In the Gospel of Matthew, St. John the Baptist sends two of his followers to ask Jesus whether he is the Messiah spoken of in the Hebrew Bible. In response, Jesus says:
“Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor… God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.” (Matthew 11:4-6)
In this passage, Jesus’ status as a divine physician who vanquishes earthly maladies is seen not only as an indication of his divinity but also as a sign of the faith held by those who believe in Him. This theme is a recurrent one in the New Testament, but it is given particular attention in the Gospel written by St. Luke, whom Christian tradition regularly describes as a physician. Luke’s emphasis on the Messiah’s role in healing disease follows the example of the prophet Isaiah, who boldly proclaimed that during the time of the Savior:
“He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy. Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland.” (Isaiah 35:5-6).
The prophet Malachi likewise associated the Messiah with healing and asserted that his arrival would bring about joy as well, as demonstrated by his assertion from the mouth of God himself:
“For you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” (Malachi 4:2).
Given the prophetic roots of the Messiah’s powers to heal, the unique fixation St. Luke has on Jesus’ power to transform the human body is a unique contribution to our understanding of Messianic ministry and a faithful response to it. To wit, Luke details a dizzying number of healings in dramatic fashion, tales in which debilitating conditions such as leprosy, fever, dropsy, bleeding, seizures, paralysis, blindness, deafness, mutism, and even death prove no match for the words and touch of Jesus.
Huge crowds amass in wonder at these miracles, and the gratitude and love felt by those saved from the ravages of earthly pain are fervent. These healings are not merely important for the elimination of pain or suffering, but they are also critical for their ability to promote social reintegration into the Jewish community. Lepers were particularly reviled for the weeping sores and disfigurement their illness created—which made them unfit to enter the Temple and subject to derision, humiliation, and hatred. Accordingly, Jesus’ healing touch should also be viewed as an effort to destroy the social consequences and isolation imposed on people with chronic conditions.
Many of the issues St. Luke identified in 1st-century Jerusalem continue in present times. Those with sexually transmitted diseases, facial disfigurements, cognitive disorders, speech impediments, and other conditions face social stigmatization today, and many are even subject to violence and other persecution.
Given the depiction of Christ’s healings, the question presents itself: How should the Church conduct itself in response to this widespread and acute suffering, especially in light of the prophetic tradition? I submit that the blessing Jesus describes in the Gospel of Matthew is a desirable one, and it requires an embrace of transformational technologies that will not only promote healing but also help bring about a world in which these diseases and their consequences are unthinkable. Transcending, rather than curing disease, is the most robust Catholic response available to the faithful.
This project will likely require considerable private and public investment, significant popular participation, incredible coordination among disparate populations, and innovative approaches perhaps unknown to us today. Most important, however, is the embrace of courage in humanity’s effort to exorcise its chief encumbrances of disease and the associated despair.
St. Luke also affirms the role of courage in transformative healing when he narrates Jesus’ healing of ten lepers. Prior to his miracle, Jesus tells his disciples: “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!” (Luke 17:6) Thematically, Christ is likely preparing his followers for the incredible events they will soon see, and exhorting them to retain courage and trust in his plan for them—which entails active cooperation and participation.
If modern Catholics want to follow the example of Christ and his apostles in an effort toward miraculous healing and transformation, they must aim for the reality that burned in the heart of the Psalmist, who once wrote: “The LORD nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health.” (Psalm 41:3)
Alexander Walton is an honors graduate of Morehouse College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. He is currently a Master of Arts candidate at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
