not only himself but his generation. The Holy Spirit of God is exactly that: HOLY, and his gifts are HOLY. Earthly commerce is not to taint the meeting of God with man in any form.

The Outcome

As Jesus travels to raise Jairus' daughter, the healing of the woman with an issue of blood is parenthetical: she comes behind Jesus in the crowd touches his garment, and says,

"...If I may touch but hisclothes, I shall be made whole" MK 5:28.

There are a few elements worth noting in this and the healing of the multitudes:

1. They had faith that the touch of the garment was enough
2. The garment was worn by in this case the Lord, and in the other a believer
filled with the Holy Spirit and always in the Word of God
3. There was no cost nor reward
4. The outcome was healing: being made whole.

The requisite FAITH for healing was there. A meekness of spirit was there, as they were satisfied if they could touch only the garment of the healer, the healing/gift was carried out in the Way of God, and the outcome was the immediate healing of the woman with the issue of blood and other healings not specified.

The power of God was not some sort of 'magic' clinging to a cloth or handkerchief, but the power of the living God, present in the genuine, living existing Savior or His Holy Spirit, the 'parakletos', comforter whom He sent to indwell us and keep us and work through us. Some wish to dismiss healings and miracles or turn them into wishful magic or conversely into mere metaphor as if they could not be, but the power of God is real, and did not die in the first century. To dismiss healing is to dismiss the power of God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, "Christ in us, the Hope of Glory". The very discussion and use of the term 'virute' in the Word of God, shows that it is not merely some 'invention' or 'happy thought' of Jesus in our hearts, like we speak of peace or love 'in our hearts' which are ideas and thoughts but a real power of the LIVING GOD in this century and until the end of time. Healing virtue in the days of Jesus as now, is the power of God among us.

Till next time.
Elizabeth K. Best
Many blessings.

Audio Version from Healing of the Nobleman's son

Here is the audio version from last August on the healing of the nobleman's son, from 2007. It may be found currently on Gcast or Sermon.net/judahsglory

The healing of the Withered Right Hand: Jesus Heals on Shabbat

Among the healings that the Lord and Savior did, recorded by eyewitnesses, a few are described in detail, and a few receive a mere mention. A few are mentioned only once in one Gospel, and others have detailed parallel descriptions in all three of the synoptic Gospels each adding a little more detail (although never contradictory). The great healings, attended by many, have been repeated over and over both from scripture and in story form, such as raising Lazarus from the dead, or the Madmen of the Gadarenes, or Jairus' daughter. Among the healings that the Lord performed in his earthly ministry though, several have the distinction of having been performed on Shabbat {the Sabbath}, and the one in our current study, is the healing of the man with the withered hand.

Healing and Shabbat

Jesus had already well begun his teaching, preaching and healing, when one Shabbat he enters a Synagogue and encounters a man with a withered hand. Just prior to his encounter with this man, he has already healed a man with palsy, and encountered some Pharisees on another Shabbat who question why he allowed his disciples to pluck ears of corn to eat while walking through a corn field, on this day of convocation. The Old Testament was filled with God's commands regarding what was right to do on Shabbat and what was not allowed. Work on any day of 'holy convocation' was to cease, especially on Shabbat, to point to the work of God ceasing in Creation on the 7th day, the Sabbath or Shabbat of God, the 'Seventh Day Rest' which would point forever to His Messiah and Savior, our sabbath rest.

Through the years though, one rabbinical scholar after another sought to define what constituted 'work' and what did not, forgetting the gift of rest and peace, and instead trying to add man made ordinances regarding what was acceptable behavior and what was not. Some of the strictest extra-biblical requirements were policies of not eating an egg layed on the 7th day, or even traditions today among Orthodox groups regarding not wearing fragrances, or certain types of clothing on certain holy days.

As Jesus was walking though, through the corn field with his disciples just a short time before this healing, he began to bring forth correct teaching on Shabbat, a teaching which this generation has too often ignored: it was not in any way to be done away with, or ignored, nor was it to become a legalistic burden, but it was to be a day of quiet restful time with the Lord and with others, studying the Word, worshipping, and gaining peace. Jesus taught the arguing Pharisees, beginning with an exception to tradition, the story of David and his men eating the shewbread, which was normally forbidden, in order to sustain life for God's purpose. His central teaching on the second of three shabbats used to teach, was:

Luk 6:5-And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

The Third Shabbat, Another Synagogue

On this third Shabbat in a row, though, in Synagogue, the issue of the Shabbat arises again, only this time, the question becomes whether one can heal on the Sabbath. Jesus and his disciples are in a Synagogue, and they encounter a man with a withered hand. The Greek word for the adjective 'withered' is 'xeraino', and it is quite literal, carrying with it descriptors of 'shriveled' rigid, dired up, or 'pineth away'- in short the hand is not able to be used because of some form of atrophy.

There is another aspect though of this healing that makes it a little unique compared to some, that it is the man's 'right hand'. In the Holy Scriptures there are many references to the 'right hand': it is a reminder of power and authority, or 'rightness' of designation, so for the right hand to be withered, and as most are right-handed, the condition means the man is quite incapacitated, and without power.

