This essay was written by Deacon Arthur C. Donart, Ph. D.; SFO
I worked at the East Moline State Hospital while attending St. Ambrose College, from 1958 through 1962, as a Psychiatric Tech, II. Ordained June 2, 1984, I served in the Hospital Chaplaincy Corps for 27 years. As a kid, I remember Dr. Connely making house calls and dispensing medicine. Back then, it seemed as if everyone got the care they needed, even if they had no money. Doc would take a couple dozen eggs or a chicken or two for payment.
My interest in health care never ceased.
Today we have a very different health care system. Medicine has vastly advanced. However, access to needed care in our Country has lagged far behind 26 other, industrialized Countries and a number of poor Countries. For instance, South Africa, a poor Country, provides health care for all its residents.
Often we pride ourselves as being a Christian Nation. Yet some 30 million of our citizens are without health insurance, and millions more are woefully under-insured. This situation leads to much unnecessary suffering and premature death for our sisters and brothers in Christ. So the question arises, “What would Jesus do?” The second question is, “What should we be doing?” I looked to the Bible to find an answer, and I will share with you what I found.
I looked at the Gospels and read again each part that dealt with Jesus’s healing activities. Starting with the Gospel according to Matthew, (8: 5-13), the first incident is when Jesus healed the Centurion’s servant.
When He entered Capernaum, a centurion approached Him and appealed to Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He (Jesus) said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The Centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof, only say the word and my servant will be healed.” (New American Bible) You will find this incident repeated in Luke Chapter 7: 1-10 and John Chapter 4: 14-15. Keep in mind that the Roman Army was a hated, occupying army, in the same way as our Army in Iraq and Afghanistan today. There is every reason to believe the Jews would be astounded to think that a Roman Officer would speak to Jesus–a Jew–much less call him “Lord.” The observers probably expected Jesus to tell him, “Go to Hell,” but that’s not what happened. Why did Jesus do it? Could it be, because the Centurion’s servant was suffering? Could it be, because He saw the Roman Officer as a child of the Father? What would we have done?
In Matthew Chapter 8: 14-15 “(Jesus) entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and waited on Him” This incident can be found in Mark 1: 29-34 and Luke 4:38-41. No one asked Him to heal her, and He didn’t utter a word. It would seem that Jesus’s attitude was, “If you see someone who is ill, and you have the ability to cure them, you shouldn’t have to be asked.” We have many brothers and sisters who are suffering quietly and not asking for help. Do we just ignore them? That doesn’t seem very Jesus-like.
As we read on, Matthew Chapter 8: 6-18 tells us about a healing fest. “When it was evening, they brought Him many who were possessed by demons (PTSD?), and He drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isiah the prophet. “He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.” There is no record of Jesus refusing to heal anyone. That cannot be said of our current health care system.
Matthew Chapter 9 contains the most healings. There is the healing of the paralytic in verses 1-9 (also found in Mark 2: 3-12 and Luke 5: 18-26.) This healing serves a dual purpose.
He entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into His own town. And there people brought to Him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Courage child, your sins are forgiven.” At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he then said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.
This event serves as a teaching moment in a number of respects. It tells us that healing our soul is just as important as healing our body. Forgiveness of our sins restores our broken relationship with our God, the source of our life, and possibly others whom we have harmed. Forgiveness allows us to keep a dark past from destroying our future. It suggests that evil thoughts are the forerunners of evil deeds. But most important of all, it shows that Jesus knows what we are thinking.
The next event in Matthew Chapter 9 is Jesus healing the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years and raising an official’s daughter from the dead. The fact that the woman was always bloody, meant that she would be ostracized from her community, because of the purification laws. By healing her, Jesus restored her to her community. Often our ill are separated from their community. There is a similar situation in Luke’s Gospel 5: 12-16 where Jesus heals the leper. Lepers were shunned and made to live outside the village because of the purity laws. In our time, redlining and Jim Crow laws achieved the same results. Healing the lepers was also healing society. If we are to follow Jesus, then we have a lot of healing to do.
Finally, there is my favorite healing in Mark, Chapter 7: 24-30 where Jesus heals the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. His focus was on healing His own people, when this Greek woman found His hiding spot and asked Him to heal her daughter, who was afflicted by unclean spirits. At first, Jesus responds with, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” This is very uncharacteristic of Jesus, who, up to now, granted healing to everyone, including the Centurion’s servant. The woman replied, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Jesus healed her daughter. This is my favorite, because it teaches us that no one should be left out. As followers of Jesus, we must insist that the foreigner in our midst must also receive the medical care they need. If nothing else, this COVID-19 pandemic should make this need to cover all those residing within our borders very evident.
Not a healing, but a story found in Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 10: 29-37 makes a similar point. Who is not familiar with this story? A Jewish man is beaten, robbed, and left to die. A Jewish priest sees him but passes him by, without offering any help. Then a Levite sees the poor fellow but offers him zero assistance. Finally, a Samaritan, who is regarded by the Jews as a heretic, gives this beaten Jew the help he needs and pays for it out of his own pocket. Is Jesus telling us that, regardless of one’s nationality or religion, we should help all God’s people? How radical! Or perhaps it is eminently practical.
As Christians, we have to ask ourselves, “Who should we deny needed medical help? Whom should we allow to suffer?” Perhaps we should ask, “What would Jesus do?” I think the Gospels give us a pretty clear answer. No one should be deprived of needed medical care.
For the past several years, bills have been submitted in our Congress that would insure that everyone gets the care they need. Twenty-six industrial Nations have managed to achieve this goal, including China, South Africa, and Canada. We can land a man on the moon, but we seem unable to provide needed medical care for all our residents. Are we [like] the priest? [like] the Levite?
Why are our religious leaders not urging us to demand our Congress pass a Medicare for All legislation? Is not Medicare for All a “PRO-LIFE” issue? National Nurses United backs Medicare for All. Physicians for a National Health Care Policy are advocating for the enactment of M4A. So why are America’s Christian Churches so silent?
Studies have shown that we can take care of all God’s children in the United States of America. We can meet every medical need including dental, eye glasses, hearing aids, as well as mental health needs. This can be accomplished at a much lower cost than our Nation is spending today.
Where have all the Christians gone? Isn’t caring for the sick a Corporal Act of Mercy?