Okay, so a fellow student in my Crisis & Trauma class shared this clip from The Chosen, commenting that it helped her understand the heart of Jesus when she was questioning why God had allowed something. Reading the YouTube comments, many others found it moving and encouraging, saying it brought hope in a dark moment or season.
So the fruit of it looks good. And through this fictional scenario, I assume The Chosen creators were trying to speak to discouraged Christians who pray for healing or help and don't receive it in the way they expected, encouraging us to hold firmly to the enduring hope we have through Christ (Hebrews 6:18-19).
Still, I cannot find a single Biblical example of any man or woman directly approaching Jesus seeking healing (in His physical presence during His earthly life) and walking away unhealed. We don't ever see Him telling people that He and the Father trust them to tell a better story through their lack of healing. That's definitely something people would tell each other in an effort to bring comfort, but not something we find in God's Word. We don't see Him talking about the sin struggles of certain disciples behind their backs, even for the sake of a good laugh or to keep someone comfortable.
Like I said a couple days ago, stories help our hearts connect with certain events - a good story in a setting that mirrors that time makes history come alive, and there is a lot of power in that. But if someone mistakenly believes that Rose and Jack really existed on the Titanic, there's not much harm in that. While if someone mistakenly believes that the fictional scenes woven in with all the Biblical scenes are all found in the Bible, that really does matter. What we individually believe about Jesus impacts every area of our lives, both here and in eternity. And we do not get to alter or add to God's Word. It holds inherent authority and living power, and extrapolating new stories that are loosely based on what we know about Jesus' life feels presumptuous and overbold.
Much like the best-selling Jesus Calling books, it feels spiritually dangerous and theologically problematic to me when flawed people put their words in the mouth of Jesus. He offered divine wisdom and healing, not counsel that fits our limited perspective. Rather than saying, "I believe God's heart toward us is..." this interaction offers very human comfort and advice (however moving and/or true) that cannot be found in Scripture, conveying it as if it is coming directly from the Son of God. I do not believe Jesus intended to send the message that when we approach Him in faith, He will fall short or turn us away. He certainly never minimized people's pain as if they were only concerned with how they looked, and He never told any crippled person who felt like a burden because they slowed others down, "These are things the Father doesn't care about."
"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." -Matthew 4:23
"The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name." ~John 20:30-31
I understand on a deep, experiential level that not everyone who prays fervently receives their healing here, and it is not an indictment on our faith when that does not happen. But having read or heard the gospels many times, those who were in the physical presence of Jesus asking Him for healing received it in every recorded instance. There was a divine anointing and authority and power that flowed through Him with such strength that the woman who touched His robe was instantly healed (Mark 5:25-34). Without ever being in close proximity to the boy, He healed the son of a royal official (John 4:43-54). He talked about coming for the people of Israel, but He still healed the Canaanite woman's daughter when she asked in faith (Mt. 15:21-28). Those and many similar accounts are the stories He has chosen to share with us through Scripture.
Again, I understand the good intentions to make the life of Jesus more real and relatable to us, and I don't believe they are deliberately twisting the truth. The fruit also appears to be good at first glance. But is this bringing people closer to the incomparable power and love of the awe-inspiring God who created us in His image... or to a watered-down "God" we are creating in our own image?? It's worth considering.
And that concludes my deep thoughts for today.
Thanks for attending my TED talk. lol
Happy Friday, friends, and Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I'm meeting Kristin and the boys for lunch soon, then I'm headed to Tulsa to see Hamilton with the Wilsons and JEM tomorrow - all fun! And I'm caught up on homework, and next week is Spring Break for CCU - YAY! I sincerely hope you have a great weekend ahead!! ❤
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