Yoked to Jesus

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“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” †  Mathew 11: 28-30  What is the labour and burden that Jesus is asking me to deal with? Perhaps I have to let go of the compulsive burden (or is it a sort of entitlement?) that my spouse and children should choose a spiritual path that I know to be right. Jesus accompanied Judas Iscariot to the very end but never deprived him of his freedom to choose his own destiny. Jesus on the other hand, uninterrupted by Judas's choice to reject him, continues to accomplish his mission. He does become a victim of Judas's betrayal but he seldom takes on the victim's identity. In divine wisdom, Jesus chooses to die in our place (and that of Judas) in a redeeming act of love. Rather than being compelled to fix those whom God has entrusted to my headship by m

Healing from sin and sickness

Jesus came to save mankind from their sins. Mathew 1:21

Saving the mankind from sin also means saving them from their sickness because it is sin that causes sickness. And therefore it is forgiveness of Sins that initiate healing. [CCC 1502,1503]

[1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. Illness becomes a way to conversion; God's forgiveness initiates the healing. It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil, and that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: "For I am the Lord, your healer." The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others. Finally Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness.

1503 Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins;  he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the physician the sick have need of. His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: "I was sick and you visited me."]
 

It is His name and faith in His Name that he has healed this man whom you see and recognize. The faith that comes through Jesus has given him wholeness in the presence of all of you. Acts 2:16

God’s salvation constitutes of forgiveness and restoration. Receiving forgiveness does not ensure that we commit the same sin no more because the circumstances that lead us to sin remain unchanged. It is then through the act of restoration that God completes the process of healing.

We often find this process of restoration painful for it demands that we are plucked out of those comfort zones that we are deeply rooted and replant ourselves in a totally new place.  Most of us resist or postpone this process, making our restoration [that Christ the healer initiates] slower or not allowing it to take place.

For he wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. I Tim 2 3-4

In order for man to be forgiven and restored to life all that is required of him is to exercise his faith. Faith is coming to know the truth [Jesus] and believing in it.  Christian life must faith lived out according to the Truth revealed through Jesus Christ. [Scriptures]

The act of faith is like believing in the doctor and his medicine except that in this case there is no physical medicine but an inner process of believing in heart and proclaiming the same with conviction. This is no mental gimmick but it is through the merit of the sacrificial death Jesus offered on the cross on our behalf that we are healed and restored. The healing Jesus offers is wholesome. It integrates healing of the mind, body and soul.

Do people suffer even after they are healed and restored? Yes! Because of the sin that still exists in the world. We are called to unite our [innocent] suffering to that of Christ for the salvation of the world because through his own suffering Christ has given suffering a redemptive power. Yes it can save people. We partake in mission of saving all mankind along with Christ when we suffer with Christ.

It is out of love for Christ that one offers to joyfully suffer with Christ

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