The day that Jesus encounters the man, he is in the house of God teaching. Note that there a number of healings that take place in the synagogue or just after, and it is often with Jesus teaching in the Synagogue. That is rather curious to some, as we so often picture him wandering the Judean mountains, with crowds flocking around, but on the Shabbat, Jesus was found teaching in synagogue. No sooner does the man with the withered hand come forth, but the Pharisees begin to object:

LUKE 6:7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. Luke 6:7

Mark 3:2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

MATTHEW 12:10 And, behold, there was a man which had [his] hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

Isn't it a characteristic, even today, of legalistic people that they never watch themselves so closely as they watch other people, waiting with baited breath to catch an error that they might condemn them, all the while seeing it as 'exhortation'. One need not be unsympathetic. Often when we begin our Christian walk, in an effort to closely obey the Lord we love, we fall into a pit of legalism where we try to obey every 'jot and tittle' of the Law, and then we try to obey it for those around us! It is also difficult to find a balance because many feel that anyone who holds tight to the Word is a legalist, and that is simply not true: the commands of God while not 'buying' or 'earning' Salvation, are there for a reason, and not to be ignored. The two most common errors are to walk in to the house of God with 'lists' and 'inspect' whether all are following, or on the opposite extreme to gloss over all God's teaching and commands with an 'it doesn't matter, I'm forgiven.' Neither is a correct position. These Pharisees, and many of the Pharisees which were encountered in the New Testament were not all the ones that condemned Jesus and wished him dead, but some, as in this healing were people whom he worshipped, fellowshipped and ate with. Most mentioned though, were quick to ask why he did every little thing the way he did it, and most, as we see in this passage, had the motive of trying to find fault.

At another place in Scripture, it notes that the wrath of man will praise God. Why would these Pharisees, in this culmination of God's plan on earth, be constantly examining Jesus for error and fault? The answer lies in his role as Passover Lamb: before a Lamb was declared the excellent sacrifice it needed to be for Passover, it had to be inspected by the priests to determine that it had no flaw nor imperfection and that it was the 'right kind of Lamb' (see Leviticus). Without knowing it, those these and other Pharisees bore him ill will, they were at the same time 'inspecting the lamb': they questioned his healings, his teachings, his doctrine, his companions and even his food.

The Healing

God often has a way of using the wrath of man, though to the benefit of those who believe, and it was even moreso with Jesus in his earthly ministry. The Pharisees intent on detecting error, actually gave witness from the opposition to the veracity of the healings and 'perfection' of the Lamb. If none of the Pharisees had seen this or other healings, they could have denied the healings with some degree of latitude, since healings were not abounding in the first century until Jesus came. Seeing though, the healings in front of their eyes, and in the case of the withered hand, directly, in a house during or after a dinner, the local members of the sect could no longer deny the power of God attendant on Jesus' healing of the man.

How does Jesus react? Instead of what we would do, going into a diatribe about how we shouldn't be too legalistic, or some such thing, he begins to teach: he seldom returns even a rebuke when teaching is still a possibility. Luke 6:8 notes that he perceives their condemnatory musings, even before they speak:

"But he knew their thoughts...."

and in Mark, though it is not stated, it is implicit that he knew because he questions them immediately after the healing. It is part of the prophetic nature to as Jesus himself puts it, "know what was in a man", although it was more true with Jesus than any merely human prophet. In Matthew, we see a parallel of Mark's rendering.

Matthew 12:11-2	Mark 3:4	Luke 6:9,3-5
And he said unto them, What man shall thou be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fell into a pit on the Sabbath Day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much more then is a man better than a sheep? Conclusion: Wherefore it is lawful then to do well on the Sabbath Days.	Jesus asks," Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day or to do evil: to save life or to kill? (They held their peace)	Then said Jesus unto them, Is it lawful on the Sabbath Days, to do good or to do evil? to save life or destroy it? [The sheep in the pit is not here, but in 6:3 before the healing] Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungered, and they which were with them; 4 how he went into the House of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? 5 And he said unto them, That the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.

Another note, and a mistake often made, it does not appear that this is the SAME Sabbath as the one on which the corn was plucked, but most probably the same Pharisees. Luke 6:6 shows that Jesus taught at the Synagogue the day of the healing

...he entered into the synagogue and he taugh: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.

Before describing the healing, there are two things about this passage that seem eminent: 1) it is a right hand which is withered, and 2) it is a 'withering' or condition in which the limb has become fruitless.

The Right Hand

The fact that the man's hand which is healed on Shabbat was the right hand may indeed be seen as significant, as the right hand in the Scriptures is denoted as a place of authority, power, and favor.
God's right hand gives the Law, or Torah (Deuteronomy 33:2)-a fiery Law, and the

Anointing of a High Priest, the blood covering is of the right hand/thumb as in Leviticus 14:25-8; 14:7, 14:14; 8:23 and Exodus 29:20.

The Power of God is denoted as at the Right Hand in Exodus 15:6. and

Protection of God in the same passage.

Joseph receives the Right Hand of blessing in Genesis 48:17 and Sisera is killed (and Israel delivered) by Jael's Right Hand in Judges 5:26.

The AUTHORITY of God is at his Right Hand in 2 Kings 23:13, (and in Messiah's position in the Godhead), and

Salvation of God by his Right hand is seen, e.g. in Psalm 17:7, 18:35, 20:6 and 44:3, 138:7 and 139:10.

In Psalm 21:8, the Right Hand finds out enemies, and in Psalm 26:10 is associated with 'all righteousness', and inversely, shows 'terrible things'.

