Go and sin no more

The teachers of religious law and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in the act of adultery. "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?" Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.... said, "All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!" John 8:1-11 (NLT)

This is a very peculiar and powerful story to consider in the context of faith healing. Although on the face of it this story has nothing to do with sickness and healing, but a short reflection brings the stark reality of a sickness unto death in this act of adultery committed by this woman. Call it emotional, psychological, social, relational, or contractual, this very act of marital infidelity was a sickness with the worst possible outcome -- being stoned to death. One might even term this a paradigm of a legal disease resulting in mortal death. It is amazing how Jesus the master healer dealt with this legal disease in his inimitable fashion, by stooping to write in the dust with his finger, "let those who have never sinned throw the first stones," a prescription for pardon by impeaching the witnesses.

I have been forever fascinated by the way Jesus intertwined the healing of sickness and the forgiveness of sin, a constant interplay of law and medicine, emphasizing the cleansing of the soul as concomitant with the healing of the mind-body complex. In modern medicine, there is no question that mind and body interact in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, until death do they part, albeit in mysterious and scientifically undiscovered ways. In our faith, however, there is yet a more mighty soul at work dominating the mind-body complex, not ever to be understood or discovered by the scientific enterprise. For by definition, the realm of faith and soul and sin and redemption will always be outside the meek enterprise of true science. Law of nature, especially the law of God, recognizes no such boundaries and reaches boldly into the spiritual realm and declares jurisdiction over the life-death dichotomy of the human person. So, for Jesus the master healer, healing of the mind-body complex is not quite enough healing to deliver to a sin-ravaged and disease-ridden soul; only a sin-forgiven, disease-free soul in the end is adequate healing in the eye of God.

Who can deliver such healing to us? He who is without sin, he who is willing to give his life a ransom for many. The source of faith-healing is the same source for faith-forgiveness. We are not understanding faith unless we understand that Jesus who is without sin died for our sins, took our iniquities, bore our sorrows, and carried our diseases upon himself -- to the cross, to be crucified, to be rejected, to be cast down to hell, to be delivered to the enemy. Only then is his victory our victory, his resurrection our resurrection, his eternal life our eternal life. That is why we can be healed of our diseases, forgiven of our sins.

It is required that the witnesses for the prosecution be without sin, so that they can cast the first stones of condemnation. But it is not required that the witnesses for the defense by without sin, for all we sinners can bear equal witness to the power of forgiveness that washed away our sins, and the power of healing which drove away our diseases. So we physicians, sinful and imperfect as we all are, can with full confidence of faith, reach out our healing hand and heal the sick in the name and by the power of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. However, it is required that we who seek to heal be willing to pay the price of such power, as the disciples of the cross, to be nailed to the cross with our master. For this supreme sacrifice, there is no reward save the promise of difficult servant-hood. For this strict obedience, there is no compensation except the satisfaction of more servitude. For this extreme poverty, there is no reprieve except the hope of continued deprivation. But miracles do happen. Jesus does heal. And there is power in obedience to the Lord.