Healing versus Being Made Well

Today's Gospel reading (Luke 17:11-19) includes one of my two favorite healing verses, which challenged me to consider the difference between healing and being made well. In Matthew 5:34, Jesus tells the woman with the blood that her faith has made her well, and in Luke 17:19 Jesus utters the same words: your faith has made you well. The woman secretly takes her healing when she touches His garment, but the lepers publicly ask Jesus for healing. Jesus honors both of their physical healings, yet there seems to be more--being made well.
Matthew 5:34
And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
Luke 17:19
And He said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."
Is there a distinction between receiving a healing and being made well?
Throughout the New Testament, we read story after story about how Jesus heals people with physical injuries, disfigurements, blindness, being mute, deafness, infirmity, disease, and fever. We read about deliverance of evil spirits, some tied to epilepsy and some impacting a person's mental health. We read about sin affecting a person's physical health or inability to remain within society. The diversity of healings demonstrates the vastness of Jesus' ability to heal everyone, no matter the causes of the ailments. However, Jesus does not tell every person that they have been made well.
Furthermore, Jesus never tells anyone that they have been made well, while ignoring the existence of their physical issues, afflicting spirits, or emotional wounds. Every person who approaches Jesus for healing, receives healing. Jesus verbally confirms the healing. But, only some people hear Jesus say the additional words: your faith has made you well.
Arguably, someone could assert that the authors of Scripture conceivably failed to include being made well after every healing or that Jesus randomly bestows an additional blessing on a few people He heals. But neither premise aligns with the nature of God. If we accept that Jesus is perfect, then the inspired Word of God is perfect, too, because Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). With regards to the possible randomness of Jesus, analysis of Scripture proves otherwise: Jesus always completes tasks with intention, purpose, and order. These arguments reflect human error and flaws. Instead of attributing human error and flaw to Jesus, we can rest assured in His perfection. Therefore, we may conclude that the additional words spoken to some people was intentional.
The implication is that being made well is an even greater level of healing, encompassing physical healing as well as some other type of healing. Perhaps something else is required for this type of healing to take place.
The leper is one of ten lepers that Jesus physically heals, but he's the only person who returns to Jesus. Once the man recognizes that his healing had taken place, he returns to praise God in a loud voice; falls down at Jesus' feet; and gives Him thanks (Luke 17:16). Only then does Jesus bestow the additional blessing of being made well.
What are the differences among praise, worship, and giving thanks?
The Samaritan returns to praise God in a loud voice; falls down at Jesus' feet; and Give Him thanks. What are the differences among praise, worship, and giving thanks? I've heard a pastor explain that praise is honoring God for what He has done for us; worship is exalting the Lord for Who He is; and giving thanks is recognizing the One from Whom all blessings flow. Even though people may use the words interchangeably, because they acknowledge a superior being, the differences remind us Who we must honor and how our perspective impacts our expectations.
He's not 'one and done'; He can and will do it again. So, we may have expectant faith.
The next question begs: Who or what do we praise in a loud voice? Personally, I have yelled with vigor and enthusiasm at children's sports games, collegiate football games, professional races, music concerts, theater performances, movie screenings, on-line videos, and television programs. But, have I exalted the Lord with as much exuberance and gusto?
(Yes, one time at a Christian music concert, knowing that the other tens of thousands of people's voices would hide my voice. But, definitely not at church.)
Granted, some church cultures encourage significant expressions of praise, but I venture to guess that most church-goers would stare with concern, horror, or disgust at such displays of intense and pure adoration for God. Thus, people avoid public displays of expression, while denying one of the purposes of attending church--to fully receive and honor God.
Do I fall down at the feet of Jesus?
Another question to ponder: Has the presence of Jesus ever overwhelmed me or have I ever felt compelled to literally fall to the feet of Jesus? The leper falls. He doesn't bend haphazardly or genuflect slightly as a little curtsy; this man fully commits to a posture of subordination and respect. Furthermore, this man was a foreigner, a Samaritan. The Samaritan returns to Jesus, acknowledging the source of his healing, then he completely lowers himself to the feet of Jesus, accepting Jesus as the source of His healing.
I'm imagining a man so overwhelmed by the blessing of physical healing that he can no longer stand in the presence of Jesus. Earlier, the man could stand in the presence of Jesus, but he no longer can. Jesus had that effect on people. When the soldiers first tried to arrest Jesus, they felt His power as He confirmed His identity; the soldiers fell to the ground (John 18:6). Have I ever fallen down at the feet of Jesus?
(Yes, one time I fell to my knees in the privacy of my bedroom, but out of repentance not adoration.)
What does Jesus mean when He tells them to go?
Another common element between the two healing stories includes the command from Jesus 'to go'. He was not dismissing this man and woman from His presence; instead, I believe He was encouraging them to go forth. Both of these people had been isolated from the protection and connection of community, probably ostracized, or worse, completely ignored by friends and family. Laws required unclean people to remain distanced from others to avoid contamination or transmission of disease, until a priest examined them and determined their cleanliness. Jesus reminds the leper of the law by telling him to go and find a priest.
The woman with the blood and the leper had lived for years in exile, and these two needed a strong nudge to remind them how to live after their healing. Habits and muscle memory can alleviate the effort needed to complete mundane tasks, but these habits can also restrict change when a person needs to adjust to a new lifestyle. Once healed, a person could easily fall back into patterns that previously worked well for them. Jesus' simple command transforms their lifestyle. They need to return to their communities and be restored as participating members of society.
Have I gone forth into a new lifestyle fully restored, or do I cautiously remain suspended between the new lifestyle and my previous life, marred by an autoimmune disease and emotional scars, because I fear that a prior symptom may reappear, or that a different medical condition may disrupt my life again?
(That question stung. I definitely need to shed the fear of being physically ill and go forth!)
Back to the original question: What does it mean to be made well?
Jesus physically heals all ten lepers, yet He only declares one leper to be made well. Scripture includes a distinction between physical healing and being made well by using different words in response to different actions. Each action requires a different level of commitment.
The first action is the ten lepers seek Jesus for healing. They seek Him out. Despite years of living in poverty, pain, and displacement, they still have a sliver of hope to be healed. But, none of them knows Jesus personally, and none of them has a friend making a proper introduction. They dare to break the law; they ignore social morays; and they risk disappointment if their last hope is dashed by the rejection of Jesus. They boldly seek Jesus and ask for the impossible: they ask Him to heal them of leprosy.
The second action is that they comply with Jesus' command to go to the priests, yet none had been healed at that specific moment. In an earlier paragraph, I mention how people need a nudge from Jesus to go forth to live within their new lifestyle of physical health, but another point of consideration of the command is that the healing happened when they comply and go forth. Only then, do they receive healing. The lepers believe Jesus' words of healing without having visual confirmation of the healing. Remember, the leper returns to Jesus AFTER he discovers that he had been healed.
The third action is the exultation of God. None of the lepers had any object worthy to give to Jesus in return for their healing. What does someone, who is so desolate and deprived, give to someone who needs nothing? The leper fully gives himself. He holds nothing in reserve. His faith in Jesus, especially as a Samaritan, demonstrates his complete surrender to Jesus as his Savior. The healed man faithfully gives praise, homage, and thanksgiving; he chooses to give his entire mind, body, and soul--the only gift anyone can give to Jesus.
Jesus extends healing to those who ask, but our complete faith in Him ensures our well-being in mind, body, and soul!
(The other nine lepers ... I wonder what happened to them?)
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