1.
Selective Bibliography
2. Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
2.1. General References
2.2. Examples of Healings Classified According
to Means
2.2.1. Jesus' Healing by Direct
Command
2.2.2. Jesus' Healing
by Touch
2.2.3. Jesus' Healing by Being
Touched
2.2.4. Jesus' Healing by Application
of Secondary Means
2.3. Jesus' Raising People from the Dead
2.4. Jesus' Giving Authority to His Disciples
to Heal
3. Healing in the Ancient World
3.1. Medicine
3.2. Miracle
3.3. Magic
4. The Significance of Jesus' Healings
4.1. Eschatological Context of Jesus' Healings
4.2. Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521)
4.3. Healing and the Appearance of the Kingdom
of Heaven / God
4.3.1. Matt 10:7-8
4.3.2. Luke 10:9
4.4. Jesus' Healings as Fulfillment of the
Role of the Servant
5. Faith as a Condition of Healing
5.1. Examples of Healing Conditional upon
Faith
5.2. Jesus' Inability to Heal because of Lack
of Faith (Mark 6:1-6a = Matt 13:53-58)
6. Satanic Cause of Illness
O. Betz and W. Grimm, Wesen
und Wirklichkeit der Wunder Jesu, 1977; U. Busse, Die Wunder
des Propheten Jesus, 1979; B. Chilton, Jesus’ Baptism and
Jesus’ Healing: His Personal Practice of Spirituality, 1998);
S. L. Davies, Jesus the Healer, 1995; R.H.
Fuller, Interpreting the Miracles, 1963; H.C. Kee, Medicine,
Miracle, and Magic in New Testament Times, 1986; H van der Loos,
The Miracles of Jesus, 1965; G. Theissen, Miracle Stories of the Early
Christian Tradition, 1983; R. Latourelle, The Miracles
of Jesus and the Theology of Miracles, 1988; R. Pesch, Jesu ureigene
Taten?, 1970; H. Remus, Jesus as Healer, Understanding Jesus
Today, 1997.
2. Jesus' Healings in the Gospels
Healing is a part of Jesus' ministry to the masses, and he becomes widely known as a healer: wherever he would go people would bring their sick to him to be healed. Jesus is motivated by compassion to bring relief to the suffering of the sick, as in the case of the two blind men: "Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight" (Matt 20:34). Because of his reputation as a healer, Jesus attracts so many people to himself that at times he must take extreme measures, such as making sure that he had a boat available to him so that he could avoid being mobbed by the crowds (Mark 3:9-10; Luke 6:19). The people know that power for healing is coming from Jesus and as a result attempt to touch him (Luke 6:19). On the occasion of Jesus' healing of the paralytic, Luke explains that "The power of the Lord was present to heal them" (Luke 5:17). Likewise, when he heals the woman with the bleeding problem, Jesus himself senses that power has gone out of him for healing (Mark 5:30 = Luke 8:46). Because of his healings, people not only marvel at Jesus and glorify God, but paradoxically are filled with fear. Fear was their response to the manifestation of the power of God. The people interpret him as a great prophet sent from God (Mark 2:12; Luke 5:26; 7:16).
Many scholars excise Jesus' healings from the gospels on the assumption that these stories must be legendary accretions. But it seems arbitrary to remove the healing stories from the gospels since they are so integral to Jesus' identity. Other scholars may believe that Jesus did heal but assume that Jesus' healings were psychosomatic in nature: Jesus had such an impact on men and people that they were cured of their illness of a psychological nature. But the gospels writers intend that Jesus healed organic illnesses, and besides it is difficult to believe that Jesus could attract so many people simply by affecting them positively by his winning personality and sunny disposition.
There are general references to Jesus' healing (Mark 1:32-34 = Matt 8:16-17 = Luke 4:40-41; Matt 14:14 / Luke 9:11; Matt 4:23-25; Luke 6:17-19; Mark 3:10; Matt 9:35-36; Matt 12:15; Matt 19:1-2; Matt 21:14). In several of these it is stated explicitly that Jesus healed all of those who came to him for help.
2.1.1. Luke 4:40: "And laying his hands on each one, he healed them."
2.1.2. Matt 4:23: "And healing every disease and sickness among the people."
2.1.3. Matt 8:16: "And he healed all the sick."
2.1.4. Matt 9:35: "And healing every disease and sickness."
2.1.5. Matt 12:15: "And he healed all their sick."
(Mark's use of "many" [pollous] [1:34] could be Semitism meaning "all.")
