Mission Possible – Ensure Quality Healthcare: Showing Compassion

Key Verse

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen — the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”

Matthew 11:2-5 (NIV)

Short Reflection

Much as our Lord’s tenderest mercies are concerned primarily with the salvation of our souls, not merely the suffering of our bodies, but because illness, disability, pain, and all other forms of physical suffering affect the soul, too, God’s sympathy for the human plight embraces a special grace toward those who suffer physically.

However, in this case, Jesus performed several healing miracles to confirm to John the Baptist that He was indeed the genuine Messiah so that John did not have to look for another person to come along. Healing people was important to the ministry of Jesus as He used the opportunity to heal someone as a practical way of teaching us something else.

Our Lord is a saving God whose heart is full of compassion for those who suffer. If we are to be followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then showing mercy to the weak and sick is the duty of every single Christian. Our lives and communions should reveal the same compassion especially for those who are burdened with unrelenting physical agony in this life. We cannot proclaim the love of God faithfully if we neglect physical needs, of which health is a major one.

Therefore, let us emulate our Lord Jesus Christ by carrying on His good works, including caring for people and even for the natural world.

This is the second in the “Ensure Quality Healthcare” series of blog posts on our Journey to Palpable Kingdom Presence and is submitted by Alemi Todoko, a PEER Servants volunteer from Koboko, Uganda and now living in Juba, South Sudan.