Remedies and Diagnoses

Rarely do I throw Mindy under the bus, but I love it when she diagnoses things.  As each one of my kids experiences health issues, Mindy’s instant response is always, “Do you think they have cancer?”  It doesn’t matter if it is a sore throat or if they aren’t walking at the developmentally appropriate time, it always leads her to wonder if it is cancer.  I mean who can blame her with so many reports of new cancers coming out everyday?  And honestly, who doesn’t have a family member who is, or was affected by cancer?  I remember when the doctor was checking me for skin cancer, and I asked, “Is this hereditary?  That was the cause of my dad’s death.”  He said, “Well, about ten percent of cancers are hereditary.  Does that make you nervous?”  I said, “Not in my line of work.”  I was probably thinking about humor more than I was processing what I was saying, but as we look at this week’s lesson the real problem there is diagnosis.

The Pharisees wanted to determine what sin and its accompanying punishments involved.  What’s funny about this is that even in our court system today there is no consistent punishment for crime.  There are so many variables in crime, and the ways in which the court system processes it.  Yet, for the disciples and the Pharisees, this was all about diagnosis.  At the time, there was a strong belief in spirits continuing on from a previous family member, or from mistakes of the past.  This is taken out of context and understanding from the Old Testament that describes future generations facing the sins of their forefathers; and this is the point where it was taken it so literally.  Applying that idea today, for example, we could think that because my dad had cancer, my kids don’t have a shot of escaping it.  This is an extreme way of holding onto this passage and focusing on sin.

This week as we see Jesus use an unconventional way to heal, it brings us back to Light, the focus of our Christian walk.  The passage in Ephesians describes the way life should be—living as children of light—not centering on the darkness.

The Pharisees were concentrating on the diagnosis of darkness instead of focusing on the light.  The light brings us back to the ways in which God restores us even if we have had an ailment since we were born.  The power of this passage offers us another Lenten reflection on how amazing the actions and heart of Christ were for His people.  This weekend we take time to study this story, learn to abandon diagnosis, and give our attention to Christ’s healing hand.