2.2. Examples of Healings Organized by Type
The gospel narratives in which Jesus heals are classified form-critically as Miracle Stories. The purpose of the creation and telling of Miracle Stories was to present Jesus as compassionate and powerful to the early church, but of course this does not mean that the church created these narratives out of nothing. Typically, a Miracle Story begins with a description of the situation, followed by the miracle, the results confirming the miracle and the response of the onlookers (see Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition, 209-44). It is interesting, however, that in these healing narratives Jesus does not always heal in the same way.
2.2.1. Jesus' Healing by Direct Command:
A. Mark 2:1-12 = Matt 9:1-8 = Luke 5:17-26: Healing of the paralytic
B. Mark 3:1-6 = Matt 12:9-14 = Luke 6-6-11: The healing of the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath
C. Matt 8:5-13 = Luke 7:1-10: The healing of the centurion's servant
D. Luke 17:11-19: The healing of the ten lepers
E. John 4:43-54: The healing of the official's son
F. John 5:1-15: The healing at pool of Bethesda
2.2.2. Jesus' Healing by Touch:
A. Mark 1:40-45 = Matt 8:1-4 = Luke 5:12-16: The healing of the leper by touch
B. Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43 = Luke 8:40-42a, 49-56: Healing of Jairus' (Dead) Daughter (See Mark 5:23: Jairus wanted Jesus to lay his hands on Jairus's daughter.)
C. Luke 22:50-51: The healing of the servant's ear by touching it
D. Luke 7:11-17: The touching of a casket and raising of a dead child
E. Luke 13:10-14: The healing the woman who is bent over by laying on of hands
2.2.3. Jesus' Healing by Being Touched:
Mark 5:24b-34 = Matt 9:20-22 = Luke 8:42b-48: The healing of the woman with the bleeding problem by touching Jesus' clothes
(See Mark 3:10; Mark 6:56 = Matt 14:36; Luke 6:19)
2.2.4. Jesus' Healing by Application of Secondary Means:
A. Mark 7:33-37: The healing of a dumb man by putting fingers in his ears and applying spit to the tongue
B. Mark 8:22-26: The healing of a blind man by the application of spit to the eyes
C. John 9:1-12: The healing of the blind man by the application of mud made of spit to the eyes followed bathing
| In the ancient world, saliva was viewed as having therapeutic properties. Galen comments on the usefulness of saliva (phlegm) for medicinal purposes: "And you may observe the extent of the alteration which occurs to food in the mouth if you will chew some corn and then apply it to an unripe [undigested] boil: you will see it rapidly transmuting- in fact entirely digesting- the boil, though it cannot do anything of the kind if you mix it with water. And do not let this surprise you; this phlegm [saliva] in the mouth is also a cure for lichens [i.e., skin ailments]; it even rapidly destroys scorpions; while, as regards the animals which emit venom, some it kills at once, and others after an interval; to all of them in any case it does great damage" (Nat. fac. 3.7). A story is also told of how Vespasian was approached by a blind man, who, being so instructed by the god Serapis, petitioned him to "moisten his cheeks and his eyes with saliva." Though reluctant at first, Vespasian consented, and the blind man is reported to have regained his sight (Tacitus, Hist. 4.81). |
2.3.1. B. Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43 = Luke 8:40-42a, 49-56: Healing of Jairus' Daughter
2.3.2. Luke 7:11-17: The widow of Nain's son
2.3.3. John 11:38-44: Lazarus
(See also Matt 10:7: The disciples are instructed to raise the dead.)
2.4. Jesus' Giving Authority to His Disciples to Heal
Jesus also gave his disciples (the twelve and the seventy-two) the authority to heal:
2.4.1. Matt 10:1-16 = Mark 6:7-11; 3:13-19 = Luke 9:1-5; 6:12-16; 10:2-12): Jesus sends out his disciples to preach, exorcize and to heal. In Mark 6:13, it is said that the disciples anointed the sick with (olive) oil and by this means healed them.
2.4.2. Luke 10:1-12: Jesus sends out the seventy-two, instructing them among other things to heal and say, "The Kingdom of God has come upon you." (See Matt 9:37-38; 10:7-16; Matt seems to conflate the accounts from Mark and the double tradition.)
Question
What are the kinds of healings that Jesus performs?
|
Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda, a spring-fed pool, which John describes as follows, "Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes" (John 5:2). Excavations of the site, located just north of the Temple mount, have revealed that there were actually two pools separated by a dike and surrounded by porticos. The fifth portico was situated between the two pools. The reference to Beth Eshdathayin ("House of the Twin Pools") in the Copper Scroll (11.12) probably refers to the pool of Bethseda. |
Site of Pool of Bethsesda
|
3. Healing in the Ancient World
It is important to examine the historical background of Jesus' healing ministry (see H.C. Kee, Medicine, Miracle, and Magic in New Testament Times). This provides data to reconstruct how people would have interpreted Jesus' healing activities. In both Jewish and Hellenistic cultures healing was a fixed part; the phenomenon of healing in the ancient world, according to Kee's thesis, can be divided into three types: medicine, miracle and magic.
