Jesus’ ministry kept the disciples on the move, from town to town. In two cases we looked at in previous posts Jesus specifically sent the “healed” person home. So, the disciples did not see the long-term effects of Jesus’ apparent healings. It is interesting to note that in Jesus’ hometown Nazareth, where people had a long-term look at him, he was not regarded with respect (Mark 6:1-6), and his own family who of course knew Jesus for many years questioned his sanity (Mark 3:21). Is it possible that those who appeared to be healed had only temporary relief, and were subject to relapse, but the disciples would not have seen this?
Consider this passage (also found in Luke 11):
“Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Matthew 12:43-45
I think this passage clearly shows that Jesus acknowledged that some people who had an “unclean spirit” exorcised sometimes ended up re-possessed such that “the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first.” This makes sense if the demon possession was actually a seizure disorder or a mental disorder; quite often such a disorder gets worse with time. Is this Jesus making an excuse for why his exorcisms did not last and people relapsed? In fact, is Jesus blaming the victims? “That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Speaking of seven spirits, consider the case of a woman who has become a heroine of Christianity even though we know almost nothing about her, other than that she was one of the first to report seeing a resurrected Jesus: Mary Magdalene. The only information we are given about her is this:
The twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out…
Luke 8:1b, 2
That’s it; that’s all we know about her background. I suspect when most people read this they assume that Jesus drove out all seven demons at once. That may not be the case. If Mary actually had some disorder like seizures or schizophrenia it is possible that she suffered relapses after apparent remissions, requiring Jesus to attempt to exorcise her seven times. Maybe she is even the inspiration for Jesus’ comment about seven spirits in the Matthew 12 passage. I am getting into speculation but what if Mary had a disorder that made her prone to hallucinations? Is it just a coincidence that she then became one of the first to have a vision of a resurrected Jesus? And certainly the male disciples were not going to be outdone by this “crazy” woman, so they in turn reported their own encounters with a resurrected Jesus. (The tension between Mary and the male disciples is noted in the non-canonical Gospel of Mary.)
There are also some passages suggesting that there were limitations to Jesus’ ability to heal. In Mark 6 Jesus returns to his hometown but the people, who have known him his whole life, are skeptical of his ministry. (Few people note that John 7:5 tells us bluntly, “For not even His brothers believed in Him”). Consequently:
He could not do any miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and [healed] them. And He was amazed at their unbelief.
Mark 6:5,6a
Apparently the people had to believe in order for Jesus to work his healing miracles. This is not unlike faith healers of today who will blame lack of faith when someone cannot be healed. This is not surprising; mental attitude has a great effect on one’s health, both mental and physical. That’s why the placebo effect occurs. Thus, people who believe and are looking for a miracle will often get what they expect; people who lack such faith are not likely to experience any miracle. Also note that the verse says Jesus could do no miracle there yet he could “heal” some sick people. The Greek word translated “heal” is the basis for our word “therapy” and can mean tend to or to serve. Did Jesus care for or comfort the sick people rather than actually healing them? Still a good thing to do, but not a miracle.
Jesus also refused to perform miracles when under scrutiny:
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven…“An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign; and so a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
Matthew 16:1, 4
Frankly, I think it was reasonable for the skeptics to ask Jesus for some real evidence to back up his exalted claims. What if I claimed to have divine power, but refused to show you? Would you believe me? I think not. I hope not! There is a university children’s hospital near us. I would be happy to accompany any faith healer to the hospital to watch a demonstration of their healing power, but I’m not going to take them at their word, or trust their orchestrated “healing” services. Yet we want to give Jesus a free pass in this regard and criticize those rightly skeptical.
In a similar vein, there are other passages in the NT which address the failure of prayer. James 1:6, 7 reiterates the point that one must have faith without doubting or he should “not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.” (Do any of us have such perfect faith?) He later tells us in 4:3 that motives make a difference: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.” In the epistle 1st Peter 3:7 the author[1] tells us that even your relationship with your wife can affect the outcome of your prayers: “…live with your wives in an understanding way…so that your prayers will not be hindered.” OK, I understand the need for faith and the absence of selfish motives, but I also have to be kind to my wife?! Now that is a bit demanding!
So, if you read the Gospels closely you will see hints that Jesus knew that people might relapse, perhaps even expected people to relapse after supposedly being exorcised or healed. And if so he was ready with a reason (excuse?): their lack of faith!
But even if not all healings “took” wasn’t it still a good thing for Jesus to pray for them and give them hope? What harm can there be in that? That will be the subject of the next post.
Thinking exercises:
- We scrutinize and question today’s faith healers (for good reason). Why then do we accept without question miracle stories passed down from almost 2,000 years ago?
- Why would a person’s or a town’s lack of faith prevent Jesus from doing miracles? Did Jesus have miraculous healing power, or was the power within the people themselves?
[1] Most scholars do not think the illiterate apostle Peter is the actual author of the two epistles written in his name.