2024 Lent Devotional: Week 5
By Rev Jonathan Campbell
Luke 7:36-50
As a person with disabilities, healing narratives have been a complicated part of following Jesus. Honestly, “complicated” is the understatement of the century. After being prayed over for healing several times without “success”, sitting in a pew and hearing a healing narrative often triggered a desire for me to run screaming from the sanctuary.
I no longer have that triggered reaction. I have been blessed to learn the societal role of ancient Jewish healers, like Jesus. These healers functioned as bridge builders. They helped those who had been marginalized by their community to reconnect and reenter the community. They did this through prayers, rituals, conversations, and storytelling. They helped give the marginalized person a new way to see themselves, tell their story, and find their purpose.
You may be surprised to learn that the primary people that healers worked with were not people with disabilities, or other marginalized individuals. The primary people that had to be “healed” or changed were the members of the larger community. The members of the larger community had to be healed of a mindset that saw the marginalized individuals as a danger to the community. That mindset had to be healed if the marginalized individual was truly going to be welcomed back into the community. The healer failed to be a bridge builder if they were unable to heal the mindset of the larger community.
We often do not label this passage as a healing narrative, but Jesus is being a healer in this story. The woman with the alabaster jar is clearly a marginalized individual. In this story, we see the healing that Jesus offers is directed to Simon and not the woman. It is also a richer text if we assume the Simon mentioned in Luke is the same Simon with a skin condition (Simon the Leper) mentioned in similar stories recounted in Matthew 26 and Mark 14. The Simon mentioned in all three stories is hosting a party in Bethany. Modern readers often lose sight of the reality that someone with leprosy would not have been throwing a party in the community unless, in the eyes of the community, he was no longer a threat. In other words, he had been “healed”. However, in the story, Simon still needs to be healed even through the community now sees him as “healed” from his leprosy. Jesus is trying to lead Simon into a new mindset where he sees before him a beloved sister and community member not a sinner or a threat. Jesus is calling Simon to embrace his own recent journey from marginalized individual to beloved community member. Jesus is calling Simon to be a healer, helping to build a bridge for this woman. Helping to welcome her back into the community that labeled her a sinner.
I no longer cringe when I hear a healing narrative, because Jesus never stopped being a healer. Every conversation, every sermon, every parable, and every miracle is Jesus offering healing. If you use that lens to read the Gospels you will soon realize that while Jesus loves and cares for people with disabilities and other so-called sinners, his healing work is primarily helping a broken and oppressive community heal from its self-inflicted wounds. This Lenten season my prayer is that those who claim to follow Jesus will choose to be healers like Jesus.
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Rev. Jonathan Campbell, M.Div, Th.M
Jonathan Campbell serves as the pastor of Lacey UMC in Forked River, NJ. He previously worked at CUMAC-ECHO, a large feeding and ministry center, in Paterson as Operations Director. He serves the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference (GNJAC) as the Peace with Justice Coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of the Association of Ministers with Disabilities of the United Methodist Church. He believes the church is called to reclaim the model of ministry found in Acts 2: devoting ourselves to God, prayer, Scripture, Holy Communion, and serving others. He is blessed to be the father of three amazing young men, Jeremiah (20), Nathan (18), and Christopher (15). You can contact him at pastorjcampbell@hotmail.com