Kee's definition of medicine is as follows: "Medicine is a method of diagnosis of human ailments and prescription for them based on combinations of theory about and observation of the body, its functions and malfunctions." There is nothing supernatural about the practice of medicine; it is simply knowledge of the body and the effects that certain practices or substances have on the body.
There were medical practitioners in the ancient world; medicine has roots in every culture, but the Greeks cultivated it to a higher degree than most. As Hellenistic civilization spread so did Hellenistic medicine. That there were medical practitioners in Palestine at the time of Jesus is clear from the narrative of the woman with the issue of blood who is said to have seen many doctors (Mark 5:26).We also find that, according to Josephus (War 2.136), the Essenes excelled in the area of medicine. Now which influences were operative on the Essenes are unknown: they may have been influenced by Hellenistic medicine or they may have developed their own medical knowledge.
It should also be noted that some Jews explained illness not only as a result of the malfunctioning of the body, but also as the result of sin: one could become ill through disobedience to the Law and could become well again through repentance and offering the necessary sacrifices at the Temple. In Sir 38 both views are expressed. The advice is given that, when sick, one should repent, ask forgiveness, and bring an offering to the Temple. But the sick person is also advised "to give the physician his place" because God has "created him," meaning that God created the possibility of the medical profession insofar as He has ordained that certain techniques and substances have beneficial effects on the malfunctioning body.
Kee defines miracle as follows: "It embodies the claim that healing can be accomplished through appeal to and subsequent action by the gods, either directly or through a chosen intermediary agent." There are examples in pagan culture and a few in post-Biblical Jewish sources of healing by the power of the gods or God. In the Old Testament also we also find examples of "holy men" who were involved in divine healing: e.g., Elisha's healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5).
Healing was also effected through magic, defined as "a technique through word or act through which a desired end is achieved, whether that ends lies in the solution to the seeker's problem or in damage to the enemy who caused the problem." Magic involves a knowledge of the laws of the cosmos to which all beings including the gods and other spiritual beings are subject. One could then force the gods or other beings to do one's bidding through manipulation of these laws. It should be noted that often magic and medicine overlapped: at times the two were not always differentiated in the minds of the practitioners or the masses.
Jesus' healing ministry would have been understood by first-century Palestinian Jews as miraculous: he was neither a physician nor a magician, but healed by divine power. It must be stressed that, as already indicated, different from all other known examples, Jesus healed all who were brought to him, not simply one or two individuals at different times. Jesus' ability to heal universally would certainly have commended him to the masses as an extraordinary individual.
How could Jesus' healings have been interpreted by his contemporaries?
4. The Significance of Jesus' Healings
4.1. Eschatological Context of Jesus' Healings
| Matt
11:2-6 2
When John heard in prison the works of Christ, he sent his
disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should
we expect someone else?" 4
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, good news is preached
to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account
of me." |
Luke
7:18-23 18 John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'" 21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." |
The conclusion that Jesus would have been interpreted as healing by means of divine power should be qualified by saying that there is a dimension to his healing ministry that sets him apart from other divine healers, Jewish and pagan: Jesus' eschatological interpretation of his healing activity. Jesus understands the healings that he performs as being a manifestation of the Kingdom of God. He explains the connection between healing and the Kingdom in response to a question from John the Baptist (Lk. 7.18-23 = Mt. 11.2-6). Form-critically, the tradition in Luke 7:18-23 = Matt 11:2-6 is classifiable as an apophthegma (pronouncement story), and belongs to a larger collection of narratives in which John the Baptist is featured (Matt 11:2-19 = Luke 7:18-35). It consists of three parts: John’s question; Jesus’ response; beatitude. The differences in the respective versions of this tradition used by Matthew and Luke is not completely recoverable. It is possible that Matthew abbreviated the narrative framework of his version, which Luke preserved (Matt 11:2-3 = Luke 7:18-20). If so, then Matthew may have made it explicit that the reason that John did not come personally was that he was in prison in 11:2: “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ…” Evidence that Matthew is responsible for the phrase "the deeds of Christ" (11:2) is that with it an inclusion is created around 11.2-19 insofar as the idea of wisdom’s "deeds" occurs in 11.19. In addition, Luke may have inserted Luke 7:21 into the narrative framework as explanatory of why John sends two of his disciples to Jesus with his question.
