by Laura Story
How proud Simon and Andrew must have been as they stood in front of their home listening to the joyful sounds in the starlit night around them. The townspeople must have gathered around the brothers to learn how they met this miracle healer. Simon would tell the story about the fishing trip where Jesus came walking across the beach. Then Andrew would tell the story of Simon’s mother-in-law, and the townspeople would marvel. James and John must have walked through the crowd, astonished at what they saw and heard.
The townspeople finally left late that night, and Jesus and his disciples were able to go to bed. Surely the disciples slept soundly with smiles on their faces. They had to be so pleased with what Jesus had accomplished in their town and among their friends. That’s exactly how we picture Jesus healing, isn’t it? Completely. Immediately. Abundantly.
Maybe you’ve longed for this type of healing. Perhaps you have a disease, a physical or emotional pain that you have begged God to take away, but so far he hasn’t. Maybe you have wounds from an abusive relationship, the death of a loved one, or some other painful situation you have endured. It could be that you prayed for healing from an addiction you can’t shake, or an eating disorder that controls you, and yet you haven’t seen the healing that the townspeople in Capernaum experienced. Though you’ve spent hours on your knees praying for a cure, for healing, for something broken to be fixed, nothing has changed.
Maybe you made it through a scary surgery only to find there are scarier surgeries ahead. The cancer is back. The disease is terminal. The paralysis won’t go away. There’s no diagnosis. There’s nothing you can do . . . and God is silent. Your hope has dimmed because what’s broken hasn’t been fixed. But just when you’re about to give up, someone says this can still be fixed. There is a new healer in town named Jesus, and he can help you. There in the darkest part of your night is a glimpse of a distant star called hope.
So you reach for the star and pocket it. And you go where that light leads you. To the specialist. To the new research posted on the Internet. To the rehab that guarantees results. To the therapist, priest, or pastor, who helped your friend. To lunch to receive the apology. To the bank for a loan. To the adoption agency. Or, if you lived in the first century, to Capernaum, to where a man named Jesus healed a town last night and where you hope to find healing.
1. Read Romans 5:1–5. How does Paul say we gain peace and hope in this world?
2. What does it mean to “boast in the hope of the glory of God”?
3. According to Paul, why should we also glory in our sufferings? How do the trials in our lives produce character and hope?
Day Three: A Bigger Picture
Continue to picture this scene in Capernaum. The news of Jesus’ healing has spread, and now ailing travelers in the region are streaming into town. Swarms are heading toward Simon’s house. His wife and mother-in-law draw water at the well for the thirsty travelers, as Simon, Andrew, James, and John look forward to what the day will bring. But there is a problem.
Mark tells us that “early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (1:35). Jesus left town, and so far he hasn’t returned. The disciples are mystified. Where is he? Doesn’t he know what the day holds? Luke tells us, “The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them” (4:42).
The peoples’ expectation is that Jesus will return to Capernaum. But Jesus’ response is not what they predicted. “But he said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent’ ” (verse 43).
What? Didn’t Jesus see the good that he had done and how much more healing was needed? Didn’t he realize this was the most vital thing he could do if he wanted word of his ministry to spread? Sick people were streaming in from nearby towns wanting what the people of Capernaum had received—healing. Instead, they felt their last, best hope, had turned his back on them and said, “That’s not what I am here to do.”
Like these people, it’s hard for us to understand why Jesus sometimes heals but sometimes doesn’t. It’s hard for us not to feel disappointed when it feels like Jesus, our only hope, has turned his back on us and walked away. But the truth is that God is focused on a bigger picture. There is something else that is broken in our lives, and there are eternal consequences if it doesn’t get fixed: our relationship with our Creator. God wants to restore our relationship with him more than anything else. Even though he loves us, he will allow us to feel the pain of this world’s unhealed hurts if it results in bringing us closer to him.
1. Read Mark 1:35–39 and Luke 4:42–44. What reason did Jesus give in these two accounts as to why he had to leave Capernaum? What did he say was his greater mission?
2. How would you have reacted to this news if you were the disciples? If you were the people who had traveled to Capernaum seeking the healer?
3. Read Isaiah 55:6–9. What does this passage tell us about God’s ways versus our ways? What does it tell us about God’s desire to reconcile himself with sinners?
Day Four: Faulty Intentions
Simon and the men who stayed at his house were obviously concerned when they learned Jesus was missing. Maybe they were also frustrated, or embarrassed, when Jesus left without telling them anything. After all, they would have faced the crowds of travelers who had arrived in Capernaum seeking healing and found that Jesus, their only hope, had snuck away under the cover of darkness. So, when Simon and the others went out to find him, it was to explain why it was in Jesus’ (and their own) best interests for him to come back to Capernaum.