The right hand additionally in the Scriptures is associated with Triumph (Ps 89:42 and Victory Ps 98:1, with Judgment Ps 109:6 and Justice 109:31 (stand at the right hand of the poor), Safety and God's favor: Psalm 110:1,5 (exaltation-'Sit thou at my right hand), Valiance 118:15, Corruption, if bad (Ps 144,18), a right wise heart, as in Ecc 10:2; in Creation and Sovereignty in Is 48:13 (Right Hand hath spanned the heavens), Leadership (Isaiah 63:12 as in the right hand of Moses), and favor as in Hab 2:16. In separation of sheep and goats at the end, the sheep go to the right hand in Matthew 25:3,4 and the Right hand of power is mention in Matthew 26:64. When Satan wishes to do evil or does evil, he is said to stand at the right hand as in Zechariah 3:1. The Right hand is one of righteousness in Is 41:10. The Right hand of the Bridegroom embraces the bride in Song of Songs, 2:6.

While another whole study could be written to understand the depth of the meaning of the mention of the 'Right Hand' either of God or Man in the Scriptures, this should suffice for the moment to show that in this healing, and in God's sovereignty it is no insignificant thing that the withered hand is the right one. (See notes for other attributes of the 'Right Hand').

Withering Heights
'Withered' is mentioned only 25 times in the scriptures, but is also significant. The idea of withering denotes a lack of fruitfulness, a lack of 'works' death, impotence, and a heart that has given up. (e.g. Ps 102:4,11; Is 27:11; Lamentations 4:8, etc). Jonah's gourd withers, and so do believers who have no root and fall on bad ground. The most telling meaning of 'withering' though, is when Jesus curses the fig tree, a clear indication that the 'Gardener' has come looking, in the 3rd season for fruit on the tree of Israel, and finding none, declares it fruitless and of no use.

Mat 21:19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

So we can reason that a 'withered right hand' is not without significance, and refers in this healing not only as the healing of a physical condition, but as a sign to the Pharisees debating healing on Shabbat that their Messiah is the answer to the 'withered right hand' of Israel.

Jesus' Command

This has been a somewhat circumvent route to describe the encounter with the Pharisees at that after Shabbat dinner. The healing though questioned, was at hand and was to the point. Jesus says:

Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Luke 6:10.
_______________________________________________________
Then saith he unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like the other.
Mt 12:13
_______________________________________________________
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Mark

What was Jesus' concern with the Pharisees? Not legalism per se, but the thing it does to the spirit: hardness of heart. And what was the command in healing by the Messiah? Stretch forth thy hand. He commanded a hand in an 'unwhole' and dissensioned state, to be made whole, the aim of all healing. (See Being Made Whole). The man apparently does according to the command, and the hand which was not only incapacitated but showed no seeming chance of recovery, in an instant was made whole, immediate as other healings.

Obedience was the key for the man with the withered hand. When we seek the healing of Jesus, and we wish an immediate healing, we must also anticipate his expectation of immediate obedience.

The Reaction to the Restoration of the Withered Hand

Seeing an unexpected miracle of the first order done right in front of one's eyes one would expect would bring about astonishment and amazement. Instead, for the dinner attendees , self-appointed guardians of tradition and sticklers for uniformity, the reaction was one of madness and vengefulness, two frequent companions. In Luke 6:11 the Madness is noted:

And they were filled with madness and communed with one another what they might do to Jesus

While the intimation of vengefulness against Jesus is seen above, the two parallel verses show the evil intent towards him even more intensely

Mark 3:6 And the Pharisees went forth and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

Luke 12:14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

In the second two verses, the language is defined and violent: instead of rejoicing at the wondrous work of God they had just seen, they begin to plot not only among themselves but among others that hate Jesus, to destroy him. It is one thing to act with rage against those who anger us for one reason or another, but it is far more sinister to plot the overthrow of another with painstaking planning. It is alos of note that they sought out the Herodians, the State connection, whom they were certain would also want to get rid of a kind of power they could not fight. Voltaire once said that when it comes to money, all are of the same religion. It appears that when it comes to trying to overthrow the Love and power of God, religion takes a back seat also to the criminal intent.

It is not unknown to Jesus that they intend violence, destruction and overthrow. He leaves this area of Galilee immediately, the hospitality grown cold, and withdraws to the sea. Multitudes though follow, with the expected astonishment and far greater acceptance of this divine Rabbi. He had come to heal the Right Hand of the Withered tree of Israel, and as is taught in scripture, in the third time (millenia) when the first fruits are expected (see Bag L Omer) and when the first fruits are dedicated to the LORD.

We will continue next time in discussing the healings of Shabbat.
more to follow.ekbest

The Healing of Peter's Mother-In-Law

Of the over 30 healings in the New Testament, with several others in the Old Testament, one of the briefest accounts is the account of Jesus entering into the house of Peter, and healing the mother of Peter's wife. Peter, recall is the one to whom will be given the 'keys of the kingdom', he is Cephas, the stone, who is turned in Messiah, to Peter, Petra, the Rock on whom Yshua will build his Church. Although much is written then, by and about Peter, little alludes to Peter as a family man, save for this passage. We can immediately tell that Peter has a wife, a house, and a Mother-In-Law who is living with him, perhaps the reason for his later perseverance. (Just a little first century humor). There was once a bumper sticker put out by some Catholic folks, that said "Peter was a married priest", and if they had only meant the universal priesthood of believers, they would certainly have been correct!.

Just Before & After the Healing

The healing of Peter's Mother-in-Law takes place early, in Capernaum, near Nazareth.
Matthew gives a little more detail regarding the events preceding the healing, but the healing itself is noted in Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31 and Luke 4: 38-39. Several events precede, including the deliverance of the demoniac in the Synagogue in Nazareth, the Sermon on the mount, and two healings in the vicinity of Decapolis, namely the healing of the Centurion's Servant, in which the great faith of a non-Israelite was noted, along with the centrality of faith, and the healing of a Leper.

