Healing v. Cure

As do most chaplains, I pray for healing. Patients and their families expect I will pray for healing, they need me to pray for healing. What I pray for (healing), and what patients might expect could be different. Why?

For many "healing" is synonymous with "cure". When I pray, healing and cure are not synonymous. Christians often turn to Jesus of Nazareth, often described as the "Great Physician", as their model of healing. All four gospels record various healings of Jesus. Jesus' healings do cure physical ailments (e.g. the woman with chronic bleeding). The mistake we make in reading these stories is our tendency to focus on the "cure" and not the wholeness of the healings. One of my favorite stories is in Mark 2, where a paralytic is lowered through a hole in the roof. The first thing Jesus said to the paralytic was, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Then a discussion (or argument) ensued between Jesus and some of the religious leaders over the permissibility of Jesus' action. Finally Jesus commanded, "I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home." And the paralytic stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them.

Where is the healing in this story? Is it in the forgiveness of his sins or in the restoration of the paralytic's walking? It begins with the forgiveness of sins. Could it be the paralytic was so overwhelmed by his sin, having no sense of God's forgiveness, so over-burdened he was no longer able to walk? Forgiven of his sins by the One who would ultimately pay for his sins, he walked again. Psychosomatic illness is no less real than any other illness. The healing through forgiveness led to the cure of the man's paralysis.

Many years ago I learned a lesson on healing from my late father. In 1986 my grandmother was being treated for bladder cancer. She and Grandpa came to central New York to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary with my family. During their time in New York, I arranged for the elders of the church I was serving, to have a time of healing prayers for her. We laid hands on her, anointed her with oil, and prayed for her healing. I was hoping for her cure. Grandma died two years later. We went out to Illinois to attend her memorial service. On the eve of the service, Dad shared with me the true outcome of the healing service my church had for Grandma. He said to me, "Rich, that service of healing brought your grandmother and grandfather into a much closer relationship with God. That was the real healing." I will never forget those words. What a lesson in healing!