But the Gospel writers subtly question if their concern was for Jesus or for the damage their own reputations would suffer when they couldn’t deliver what the people were expecting. In Mark’s account, the verb he uses (katedi xen) implies hunting him down. The verb Luke uses (epez toun) implies a similar type of relentless pursuit. The men were eager to find Jesus, and we can only assume this was to capitalize on Jesus’ fame. They wanted to use Jesus’ growing popularity to perform more healings and to gain more followers. But they failed to understand why Jesus had healed those he did.
Even as Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law, he dropped hints as to who he was and the real reason he was there. Scholars point out that the verb Mark uses (geiren) to show how Jesus assisted Simon’s mother-in-law means “raised.” It is the same verb Paul would later use in his letters to show how God raised Jesus from the dead (see Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Long before anyone knew that Jesus would be crucified and resurrected, Jesus was already dropping breadcrumbs of his true identity and purpose.
The problem was that the people in Capernaum seemed to have no interest in Jesus beyond his miracles. There was no mention of them sitting at Jesus’ feet and learning from him. There were no invitations for Jesus to return to the synagogue and interpret the ancient Scriptures so they could learn more about his mission. The people of Capernaum and the nearby townspeople were there not to serve Jesus but to see how Jesus could serve them. And for a hot minute, Simon and the other men had the same mindset.
But Jesus wouldn’t be distracted. He wouldn’t reduce himself to a localized guru or a mystical medical man. He was a man on a mission, and that mission was to preach the kingdom of God to the nation of Israel. He didn’t slink out of town in the dark; he left because he needed to be by himself to provide distance from the crowds and the men who were hoping that he would follow them. He went to a solitary place to spend time in prayer reconnecting with his Father and to make sure he was still doing what his Father wanted him to do.
By the time Simon and the other men arrived, Jesus had recommitted himself to his Father’s work, not the sideshow of the night before. He reminded Simon and his companions that he hadn’t been sent to Caper
naum to be a local healer: he had been sent to the world to be a redeemer. The miracles Jesus performed were secondary to his real purpose. They were a physical example of what he had come to do spiritually for all of mankind.
1. Read Luke 19:1–10 and Matthew 9:9–13. How did Jesus again break with social norms in these situations by serving “the least of these”?
2. What type of “healing” did Jesus provide to Zacchaeus and Matthew?
3. From these passages, what can we determine was Jesus’ ultimate purpose and mission for coming to this earth?
Day Five: The Eternal Picture
The people waiting for healing in Capernaum understood the fall. Many of them were suffering the consequences of it, and they were waiting for a redeemer and rescuer. But when Jesus showed up, they hadn’t yet picked up on all the hints that God had been dropping for centuries from the prophets. They hadn’t seen Jesus predict his own death and resurrection, let alone actually go through it. So, of course, they were disappointed. They wanted restoration without redemption. But Jesus wanted them to see the full picture. He wanted them to see that he was the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior who had come to restore their relationship to his Father.
Yes, Jesus could have given them physical healing, but he wanted much more for them. He wanted to rescue them from all the consequences of sin and release them from the eternal punishment of their rebelliousness. He was God’s representative on earth and had only a short time to reach as many people as he could. He also needed to train his disciples to carry on his message of rescue and redemption after he had left the earth.
In the end, we don’t want a God whom we can push around. We don’t want to be like the people who came to Capernaum looking for how God would serve them. We want the bigger the picture—the eternal picture. We want a God who can crush sin and evil with his foot. We want a rescuer who can reintroduce us to the God whom we’ve rebelled against. As much as we want physical healing, we want spiritual healing for our souls even more.
Each of us has broken things in our lives here on earth. Maybe, one day, God will fix those things, or maybe he won’t. But the key for us to remember is that Jesus came into this world to bring true healing between us and God. Even when it doesn’t seem that God will rescue us from what is broken in our physical lives, we can be assured that Jesus has rescued us from what is broken in our spiritual lives. He has created a way for us to not get what we deserve. He has created a path of forgiveness back to his Father.
That was his true purpose for coming to dwell among us, and the greatest gift possible that God could ever give to us.
1. Read Luke 24:13–35. What did the two disciples on the road to Emmaus say about Jesus? How had their hopes been dashed?
2. How did Jesus reveal the “full picture” to them? How did they respond when they realized it had been the resurrected Jesus in their midst?
3. What hope can you gain from the fact that even though God might not rescue you from what is broken in your physical life, he has already rescued you from what was broken in your spiritual life and your relationship with him?