Those
who hold that the double tradition derives from a single written
source, commonly known as the "Q-source," attempt to reconstruct
the original version from the two redacted versions in Matthew and
Luke (see Hoffmann, Studien zur Theologie der Logienquelle,
192-93; Schulz, Spruchequelle,, 190-92; Stuhlmacher, Evangelium,
218-25; Catchpole, The Quest for Q, 43-45; Davies and Allison,
Matthew, 2.235-46). The success of such an undertaking,
however, depends upon the questionable assumption that Matthew and
Luke used an identical source, rather than two similar versions
of the same tradition. Nevertheless, there is evidence of Lukan
redaction. The verb apaggellein is a Lukan word, occurring eleven
times in Luke and sixteen times in Acts (7:18). It may have been
suggested to Luke by its occurrence in 7:22. The use of pas
and houtos is common in Luke and Acts so that the phrase
peri pantôn toutôn may be redactional. The verb
proskalein is also a Lukan word, occurring in Luke 15:26;
16:5; 18:16 and nine time in Acts. The phrase tis tôn
is a common Lukan construction and so may be redactional. The construction
e1pemyen pros...legôn in 7:19 is Lukan, because Luke often
uses the pleonastic legôn followed by direct speech
(verba dicendi); also the phrase pempein pros is
relatively frequent in Luke’s writing (Luke 4:26; Acts 10:33;
15:25; 19:31; 23:30) (7:19). The absolute use of ho kurios
is typically Lukan (7:19). In 7:20, the typically Lukan phrase paragenomenoi…pros
auton occurs, suggesting Lukan redaction. The phrase paraginesthai
pros tina, with the exception of Mark 3:13, occurs in Luke 7:4,
20; 8:19; 11:1; Acts 20:18. Likewise the use of anêr
without meaning "husband" is typical of Luke's writings,
occurring 116 times. The pleonastic use of legôn in
7:20 is Lukan (apesteilen... legôn). The contruction
therapeuein apo is typically Lukan as is nosos (7:21).
The phrase pneumata ponêra is distinctive of Luke’s
vocabulary, as is the use of the verb charizesthai (Hoffmann,
Studien zur Theologie der Logienquelle, 192-93; Schulz,
Spruchequelle, 190, n. 117; Jeremias, Die Sprache des
Lukasevangeliums, 160-62; Marshall, Luke, 289-91). |
In this pericope from the double tradition, Jesus places his healing activity into an eschatological context in response to a question from John the Baptist. When in prison, John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus whether he is the one who was to come. The phrase "the coming one" hearkens back to John's statement in Mark 1:7 = Matt 3:11; Luke 3:15-16a (see John 1:25-27) that one would come after him who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. So John's disciples use the term "the coming one" in a technical sense to refer to this one whose way John came to prepare. Although it is not said why he needed to know this, apparently John had some doubts about Jesus' identity. At one time John identified Jesus as the coming one, but now he was not so sure because, what Jesus was doing—although remarkable—was not what John that the the coming one was supposed to do (see John 1:6, 15, 24-34). Perhaps, John expected Jesus already to have done what he predicted the one who would come after him would do, in particular to bring eschatological judgment. It is even possible that John expected Jesus to free him from prison and mediate God's judgment on Herod Antipas for his mistreatment of John, which is certainly understandable. In any case, in response to John's question, Jesus points to his activities and in so doing connects his healing ministry with Old Testament eschatological prophecies: "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." Jesus intends subtly to revise John’s expectations by providing for a longer period before eschatological judgment, during which by eschatological fulfillment will be realized.
Some
deny that John could ever have thought that Jesus was ever the coming
one (C.H. Kraeling, John, 129; Hoffmann, Studien zur Theologie
der Logienquelle, 198-201; H.-W. Kuhn, Enderwartung und
gegenwärtiges Heils, 195 n. 5; Schweizer, Matthew,
254-55; D. Zeller, Kommentar zur Logienquelle, 39-40; Merklein,
Gottesherrschaft, 162; Sato, Q und Prophetie,
141). For this reason they deny the historicity of the tradition,
and attribute it to the early church and its desire to make John
a subservient witness to Jesus. Beasley-Murray argues convincingly,
however, that the discrepancy between what John expected the coming
one to do and what Jesus was doing is precisely the reason for John’s
confusion and makes this tradition historically credible (Jesus
and the Kingdom of God, 80-83). Jesus was doing miracles but
not bringing the expected judgment. Beasley Murray writes, “The
deeds that perplex John are signs that God’s awaited sovereignity
is in action in the world” (81). Schurmann argues that John’s
early imprisonment and execution makes it improbable that he could
have had such a conversation with Jesus (Lukas, 414). But
all that is required is a brief overlap between John’s arrest
and the beginning of Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of
God for this to occur. |
Although it may not be obvious at first, in Matt 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-23, in response to John's question, Jesus quotes a catena of passages from Isa 26:19; 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 42:7, 18; 61:1, indicating that his healing ministry is a part of the eschatological salvation foretold by the prophet. Structurally, Jesus' response to John's question is six parallel clauses followed by blessing.