Before and after the healing of Mrs. Bar Jonas' mom, other healings occur. After the healing, by the very evening of the healing, multitudes come seeking healing.

Mar 1:32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Mar 1:33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.
Mar 1:34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

Though the description of the healing at Peter's house is brief, it is the healing just prior to conditions Jesus would face for the rest of his ministry: large crowds bringing his constituency to his door: the sick, those possessed of devils, lepers, and others in need of the touch of the Lord.

The agreement of eyewitness accounts is very close. Jesus enters the house, is notified of the great fever which the woman suffers, and heals her.

>MATTHEW And when Jesus was come into Peter's House ,he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. 8:14

MARK And forthwith, when they were come out of the Synagogue they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon, they tell him of her.v Mark 1:29-30

LUKE And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and the besought him for her. 4:38

The Disease/Infirmity

The disease or condition at hand is very simple and spelled out: a fever, or 'great fever'. A fever can be for any number of reasons which we are not told. Infections,flu, other illnesses, can produce fever, but we are given no more information than the short description. The healing is just as simple, by the Lord and Savior, only this one has one distinction: Yshua, Jesus, heals Peter's mother-in-law without words.

THE HEALING OF THE FEVERISH MOTHER-IN-LAW

MATTHEW And he touched her, and the fever left her, and she arose, and ministered unto them.

MARK And he came and took her by the and, and lifted her up; and immediately, the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 1: 31.

LUKE And he stood over her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

Note the following elements:

1. Jesus stands over her and touches her (he is never worried or reluctant to touch the sick,even lepers or those with contagious diseases.

2. Jesus lifts her by the hand. This happens also with Jairus' daughter, and when Dorcas is healed later, by Peter who was there.

3. Immediacy: As with all healings in the Gospels and the Book of Acts, the healings around the time of Messiah are immediate. In a few cases, the Disciples cannot heal although it is usually in the casting out of devils, due according to Messiah as a lack of faith, prayer and fasting. All the healings of Yshua, Jesus are immediate, either by Word or touch.

4. The Healing was COMPLETE: Jesus did not touch her, and then say, now in a few days you should feel a little better and then later even better. This healing is so complete that she rises right away, and replete with energy and health, begins to serve the others, including the Lord. Now,isn't that a keen remark on wholeness: that real healing leads to the benevolent service of others!

5. The healing involved, a) taking her by the hand, b)touching (note the 'finger of God'), and c)lifting her up. God does not have to do things the same way every time, nor does he: there is no 'method' for it is the power of God that heals, occasionally even when Yshua is not in the presence of the infirm person, but these things are often seen in the healings of both Old and New Testament.

6. This Healing followed preaching, in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Synagogue, it follows at least 2 other healings, and by the evening of the Mother-in-Law's healing, is followed by the healing of a multitude.

Conclusion

This healing of the fever is so brief, as are a few others, that one wonders why it is mentioned, given the more intricate details of others, but nothing described in the Gospels is without cause. It is as mentioned, the first healing of a relation of the Apostles. Peter later goes on to be a great healer in the days following Pentecost. Simon, James, Andrew and John are there, among the first who were called to "follow me". We learn a few lessons from this short passage which are valuable:

The immediacy and completeness of the healing, that the touch of Messiah is enough and Words are not always required nor vice versa, and that a man Peter with a healthy marriage and extended family could be not only just as effective an apostle, but the very Rock on whom Jesus would build his Church. We learn that healing in fullness means we turn to serve others. And we learn that no healing is too small to bear significance.

Many Blessings in Yshua, Our Lord and Savior.
E.K. Best.

The Healing of the Crippled Man at Lystra

Click Here for Audio Teaching

The Raising of Dorcas from the Dead: Peter at Joppa

Healing From Death: The Grace of God Encounters Joppa Again
click Here for audio teaching

In the last study we saw that Peter healed a man sick of palsy for years. These healings by Peter are particularly of note because they occur right after a major pivotal event, of the turn of the Gospel to the Gentiles, marked by Cornelius' baptism in the Holy Ghost, and that of his whole household. Both Peter and Paul were eminent emissaries of the Gospel going out to the Gentiles, but both were astounded that Gentiles could receive what they considered a divine right only of the Jews. Peter, a rough, working class fisherman, had nevertheless apparently always observed dietary laws, as he was overwhelmed by the vision of the sheet lowering from heaven with all kinds of animals and creeping things, with the command to take and eat. The vision was not dismissing the law, quite the contrary, it was as always, establishing it, as God's point to Peter was that all things are clean when declared so by God. Peter's adherence though to orthodox Judaism is seen when he confronts God about the fact that he has never eaten anything unclean, although through the baptism of Cornelius, the Roman, he comes to understand in the 'mixed' northern regions, that God did indeed send a light to the Gentiles.

Likewise Saul, (Paul), a student of Gamaliel with a formal higher education , zealous for the Lord and orthodox faith, is appointed not only to his own, but especially to the Gentiles,in what must have been a struggle for a man who did not care even for slight hellenistic influences in the faith.

Here, though, as Peter attends to the baptism of Cornelius, and his household, shortly there follows a move of the Holy Spirit in large numbers of persons coming to the Lord and Savior, often precipitated by an event of healing. In the last study we saw Peter healing Aeneas sick with palsy for 8 years and persons in 2 towns turn to the Lord. Now,an even greater miracle of healing takes place : the raising of Dorcas from the dead. This is the first post-Pentecost miracle of raising a person from the dead. It was no coincidence that Peter was nearby.

