serve & heal

In the first chapter of the Gospel According to Mark (NABRE), Jesus’ ministry is accompanied by healing many who are ill. While in a few special cases we’re given insight into the logistics and the “how” of these signs and miracles, in far more cases such as this, they’re treated as almost incidental, Very little information is provided about how it is that Jesus actually heals anyone.

The Greek word used to describe these actions, θεραπεύω (therapeuo), is the root of the English word therapy and has a range of possible meanings from routine service such as that rendered by a handmaid to general unskilled medical service. It even can reference some sort of service or worship toward the gods. The key and interesting point in this context is the generally unskilled nature of this service.

It’s clear there was no good bucket or existing context into which to place Jesus’ miraculous healing acts. They’re not medical in nature, so terminology describing medical treatments isn’t applicable. While what Jesus is doing certainly isn’t unskilled, it also doesn’t seem to match the practice of any skilled craft. Jesus’ healing acts require no tools and seem to take very little time or effort. All four evangelists use this same word to describe Jesus’ healing or curing of the ill. He’s rendering a service that defies any existing categorization.

When in your life has Jesus intervened in a way that didn’t fit with your typical view of how things work?

you also may like our study of Saul, David & Solomon (digital only)
The United Kingdom of Israel: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at the First and Second Books of Samuel to learn how the lives of the monarchs Saul, David, and Solomon point ahead to the kingdom of heaven. The unified reign of King David is seen as a foreshadowing or type of the unity that is one of the four marks of the Church—the kingdom of God—established by Jesus Christ. Click here to view a sample of the first lesson.

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