Emmanuel
In chapter nine, Jesus meets a man whose only son shrieks, convulses,
and foams at the mouth. Jesus asks that the boy be brought to him;
he rebukes the spirit and heals the boy (9:37-43). Then an argument
about who is the greatest (9:46-48) leads to Jesus taking a child,
putting him at his side, and explaining that to receive a child is to
receive Jesus himself and the one who sent him. In the culture of the
day, children were normally relegated to the sidelines. Here, they are
made the center. They are presented as important and worthy of love,
respect, and protection.
Following this, Jesus enters a Samaritan village, an action which
surprises and shocks his disciples (9:51-56). He spends time with
people who would normally be shunned by Jews. After a peaceful
visit to the house of Martha and Mary, Jesus is again back among his
more usual companions, those in need. “Now he was casting out a
demon that was dumb; when the demon had gone out, the dumb
man spoke, and the people marveled” (11:14).
In chapter thirteen, Jesus meets and heals a “woman who had a spirit
of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully
straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to
her, ‘Woman, you are freed from your infirmity’” (13:10-13).
Throughout his ministry, Jesus was drawn, attracted, to the poor and the
oppressed, the blind and the weak, those at the margins of society.
While dining in the home of someone, Jesus is interrupted by the
presence of a man before him who had dropsy. Luke says that Jesus
“took him and healed him” (14:3). Jesus continues on the way to
Jerusalem and is “met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance, lifted
up their voices, and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’ When he
saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’” As
they go, they are cured (17:11-19).
We saw before how Jesus reached out to children. This happens again
in 18:15-17: “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he
might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me,
and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like
a child shall not enter it.’”
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