| Isa 26:19: Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. |
| Isa 29:18-19: In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Once more the humble will rejoice in Yahweh; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. |
| Isa 35:5-6: Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. |
| Isa 42:7: To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison. |
| Isa 42:18: Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. |
| Isa 61:1: The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. |
He provides a list of six eschatological benefits: 1. blind see (Isa 29:18; 35:5; 42:18; 61:1); 2. lame walk (Isa 35:6); 3. lepers are cleansed; 4. deaf hear (Isa 35:5; 42:18); 5. dead are raised (Isa 26:19); 6. poor receive good news (Isa 61:1) The only thing not mentioned in these Isaian passages is the fact that lepers are cleansed, so that the reality of the eschatological blessings seems to have surpassed their prediction. Jesus' response clearly indicates that to his mind the eschatological blessings, which include not only the healing of diseases and infirmities but also the conquering of death, have begun to be realized in his appearance. For him the prophetic future has been changed to the present. In other words, this is the time of the Kingdom.
| On another
occasion, Jesus is recorded as citing Isa 61 as having been fulfilled
by him. In Luke's account of Jesus' visit to Nazareth, Jesus reads
from Isa 61:1-2 in the synagogue and then announces to those present
"Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing." (Luke 4:13-21). It is clear that Jesus gives
an eschatological interpretation to this prophetic passage. With
the discovery of 11QMelchizedek, it is equally clear that he was
not the first to interpret Isa 61:1-2 eschatologically.
Found among the Dead Sea Scrolls is a sectarian text in which Melchizedek is understood as an angel, almost certainly identical to Michael and the Prince of Light (11QMelch [11Q13]). This theological reflection is based exegetically on Lev 25, the legislation on the year of jubilee, which is then interpreted in light of Deut 15:2 and Isa 61:1. The text began with the citation of Lev 25:13 to which the parallel legislation in Deut 15:2 is brought alongside in typically midrashic fashion. The point established is that the Torah requires the release of all debts in the year of jubilee. In his pesher on Lev. 25, the author uncovers an eschatological meaning for the institution of the year of jubilee: "Its interpretation for the last days concerns the captives about whom it is said, 'To proclaim liberty to the captives (Isa 61:1)'." There will be an eschatological year of jubilee, and will be the fulfillment of the release of the captives foretold in Isa 61:1. The captives no doubt refer to the members of the community who are oppressed by their wicked compatriots and by Belial and the angels of his lot. The anointed one who proclaims this good news seems to be Melchizedek himself. Also it seems that the eschatological year of jubilee coincides with the completion of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9, for, later in this pesher, which unfortunately is full of lacunae, Dan 9:25 is cited: "The mountains are the prophets and the messenger is the anointed of the spirit about whom Daniel spoke ['Until an anointed one, a prince']" (2.17-18)." What is implied in the quotation of Dan 9:25 is that the time of the appearance of the anointed one after 490 years is the time of the eschatological year of jubilee. (That Melchizedek is to be identified with the anointed one in Dan 9:25 is possible since Melchizedek is probably interpreted to be the anointed one in Isa 61:1.) Melchizedek, assumed to be an angel (and probably identical to Michael and the Prince of Light), is given the principal role in the realization of eschatological salvation for the righteous and judgment of the wicked. The members of the community are called the "inheritance of Melchizedek" and it is said that Melchizedek will be the one "to proclaim liberty to them and will release them from the [debt] of their iniquities." At the completion of the ninth Jubilee, in the first week of the tenth jubilee, on the Day of Atonement, atonement will be made for "all the sons of light and the men of the lot of Melchizedek" (2.8; see 2.6), possibly connected somehow to Melchizedek’s eschatological appearance. It is said that this is "the time of the year of favor for Melchizedek," meaning that this is time of eschatological salvation to be mediated by Melchizedek. Clearly, this is an interpretation of Isa 61:2 "The year of Yahweh's favor," so that Melchizedek is viewed as the mediator of Yahweh's eschatological favor to the righteous. Like his contemporaries, Jesus assumes that Isa 61:1-3 has an eschatological reference and offers a pesher-type interpretation of this text. He interprets the anointed one in Isa 61:1, however, not as Melchizedek, but as himself, and therefore is understood as making the claim that he is the mediator of the