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Few things capture the Christian imagination like Jesus’ miracles. It’s difficult not to wonder what it must have been like to see someone go from being sick, possessed by evil spirits, or even dead, to suddenly and completely restored to health. Perhaps some of us are a little cynical and try to reduce each of these healing moments to merely natural or medical explanations. Others, believe them but don’t think they happen anymore; the wonders of Jesus and the power they display were a sort spiritual one-hit wonder that the rest of us missed out on because we weren’t around at that time. A few still see miracles happening all around them large and small. So what is the best way to view these incredible feats of Jesus? What was their purpose? Was it to convince people that he was the Messiah? Was it to end all suffering in the world? If so, then they failed on both accounts! Even as Jesus was working his miracles, there was confusion among the crowds and his followers about what they meant and why He was doing them.
In our time, many Christians tend to think that the healing of people was the main goal in Jesus’ life. But after this Sunday there are only four more healings by Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. Why? In the first seven chapters, he had worked so many cures that people were mobbing him.
And that was the trouble. He was in danger of becoming famous as a mere wonder-worker. People were confusing the signs of his power as the purpose of his life on earth. Because of this, they were besieging him at every stop, thinking that he would solve all their earthly problems. He was in danger of being regarded as a little more than a medicine man, wise teacher, and clever fixer.
But would any of these roles properly reveal God’s love for the world and its people? Jesus thought not. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus stopped the miracles and began a new phase of his mission. He turned his face toward Jerusalem…and towards the cross.
This change of direction will come next week. Suddenly and without warning Jesus will say to the disciples, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise”. What more shocking statement could this supposedly invincible leader and healer make to them? How could death go together with healing?
I will never forget how hard my family prayed when my sister Theresa was born. Both she and my mom faced life-threatening issues. It seemed inconceivable that the God of love and healing would not answer our prayers! Praise God, my mom pulled through but my sister died after just one day. We were all heartbroken and shaken to our core. Yet in the midst of our tragic loss we also discovered that that God had been manifested in Theresa’s short life and resulting death. In the time she was with us, we had received a love from God and others we had never experienced and seen the power of our faith in a way it had never been shown before. Even in the sadness, we felt God’s presence and care; he was closer in some of those horrible days than I have have ever felt before or since. Theresa was baptized and confirmed before she died which provided incredible comfort to us all. Our sorrow was immersed in love and Theresa was safe in God’s arms. Through it all God’s intimate presence was enough, more than enough actually, through the love and kindness of friends, family, clergy, and so many others.
So how does this tie back to the miracles of Jesus? Every human person is created to be loved by God, not simply to have good health, riches, success, or a comfortable existence. True life consists of love given and received with God and with others, rather than having a life where things always go our way or we somehow avoid sadness and loss. There is a greater good than these earthly things and that ultimate good is a relationship with the God who made us, who loves us and who stops at nothing to save us. Even when we feel far from God, he is never far from us and often in these darkest times, we end up seeing how close he really is. Such an intimate relationship sends us out to help give God’s love to the world. Miracle cures help for a while, but pretty soon suffering and death have to be faced and accepted as part of this wounded world. A world without sickness and death has not yet arrived and can only be enjoyed in the perfect place we call heaven. Sometimes when we pray for miracles, we do not realize that we are asking God to give us something that cannot be found here and now.
For this reason, Jesus moves toward the events that will show God’s solidarity with us in our anguish, our rejections, and in that inevitable moment which each and every one of us will face sooner or later: death. Beyond cures, which are wonderful yet temporary, God gives us companionship during each instant of our life if we are willing to see it. The miracles of Jesus, the miracles which continue even now, are awesome and good, they strengthen our faith and deepen our hope, but they only point to a time and place that hasn’t yet arrived. Until all souls are united in perfect friendship with God, there will continue to be times when we pray for healing, for sparing, and so many other things yet those prayers are not granted in the way we wish. That is not God ignoring us or our pain; but rather mysteriously allowing it for reasons we may not understand until we stand before Him. One thing we can say with confidence: God’s decision whether or not to work miracles for specific things will always be based on what will ultimately lead us back to him. If they would somehow lead us away or distract, then he will point towards the cross, just like he will soon do in Mark’s gospel!
This Sunday at Mass, let us ask ourselves whether the intimate presence of God is part of what we desire in our own lives. Do we know that Christ is deeply involved in our lives and always near us? Do we love God for who he is or only for what he might do for us? Do we let his love flow into us and through us to others, or must it just fight its way through? Is our ultimate happiness bound up in passing things like health, comfort, riches, and earthly life? At the first sign of suffering, death and loss, do we blame God and abandon him?
It’s been 24 years since my sister died and there are still many things I do not understand about her loss. But even with that mystery and many unanswered questions, I know without a doubt that God was with her, with me, and with my family. Perhaps our prayer today is simple, especially if we are in a time of loss, isolation, or confusion, “Jesus, help us to hear you, however you want to speak, as the deaf man finally could.” Amen.