Tabitha of Joppa

Peter has just been in Lydda, the next town over, about 11 miles apart. Tabitha (meaning 'gazelle') also called Dorcas (meaning the same), was indeed characterized by grace having been a benevolent person helping many in Joppa. She was known for her good works and alms deeds. (9:36)

Dorcas dies (9:37) and her body is laid in an upper chamber, where many women meet to weep and sorrow over the woman who has aided and even clothed them. The disciples of Joppa, aware that Peter was over in Lydda and had just healed Aeneas, rush to him.

Act 9:38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring [him] that he would not delay to come to them.

Peter comes immediately to Lydda, and is confronted by the Widows weeping and showing the garments which Dorcas had made them. Note that the one raising from the dead in the Bible that is different from all others is the raising of Lazarus. Only the Lord could have waited 4 days, beyond when belief held that the soul departed from the body/earth, and called back Lazarus. When the disciples near the event, it is with immediate response. There is no doubt that the woman had truly died, but it left a real gap in the ministry in Joppa: she had cared dearly for those who had no one to rely on.

The Raising of Life
The account of raising Tabitha from the dead is brief:

But Peter put them all forth and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, "Tabitha, Arise". 9:40

The first thing Peter does is:

1. Put them all forth: he creates some space between him , Tabitha and onlookers. Jesus had constant problems with crowds thronging healings and miracles, as though it was entertainment, but it was not, it was holy.
2. Peter kneeled. While there are certainly no 'requisite' positions to heal, do miracles or call out devils, this does show a state of reverance and respect for the work of God.
3. The Command: he turns to the body and says, "Tabitha, Arise".


We spoke before of the command to rise or 'Arise'. It is said often in healings and in most of the times Jesus raised from the dead a child of Israel. It is a command to life, and a command out of a dormant state. The voice of God alone can call forth life, and when the Holy spirit indwelt believers, they could as Jesus, Yshua noted do the same miracles, not because they had become something special or better, but because the Living God dwelt in them. This is no 'trick' or 'ritual' or way one must heal, but an understanding of what the healings meant and were for: they were always to show God's power, to show sovereignty over death , disease and the demonic, and to preach the Gospel, first and foremost.

The Result

There is no detailed or unexpected end here,:

And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. 9:41

When life returned, it was, well, LIFE. He called her to arise, and she opens her eyes and arises. Note sometime the whole phenomena of people being given sight or opening there eyes in the first century in Israel. He makes the blind to see, and so did his disciples, although here, it is sight coming back from death. Strength came back to her to: she did not wallow at death's door for a few days or weeks, but as soon as Peter extends his hand, Tabitha is back. Her ministry can continue.

The Outcome at Joppa: Repentance and Belief
As stated elsewhere healing is for the Love of God making people whole, but it is foremost for preaching the Gospel, and those two things are not separate. The book of Acts states:

And it was known thoughout all Joppa; and many believed in the LORD. 9:42

When Peter healed at Lydda, Saron and Lydda both came to the Lord. The raising of Dorcas causes her town Joppa to believe. Joppa was where Peter had stayed with Simon the Tanner just before being called to Cornelius' house in Caesarea: Israel was beginning to be enlivened by the Holy Spirit of God---eyes opened, raised from the dead, and the dead bones of Ezekiel did indeed begin to knit together flesh and sinew, in the promise of the Savior.

A Footnote: On Raising Souls from the Dead

The question has arisen more than once in considering the many miracles and healings of God why we do not raise from the dead more in Holy Spirit filled congregations and practice. Certainly many have seen real healings, and the assumption is always that we are just not 'prayed up enough' or that it is not God's will, and both of those can be true. There is though a consideration of whether we really should even if we can unless absolutely directed by God in obedience. Since healing is to show God's love for us and preach His Gospel, it would have to be for His purposes and not ours. More than that, when we consider 'love', once a person is gone, if they had faith in the Savior, they would not want to return to such a struggle as this earth: they are held in God's presence and love and it is more than one could want. The desire to have a person return from the dead is to appease our own suffering, despair and longings, and is more to allay pain than other reasons much of the time. Note though that when Jesus raised Lazarus, the widow of Nain's son, and Jairus' daughter, it was to show the glory of God and to testify to His being the Messiah. No raising from the dead, even that of Dorcas, could bring about more that that: it was a testimony and a work of God. The resurrection of Christ, completed the work of the blood atonement and redemption of man from sin, the other times people were raised from the dead it showed the love and power of God but could not ever approach that unique and necessary purpose.

If a person is brought back beyond the time God has for them on this earth, the raising would surely testify to God's power and love, but years lived beyond God's purpose are not often fruitful or rewarding. Interfering with God's wisdom on such things can cause suffering untold. It is not that even that miracle cannot happen today, there are accounts of it. (John Knox is said to have raised a boy from the dead). The biblical accounts were of Children of Israel, coming back to life for more than one purpose. While seeing such a remarkable occurrence would very possibly bring many to the Messiah, the terrifying thought of playing too loose with life and death, has haunted the human race since the garden. Only utter obedience to Yshua through the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Ha'Kodesh, in my opinion, should be the impetus for such a thing, and that to glorify God, or bring many to covenant. Healing, and raising the dead, preaches the Gospel.

Peter Heals a Palsied Man at Lydda

Last weekend I was watching a video clip of a Pastor doing the rather expected task of preaching a little and singing 'Victory in Jesus'. Certainly, that is not headline news, save for the fact that this preacher, a man named 'Ring' had lived with cerebral palsy, a debilitating motor disease , preventing normal smooth motor functions such as easy speech and limb movement. By the time many with cerebral palsy are in their 30s, they cannot speak and movement may be exaggerated and contorted.