eschatological benefits listed in Isa 61:1-3. His hearers in the synagogue at Nazareth took offence at the audacity of his claim; indeed, if they are aware of the interpretation of the "anointed one" in Isa 61:1 as Melchizedek, i.e., the archangel Michael, their consternation is understandable, for Jesus is making a far-reaching, salvation-historical claim about himself. It should also be pointed out that the text that Jesus reads is cited by Luke in its LXX form, but with two differences. First, the clause "to heal the brokenhearted" is omitted and the clause "to release the oppressed" actually derives from Isa 58:6. It is doubtful that Jesus would omit phrases from the scripture reading in the synagogue, so that it is probable that Luke gives a condensed version of what Jesus read. Likewise, Jesus probably would not have introduced Isa 58:6 into the reading itself. It is possible that Isa 58:6 was one of the related passages that Jesus introduced into his commentary on Isa 61. If so, this implies that Luke's report that, upon completion of his reading, Jesus said merely "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" represents an abbreviation of a fuller discourse, similar to what one finds in 11QMelch. |
| 1 [for the heav]ens and the earth will listen to his Messiah, 2 [and all] that is in them will not turn away from the holy precepts. 3 Be encouraged, you who are seeking the Lord in his service [blank] 4 Will you not, perhaps, encounter the Lord in it, all those who hope in their heart? 5 For the Lord will observe the devout, and call the just by name, 6 and upon the poor he will place his spirit, and the faithful he will renew with his strength. 7 For he will honor the devout upon the throne of eternal Kingdom, 8 liberating the captives, giving sight to the blind, straightening out the twisted. 9 Ever shall I cling to those who hope. In his mercy he will jud[ge,] 10 and from no-one shall the fruit [of] good [deeds] be delayed, 11 and the Lord will perform marvelous acts such as have not existed, just as he sa[id] 12 for he will heal the sick and will make the dead live, he will proclaim good news to the poor 13 give lavishly [to the need]y, lead the exiled and enrich the hungry. |
This literary fragment appears to be a description of the conditions that will obtain at the time of eschatological salvation. Line 1 indicates that the Messiah will rule all of creation: "[for the heav]ens and the earth will listen to his anointed one." It is possible to interpret line 12 as also referring to the Davidic Messiah mentioned in line 1, so that the Messiah is destined to heal the sick and make the dead alive again. If so, then there exists a remarkable parallel between it and Mt. 11.5 || Lk. 7.22: Jesus identifies healing and raising the dead as part of his mission. But even if the subject of lines 9b-13 is the Lord, who in this context would be God, healing and the raising of dead are still seen as eschatological blessings. Apart from its possible existence in 4Q521, however, there is no explicit reference from the second-Temple period to the Davidic Messiah’s healing the sick or raising the dead (contrary to H. Kvalbein, ‘The Wonders of the End-Time Metaphorical Language in 4Q521 and the Interpretation of Matthew 5:11 par.’, JSP 19 [1998], pp. 87-110).
In addition,
at the end of line 12 part of Isa. 61.1 may also be quoted as part of
the mission of the Davidic Messiah (‘He will announce good news
to the poor’), in agreement with the generally-accepted eschatological
interpretation of Isa. 61.1-3, as evident in Melchizedek (11Q13), and
Jesus’ own citation of Isa. 61.1 as being fulfiled in his proclamation
of the Kingdom (Lk. 4.13; Mt. 11.5 || Lk. 7.22). (If it is not the Messiah
who proclaims good news to the poor, then it is the Lord himself.) Other
allusions to Isa. 61.1-3 in 4Q521 occur in line 8: ‘Liberating the
captives, giving sight to the blind’. Finally, it is interesting
that in 4Q521 it is said ‘upon the poor he will place his spirit’.
This seems to be a reference to the bestowal of the eschatological spirit
of holiness; John said of the one to come after him: ‘He will baptism
you in the spirit of holiness and with fire’. John J. Collins interprets
the anointed one in 4Q521 as Elijah or an Elijah-like figure, but this
seems tenuous (The Scepter and the Star [New York: Doubleday, 1995], pp.
117-23).
4.3. Healing
and the Appearance of the Kingdom of Heaven / God
The Kingdom of God or Heaven is Jesus' preferred expression for Israel's eschatological salvation; in his view, healing is part of the benefits of that salvation. This is why he instructs his disciples to heal in addition to proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has drawn near.
4.3.1. Matt 10:7-8: Jesus tells the disciples to proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cleanse lepers and to expel demons.
4.3.2. Luke 10:9: Jesus tells his disciples (seventy-two) to heal the sick in a city that receives them, and proclaim that the Kingdom of God has come upon them.