SESSION FOUR
Why? The Question on Replay
We have to come to a point where we say, “I don’t know why my life looks this way. But I don’t have to understand why. It’s enough for me to believe that God has a plan and that he has promised he will never leave or forsake me, and he will be by my side through every trial I face.” I know this counters everything we think we want, but there is freedom in not having all of the answers—especially the answer to why.
LAURA STORY
Introduction
From the toddler years to the final days of our journey through this life, the question rings out . . . “Why?” It seems natural, just like breathing. We don’t have to work at asking this question. It is on the tip of our tongue every time life brings a challenge.
A child is confused because Daddy and Mommy fight with each other. She asks, “Why are you yelling? Why are you mad? Why did Daddy leave? Why can’t you love each other? Why can’t we be a family?” The pain of relational conflict unleashes a series of whys in this girl’s mind, and most of them don’t lead to answers that make sense or heal her young heart.
A teenager is heartbroken because his girlfriend, his first love, no longer calls, drops by, or pays attention to him at school. “Why don’t you love me? Why do you avoid me? Why are your eyes cold when you look at me? Why is my world upside down and my heart aching?” The sorrow of unrequited love, even adolescent puppy love, breaks loose an avalanche of whys, and most of them never find an answer that makes sense or satisfies.
A successful business leader shows up to work and is shocked to find out that his position has been eliminated in a corporate downsizing process. He is unsure of what to do next or how he will support his family. “Why my position? Why me? Why now? Why would God allow this?” The shocking news of unexpected life change elicits reflexive whys.
After forty years of raising kids, doing hard work, building a family, and caring for one another, a couple is looking forward to their retirement years. Both husband and wife share dreams of travel, long walks together, time to enjoy grandchildren, and a grand season of a slower pace of life. Then a doctor’s report changes everything. With one word, cancer, all of their plans change. Why? A hundred whys!
Every season of life has moments of pain and loss. Every time we face the reality of struggle and suffering, the questions seem to begin with one word, one syllable, three letters . . . why?
Is it possible that rather than getting stuck for too long in our “why” questions, God desires for us to change those “why” questions to “how” questions? How might God’s glory be best displayed through our struggle?
Talk About It
To get things started for this fourth session, discuss one of the following questions:
• As you think back over your life, what are some of the “why” questions you have asked that never seemed to have an answer?
or
• How can asking “why” be helpful and a valuable process? How can fixating on asking “why” questions become a dead end and an unhealthy practice?
Video Teaching Notes
As you watch the video teaching segment for session four, use the following outline to record anything that stands out to you.
When we are honest with ourselves, we all have our own “why” questions
Jesus’ encounter in the Gospel of John with a man born blind
• The cultural shame in which he lived (bad theology)
• This same poor theology exists today
• Brokenness exists because sin entered the world
• The glory of God can be revealed through our brokenness
Even though God never promises us we will get all our questions answered this side of heaven, he does promise that every broken chapter of our story finds its greater purpose in his story of redemption.
Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” and God’s sufficient grace
God’s greater plan for us
Changing our “why” questions to “how” questions
Bible Study and Video Discussion
Take a few minutes with your group members to discuss what you just watched and explore these concepts in Scripture.
1. If you could have an hour-long conversation with God, what are some “why” questions you would ask? How do you think having the answers to those questions would impact your life?
2. Read John 9:1–12 and 9:35–39. In light of these verses, what do we learn about how people with physical infirmities were viewed in Jesus’ day? How might such thinking have impacted those who were blind or who suffered from other illnesses?
3. What do you learn from Jesus’ actions and words in John 9? How does Jesus use this diffi
cult and painful situation to bring glory to God?
God is good and is unable to be anything but good and perfect in all of his ways. And, God is sovereign.
4. What are some subtle ways that we, or others, can send the message that suffering, pain, sickness, and loss are a result of personal sin or a lack of faith? What can we do to combat these unhelpful messages?
5. How would you respond to a church leader who told you or a friend that your suffering was a result of sin in your life? What biblical evidence and teaching could you share that would combat this errant and unbiblical theology?
6. Suffering and sickness are not an automatic result of our personal sins, but sickness and much of the brokenness in the world are a result of sin coming into the world. What is the difference between these two statements: (1) “You are sick because of some hidden sin in your life,” and (2) “Sickness exists because sin came into the world”?
“Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21).
7. Jesus was clear that the blindness the man experienced could be used for the glory of God. How can God use our brokenness, loss, and even sickness for his glory?
8. When was a time in your life that God used some experience of suffering or pain to bring glory to himself? How can your testimony lead others to God?
God doesn’t allow his children to walk through any pain that he hasn’t already predestined for a purpose.
9. Read 2 Corinthians 12:7–10. How did the apostle Paul view his “thorn in the flesh”? How was God glorified and at work in the life of Paul even through his suffering and pain?