Hearing The Word
Some people let everyone know that they have done a good thing, while others remain humble.
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak." - Mark 7:24-37
Jesus was not looking for notoriety and praise. His mission was to teach people about the kingdom and show them they were loved by God.
In the process of returning sinners to God, He healed those afflicted with illness and demons.
For this reason, people flocked to him. They wanted Him to heal them.
I can understand His desire to have them keep silent about this, but word spread and more and more people came to be healed.
These are the acts we remember Jesus for. He was a miraculous healer. But He was and is more than that. John, in his gospel, calls these "signs" because they point to Christ as The Messiah, and we worship Jesus as God. We got that message, but what about the original mission?
Do we truly follow in Christ's footsteps sharing the Good News? Or are we so much in awe of His power to heal, that we don't try to do what He came here to do and show us?
Just because we cannot perform miracles through our own power, it doesn't mean we cannot help others believe.
Maybe, that is our own path toward healing, to share our faith with those in need of hearing about God.
More to come...