This preacher though, was remarkable, in that while he took a little extra time, he spoke with articulation and sang one of the best renditions of the song I had ever heard---a great feat since we have all heard it a thousand times! Why could this man, at his age preach a very fine sermon and sing with an anointing, when his counterparts afflicted by the same condition could do very little? The main difference was the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Yshua HaMeschiach.

In the book of Acts, right after Saul is met on the road to Damascus, right after Ananias heals the blindness of the great soldier of God who will come to be, right after spiritual blindness is healed by the Light of the World, there is a description of a lesser known healing of a man named Aeneas, by Peter, the apostle holding the keys to the Kingdom.

Aeneas was stricken with Palsy, and had been 8 years in bed in the town of Lydda. Lydda, meaning 'strife', is about 9 miles south of Joppa, where Peter stayed with Simon the Tanner. (formerly called Diopolis under Roman rule). The Book of Acts does not give a great deal of information about Aeneas or his condition but does say:

Act 9:33 And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.

Eight years is a long time in any condition which imprisons a person, whether it is a disease or not, but in moments, the seemingly uncurable ailment is a thing of the past.

9:34 And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: Arise and make thy bed.

Note that Peter mentions two names immediately: Aeneas' name, and the name of Jesus Christ. He doesn't go into a discourse of 'how the whole process works', or even quote scriptures supporting the doctrine of healing, but post haste says the following:

1. Aeneas (called by name)
2. Jesus Christ (calling on The Name)
3. Maketh thee whole ('the thing is done', Jesus makes whole)

We spoke about wholeness much earlier in studying healing: a person who is ill, possessed, or a person in some physical or other earthly or spiritual 'distress' is a person who in some part of their lives are not 'whole' not 'statis'. One is brought back to wholeness in healing, and here it is by calling on the NAME of the Lord Jesus.

The second part of the verse, is the COMMAND following healing.

Arise and make thy bed

The word 'Arise' or rise, is used often in healings or commands by either Jesus or his disciples. The word arise is anistemi: which can mean anything from 'get up or stand up to 'come back to life', but it is an 'enlivening' from a static state. What a remarkable word, 'arise' is to some one who has been encumbered by palsy for 8 years---even more remarkable is the command to do a mundane but heretofore impossible task: make thy bed. Peter via Jesus restores the man to normal life, where one rises up and makes his bed, and carries it and goes about his business. The obedience is immediate:

9:35 And he arose immediately And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned toward the Lord.

We said before that healing is to pronounce the Gospel: the Good News, that God has not only not forgot his covenants with Israel but has come to fulfull them, and that the power of God through healing and miracles is not only not gone from the earth, but is at the hand of the Lord, to point the way to the greatest healing: Salvation. The gospel and healing brings Repentance, and many, as in other healings in Acts, turn to the Lord.

The Sum of Aeneas' Healing

Here then is the sum of the healing of Aeneas by Peter:

1. Peter enters into Lydda and encounters Aeneas, 8 years with palsy.
2. Peter calls Aeneas' name
3. Peter names 'THE NAME' of Jesus,
4. Peter points to Jesus making Aeneas whole
5. Peter through the Holy Ghost commands "Arise...and make thy bed"
6. Aeneas immediately obeys
7. Two towns see him and turn to the Lord. (Lydda and Saron)

Healing is for the Gospel and the gospel for healing. It is only through Salvation that we are made totally whole.

by ekbest09

Saul, Receive Thy Sight: The Healing of Divine Blindness

Saul was on the road to Damascus, enraged. These 'little christs' (Christians) , followers of the way, had been nothing but trouble since the day that itinerate rabbi from Galilee started preaching. Saul had stood in the background like many, and let the Sanhedrin handle things: they thought it was over when Annas and Caiaphas turned him over to Rome for crucifixion, but it wasn't but a few days and the followers of 'the Way' had spread all over Israel that Yshua had risen from the dead: they kept talking of him 'conquering death'---and the Temple folks couldn't really counter dozens of eyewitness reports, and worse, they could not find the body.

The followers of the one called 'Yshua' which they kept referring to as the "name above all names" were also performing some sort of 'miracles': people were still getting healed, and every time some one got healed, whole towns were believing that Yshua was the Messiah. () The Messiah! Saul had been brought up at Gamaliel's feet, and for a man to claim he had been God's Messiah: it so enraged Saul, that he became a champion of putting down the 'Way' and its followers,

Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed [them] to prison.

Further, with a crowd of other regular Temple attenders, he haled one of them, a disciple named Stephen off to be stoned, for refusing to renounce the man they called 'Savior'. It was bad enough that Rome was trying to bring down the Jews, now there were growing thousands whom Saul and the elders of Israel thought might if this 'movement' continued to grow. He had to admit that Saul gave a better sermon than he had ever heard on the history of Israel and her God, but, well, he didn't cast a stone not really, but he watched the coats of those who did, and consented to the killing. He hadn't been the same since, though, because he just couldn't understand the power that Stephen had even during the stoning, nor the light that shone on his face, and it just enraged him even more.

The Way was growing in Damascus, where Saul had come from, so he sought permission of the Temple authority to go arrest everyone involved, and of course they were only to happy to oblige.

