NOTES for Mat 15:29-30

Sometimes, reading the Gospel, one may think that Jesus' only task during His earthly ministry was healings. Although He Himself spoke first of all about the Kingdom, which, in His words, had "drawn near." At first glance there is no direct connection here, and the healings look simply like acts of mercy toward the sick, who truly needed healing. Sometimes Christian preachers even emphasize that Jesus, they say, always helped people by freeing them from illness, giving them a chance to feel what the full life of a healthy person is, and only afterward spoke to them about the Kingdom. But is this so? Outwardly, everything really does look exactly this way. If, of course, healings are considered simply deliverance from disease and the restoration of physical health. Many who saw Jesus during His earthly ministry thought exactly this, regarding the healings He performed as the result of the action of God's power, just like all other miracles performed by God through the prayers of His servants. But is this really so? Of course, healing is always an action of God's power. But in Jesus' case, what strikes one is how the healings happen: Jesus often heals those around Him by His mere appearance. Clearly these are not simple healings, but the action of the same breath of the Kingdom that accompanies Jesus everywhere. Jesus does not cure illnesses, even supernaturally. He simply brings those who trust Him into communion with the Kingdom He has brought into the world. And in the Kingdom, unsurprisingly, there is no place for evil, sin, illness, or death. Of course, healing by itself does not yet mean the fullness of transformation. Those healed, even after healing, remain part of the untransformed world. But by sharing in the fullness of the Kingdom, they receive that fullness of life which is possible in the untransformed world. Thus the healings performed by Jesus become a witness to the Kingdom.