4.4. Jesus' Healings as Fulfillment of the Role of the Servant
| Matt
8:16-18 16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases." (Isa 53:4) 18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. |
In Matt 8:16-18, the author interprets Jesus' healing ministry in light of Isa 53:4: As the servant Jesus takes the weaknesses and illness of the people.
Pool of Siloam
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Recently what is probably the Pool of Siloam was discovered in Jerusalem. The structure is be dated from as early as the late Hasmonean period, since five coins from the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE) were discovered embedded in the plaster. (It is not certain, however, how long the coins circulated before becoming part of the pool.) So far excavations have been carried out on only part of the structure, which consists of a trapazoid-shaped pool surrounded on at least three sides by three sets of five stairs. The first and second sets of steps lead to landings, whereas the third set leads into the pool. The stones on the steps apparently were added in a second phase of construction; in the first phase, the steps were merely plastered.The pool was fed by the Siloah spring located nearby. In John 9:1-11, Jesus heals a man who was born blind by applying mud to his eyes and having him wash it off in the Pool of Siloam: "[Jesus] spat on the ground, and made clay of the spit, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, 'Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing" (John 9:6-7). There is a reference to the use of Pool of Siloam during the Feast of Tabernacles (m. Sukkah 4.9). |
How does Jesus interpret his healing ministry?
5. Faith as a Condition of Healing
There are several references to the fact that Jesus required faith as a prerequisite to being able to heal.
5.1. Examples of Healing Conditional upon Faith
There are examples of Jesus' connecting causally faith (not necessarily the one who is healed) with healing:
5.1.1. Mark 2:5 (The healing of a paralytic): "And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven'" (= Matt 9:2; Luke 5:20).
5.1.2. Mark 5:34 (The healing of the woman with the bleeding problem): "And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction" (= Matt 9:22; Luke 8:48).
5.1.3. Mark 10:52 (The healing of blind beggar [Bartimaeus]): "And Jesus said to him, 'Go; your faith has made you well'. Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road" (= Luke 18:42).
5.1.4. Luke 7:9-10 (The healing of the centurion's servant): "Now when Jesus heard this, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following him, 'I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith'. When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health" (= Matt 8:10, 13).
5.1.5. Matt 9:29 (The healing of two blind men): "Then he touched their eyes, saying, 'It shall be done to you according to your faith'."
5.1.6. Luke 17:19 (The cleansing
of the ten lepers): "And he said to him, 'Stand
up and go; your faith has made you well'."
5.2. Jesus' Inability to Heal because of Lack of Faith (Mark 6:1-6a = Matt 13:53-58)
| Mark
6:1-6a 1 Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown; and his disciples followed him. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to him, and such miracles as these performed by his hands? 3 "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household." 5 And he could do no miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled at their unbelief. |
Matt
13:53-58 53
When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there.
54 He came to his hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue,
so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man
get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 "Is not this
the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers,
James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 "And his sisters,
are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these
things?" 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said
to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown
and in his own household." 58 And he did not do many miracles
there because of their unbelief. |
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The Town of Nazareth Nazareth is situated in a high valley among the most southerly hills of the Lebanon range; to the south of the town is the Plain of Esdraelon. Based on the fact that it is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, second-Temple Jewish texts and Josephus, Nazareth seems to have been a fairly insignificant place. It was in Nazareth that Gabriel revealed to Mary that she had been chosen to give birth to Jesus (Luke 1:26-38), and where Mary and Joseph went after the flight to Egypt (Matt 2:23). |
What is the condition that Jesus requires in order to be healed?
| Luke
13:10-17 10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. |
In Luke 13:10-17, a narrative unique to Luke, there is the account of a the healing of a woman who could not straighten up for eighteen years. Form-critically, this pericope is classifiable as both a pronouncement story and a miracle story because Jesus both heals a woman and enters into a conflict with those who take offense at his healing on the Sabbath. The climax of the miracle story occurs a 13:14, and the climax of the pronouncement story at 13:15-16. This narrative is a poignant reminder that the idea of a pure form is an ideal construct. Jesus identifies the cause of her condition as being bound by Satan (13:16). What is interesting is that this woman is not only said to have been released from what bound her (13:16), but also to have been healed (13:14). Similarly, women who accompanied Jesus on his itinerant preaching ministry are said to have been healed of evil spirits and diseases (Luke 8:2). Since demon possession can produce physical symptoms, such as seizures or dumbness, it seems that the line between illness and Satanic / demonic affliction becomes blurred at times.