"And desired of him letters to Damascus to the Syagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem, Acts (9:2)

And so with some amount of blood on his hands, he thought for a righteous cause, he set out on the road to Damascus to overthrow "The Way, The Truth and The Life" as Yshua had called himself, only to confront the overthrow of what he had been: a religious, self-righteous man, zealous of Judaism, but without divine knowledge. He knew the Scriptures---but he was about to come face to face with the Living God of Israel, who would show the truth of Divine Blindness and how it is healed, using a blindness of the flesh to demonstrate.

Saul's Divine Encounter

He made it almost all the way to Damascus, when a an event occurred which Saul, in his life could never have counted on:

9:3 "...and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:"9:4 and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,
"Saul, Saul why persecutest thou me?"

Whatever happened, it hadn't happened to him in synagogue before, and a couple of things are notable: 1) Saul recognized immediately it was from Heaven, and 2) He responds immediately acknowledging what he saw as the Lord!. Saul did not argue or confront, the mighty man of Jerusalem that he was, but instead, astonished says

"...Who art thou, Lord?"

The event caused him to fall to the earth! And the answer was not obscure, and would cement in stone the man's apostleship to come:

"I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks"

One can only imagine the entire nature of the encounter, but the the Greek word for 'pricks' is kentron and can mean 'sting' or 'goad' and while most picture the spur that goads horses along, the intimation to Paul, was that he was going the wrong way intensely, and suffering because of it. It is a remarkable love that faced that enemy of God on that road, who instead of condemning him for Stephen's murder, saved him, but not without a divine lesson.


The Marks of Meeting the Lord


That it was the Lord is testified to by all of what happened. And the encounter matched some of the most significant encounters of man with God in the Old Testament as well.

1. The ones who were with him did not hear the direct interchange

Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

2. He encountered a 'light from heaven'

3. He was struck with 'trembling and astonishment'.

9:6 And he, trembling and astonished said, "Lord, what wilt thaou have me to do".

In the Old Testament, when Daniel meets with a vision of heaven these things also occur in part or in full.

Daniel 10:7 ...the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.

Daniel 10:8 Dan 10:8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. (aksi 10:16)

or in Ezekiel 1:28

And I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

The command or aid to strength is given both times. The divine encounter of Saul on his way to persecute Christians, bears the marks of other encounters with God in the history of Israel by her prophets.

So far, then , the nature of the encounter which will involve one of the greatest healings of the Bible, follows the following pattern:

1. Saul is stopped from going an evil way
2. A blinding light occurs and Saul is rendered powerless
3. Jesus inquires regarding Saul's evil intent
4. Saul falls, trembling and astonished
5. Saul seeks obedience (below)

Saul's one redeeming quality is that he really did, even before salvation, have a zeal for God, his people and true worship, and a great knowledge of the Holy Scriptures much like a well-studied theologian today, only it was misdirected. The spirit of religion without a relationship with God is often a murderous one, or one of 'overthrow'.

Saul immediately understands on the spot obedience is required when he asks Jesus, Yshua, "...what wilt thou have me to do?"

Note : In the conversion, Saul was really getting the desire of his heart: union with God: he had sough it previously "intellectually" and by tradition. This 'conversion' though, will involve obedience and healing, but it is one of the few times in the Bible when God both smites with a condition and then makes the person whole, for a lesson to Israel. (e.g. Miriam or Moses struck shortly with leprosy and then healed.)

THE Lord's Command

When Saul encounters the LORD near Damascus, it becomes a turning point in Saul's Life, in Israel's life and in the Life of the World. The meeting also renders Saul, soon to be 'Paul' as fit to be an apostle: this enemy of the early believers, so zealous for their overthrow will shortly be their greatest defender and apologist! His letters will carry the Gospel of God to the next few millennia---but not yet. When Saul asks, the Lord, "What wilt thou have me to do?" (the response which should always follow an encounter with the Lord) he does not yet comprehend, that the task that lay before him will be the desire of his heart: to serve God in His Word.

The Pharisees over time have been seen pejoratively as some of the 'bad guys' of history. Most of the reason was their first century hypocrisy and opposition to the Messiah, and the term has come to mean 'religious hypocrite'. The real Pharisees though, were a sect of priests and their followers, who about 400 years before Christ, had sought to turn Israel back to the true practice of Judaism and the worship of the Living God, having seen so many fall away, and believing it was the reason for the Babylonian and Assyrian Exile. Over time though, and nearing the years just before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Pharisees had become tainted with the world and deals with Rome, and by the time of Annas and Caiaphas, the sect bore no resemblance to its founders, exercising its power more as a political body than a religious one, although it must be kept in mind that even at the time all Pharisees could not be cast with the same cloth: Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Paul, all were of the sect. Saul, zealous for God but not with the knowledge or power of the living God of Israel, met heaven that day and hour, recognizing it immediately both as a well trained scholar and child, and now is about to receive an answer to his quest for God's will.

What Will Thou Have Me to Do?

Note that Yshua, Jesus does not immediately give him the blueprint for the rest of his life during the interchange. As is often the case, what the Lord was eliciting in Saul was faith, belief, and obedience/surrender. Jesus responds:

And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. Acts 9:6

Saul's first task is to obey the Lord without question. Now, some alarm may rise at the sound of 'blind obedience'. The 'blind obedience' of some societies has led to nothing good such as in the 'befehlsnotstand of the Third Reich, or of other genocides or destructive mass movements. Blind obedience though to the Lord is a different thing, because the Lord has only our good at heart, and is omniscient.
Blind obedience to the Lord does not fail in accomplishing divine purpose. Saul had sought God before, but intellectually and by tradition. Now he is confronted with power, love and sovereignty.

Only the next step is given: "airse, go into the city". The calling is promised.
"Arise" is used often in healings and commands by both Jesus, Yshua and his disciples. The primary word is 'anisthemai'

Aniseqmi

which can mean to rise from a dormant state, or as in resurrection, and another Greek word is used often the same 'egeiro'

Egeirw

meaning approximately the same, frequently used by Jesus.

'Arise and go' is a call to action: it is used to send the disciples, it is used of the Jairus' daughter, raised from the dead (little maid, arise), and in a number of other passages, although here, it is calling Saul, to a new life, and a calling which so far exceeds his expectations that he cannot imagine it, nor certainly could the persecuted disciples.

As with Daniel and Ezekiel, only Saul hears directly and sees directly, the men with him only in part:

"And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man" 9:7

The result of the encounter was dramatic and strength-robbing , also like Ezekiel and Daniel's encounters:

"And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened he saw no man: but they led him by the hand and brough him into Damascus" 9:8

Saul has come to overthrow, but Saul is overthrown. Saul has come to conquer, but has to be led into the city by hand, blinded by the Light of the World. The Light of the World has rendered Saul physically blind, to show the spiritual blindness which the leaders of Israel had succumbed to.

The Healing of Divine Blindness

There is a sequence to the healing of this 'Divine Blindness'. In almost all other cases of blindness and healing in the Word, the blindness is physical and is healed by the Lord. Here, though, Saul is divinely blinded, and then healed.

1. Saul is struck blind on the Damascus Road
A. It is for a purpose Acts 9:15.
B. To Illustrate Spiritual Blindness of the Pharisees (considered

9:40-41 And [some] of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

C. Saul is three days in the dark (no food nor water)

God has planned Saul's healing though, before he is struck with heaven's 'blindness'. As Saul is being led into Damascus, another disciple, Ananias is being called, to go to Saul and heal him. Ananias is

1. Called and anointed for the healing
2. Sent to Saul

"Arise and go into the street which is called Straight and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus for behold he prayeth. And hath seen in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. "

3. Declares to Saul the purpose of the blindess

"Go thy way : for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the gentiles, and Kings and the children of Israel."

God in calling Ananias, removes fear of the once-persecutor, and announces first to Ananias the agent of healing that Saul is to be

a. A chosen vessel for God
b. A bearer of God's name to the Gentiles
c. A bearer of God's name to Kings
d. A bearer of God's name to the Children of Israel

4. Explanation to Saul of his experience and laying on of hands

"Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, [even] Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."

All fulfill prophecy, and all were the TRUE intent of Saul's heart. Note that Ananias feared at least in part (9:14-5) to go see Saul for he heard that he was coming in the high Priests authority to bind "all that called upon the name". What a crime they were persecuting back in first century Jerusalem! Calling on the Name. God takes away the fear and sends Ananias to Saul in perfect love. Yet lest the love of God be untempered with the justice of God, He gives to Ananias a prophecy of Saul's forthcoming ministry and call

"For I will show him how great things he will suffer for my name's sake.9:16"

The laying on of hands has been discussed previously in this blog as one of the main pillars of practice for the Christian, in authority and anointing, as well as healing.

THE HEALING

The healing of Saul's Blindness is instantaneous:

"And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received his sight forthwith and arose and was baptised."

Baptism here is the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the indwelling that comes with belief and faith. The scales fall away and sight returns to this pillar of Israel, set for the defense of the Word of God. With Moses, God showed his power by having him put his hand to his bosom, and taking it out it was leprous, then putting it in again, it was clean.

Exd 4:6-8 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand [was] leprous as snow.
And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his [other] flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

Here is our God, 1500 years later, speaking to another Jewish leader about former and latter signs that herald his Way and the great consequence for turning away from the 'sign' or 'ensign' of God. (see also Numbers 21:9)

The Light of the World had again healed a blind man, only this time the application was not only to one man, but to blindness in Israel. He meant for the scales to fall and for His spirit to live WITHIN the tabernacle again. Saul's healing is received, his fast ends, and he is strengthened (again like Daniel and Ezekiel) and he then spends several days in Damascus with the disciples he had come to harm, who now care for their enemy in the love of God.

THE OUTCOME

Saul unlike most believers at first, already had a lifelong education in the Word of God, and in the 'governance' of Israel. He was anything but unlearned. He was not learned yet though in 'walking in the Spirit' and attending to the things of God, yet he almost immediately began to preach that Messiah had come:

"And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that He was the Son of God" 9:20

This had to have astounded early synagogue worshippers who knew Saul only as a student of Gamaliel and right hand of the Sanhedrin. (:21) Many were saved at Damascus by the innate disposition and Holy spirit filling that Saul had: he PROVED that Jesus, Yshua was Ha Meschiach, the 'Very Christ', the very Messiah of God, by the Scriptures.

Those who lost Saul to 'The Way' * though reacted the way they did other folks who brought thousands to the LORD: they took counsel to kill him. Consider those murderous religious folks who had made their bed with Rome:

-They plotted to silence the man born blind, healed by Messiah
-They plotted to kill Lazarus
-They plotted to kill Jesus
-They now plot to kill Saul

George Bernard Shaw (hardly a christian) once remarked about noticing about how cowards are always screaming to have things killed. This great healing of both real and divine blindness in Israel, turning a religious zealot into a herald of the Word of God and a healer himself, was so clearly a sign of God that no one could protest. Those not right with God plotted to kill the evidence that Yshua HaMeschiach, Jesus of Galilee and Nazareth, Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God, was real and had come for His bride, Israel. That just had to be stopped, now didn't it?



ekbest