| Bultmann claims that Luke 13:10-17 developed around the saying of Jesus represented by 13:15 (History of the Synoptic Tradition, 12).The unity of 13:15 and 13:16, however, tells against this; 13:15 could never has stood alone. In 13:15 Jesus presents the first stage of his argument from minor to major—that his opponents "loose" animals on the Sabbath in order to lead them to water—and in 13:16 he moves to the second stage of the argument—that how much more should they allow him to "loose" a woman bound by Satan for eighteen years. Roloff argues that 13:15 was not part of the original pericope, but was created by the Lukan redactor using Luke 14:5 = Matt 12:11 (Das Kerygma und der irdische Jesus, 66-69). For this reason he rejects Luke 13:15 as a genuine saying of Jesus. Proof of its non-historicity is the fact that the verse allegedly does not reflect Jewish Sabbath practice at the time of Jesus, because according to rabbinic halakah the watering of animals was not allowed as Jesus assumes in his argument from minor to major. According to Roloff, the Lukan redactor modifies Luke 14:5 = Matt 12:11 by adding the verb luein (to loose); this verb serves as a link-word (Stichwort) to connect 13:15 to 13:16. According to him, the original form of the pericope consisted of 13:12-13, 14a, 16. Luke 13:10, 17 are elaborations of the redactor and 13:11 was created by the redactor under the influence of 13:16a. (Roloff says nothing about the origin of 13:14b, but presumably this is redactional also.) Evidence of the the lack of unity of Luke 13:10-17 is the fact that in 13:14 Jesus' opponent is the ruler of the synagogue, whereas in 13:15 it is a plurality of detractors. This was the result of careless redaction. Roloff's tradition-historical analysis is far too speculative to be credible. It is impossible to reconstruct the alleged tradition history of 13:10-17 without more evidence. The similarity between 13:15 and Luke 14:5 = Matt 12:11 is an insufficient basis on which to conclude that 13:15 is a redactional composition. In general, Roloff's tradition-historical arguments tend to be circular. Moreover, his claim that the rabbinic practice was more rigorous than Jesus assumes is wrong. First, the early rabbis did allow animals to go out on the Sabbath provided that they not carry loads (m. Šabb. 5:1-4). Second, although as a general rule knot tying or loosening was prohibited (m. Šabb. 7:2), an exception was allowed for the tying up of a animal in order that it may not stray (m. Šabb. 15:1). (Besides, not all types of knots were prohibited anyway [m. Šabb. 15:1].) Third, provision was made by the early rabbis for the watering of animals on the Sabbath (m. 'Erub. 2:1-4); to water an animal no doubt requires that they first be untied. It should also be noted that the early rabbinic halakah may not reflect the practice in the pre-70 period anyway. These data serve to remove the objection to accepting the historicity of 13:15, and so undermines Roloff's conclusion that 13:15 is redactional. Finally, to argue for the lack of unity of 13:10-17 based on the fact that Jesus has one opponent in 13:14 but many in 13:15 is unconvincing because surely a redactor would make his expanded narrative consistent. As it stands now it is more realistic because Jesus no doubt had many opponents whose views were expressed by the ruler of the synagogue. |
In some second-Temple texts, Satan or some other evil spirit brings illness or infirmity to human beings; Satan's removal from human affairs is expected at the eschaton, thereby eliminating a cause of illness and infirmity (see, for example, Jub. 10:1-14; 23:29; 1 Enoch 10:13-16; 54:6). Similarly, in the Genesis Apocryphon, the diseases inflicted on Pharaoh and his household because Pharaoh took Sarai from Abraham by force (Gen 12:10-20) are explained as being the effect of the activities of an "pestilential spirit" (rwh mkdš) (1QapGen 20.16-18, 21-29). Thus Jesus' view that Satan is a cause of illness and infirmity and that the Kingdom of God was characterized by the elimination of such would have struck no one as unusual or novel.
"Theodotus, (son) of Vettenus, priest and archisynagogos (ruler of the synagogue), son of an archisynagogos, grandson of an archisynagogos, built the synagogue for the reading of the law and the teaching of the commandments, and the guest-chamber and the rooms and the water installations for lodging for those needing them from abroad, which his fathers, the elders and Simonides founded." |
Theodotus Inscription In 1913, R. Weill discovered the inscription now known as the Theodotus Inscription at the bottom of a cistern. The artifact is dated from before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70. Presumably this inscription was attached to a synagogue in Jerusalem. The inscription indicates that the synagogue built by Theodotus was not only intended as a place of learning Torah, but also served as a place of lodging for visitors to Jerusalem. Reference to the ruler of the synagogue (archisynagogos) as a designation is also found in the gospels and the Book of Acts (see Mark 5:22, 35-36 = Luke 8:49; Luke 13:14; Acts 13:15; 18:8, 17) |
What is Jesus' view of the connection between Satan and human illness?
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