Master Healer
Elder David A. Bednar has taught, “Not only does the
Atonement of Jesus Christ overcome the effects of the Fall of Adam and make
possible the remission of our individual sins and transgressions, but His
Atonement also enables us to do good and become better in ways that stretch far
beyond our mortal capacities. Most of us know that when we do things wrong and
need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has made it
possible for us to become clean through His redeeming power. But do we also
understand that the Atonement is for faithful men and women who are obedient,
worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more
faithfully? I wonder if we fail to fully acknowledge this strengthening aspect
of the Atonement in our lives and mistakenly believe we must carry our load all
alone—through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline and with our obviously
limited capacities. It is one thing to
know that Jesus Christ came to the earth to die for us. But we
also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the
power of the Holy Ghost, to enliven us—not only to guide but
also to strengthen and heal us.”
It is that healing power that I would like to speak about
today. The last four years have taught
me much about the Atonement’s ability to heal those who are broken, down
trodden, burdened with cares not created by sin but by life, other people’s
choices, mortality and circumstances beyond our control. It has been through
battles with depression and debilitating darkness and overwhelming life
circumstances that I have come to understand the Atonement with greater depth
and have come to know my Savior’s mercy, grace and compassion more intimately.
As I have studied the scriptures lately, I have seen some commonly known
stories and figures from the scriptures in a new light that helped me to better
understand the healing power of the Atonement.
For Christ is truly our Master Healer.
We are all familiar with the account of Mar Magdalene from
the New Testament. Somehow in all the
tellings of Mary, I missed some very important information. She had been healed by Christ early in His
ministry- healed not of sin, but of evil spirits and infirmities. Christ healed
her and she followed Him. She stood by Him through the trials and suffering He
endured. She loved him and knew that it was only through Him that she had been
healed. He loved her despite the
infirmities that she had. He had
compassion on her. It was she, an
imperfect and flawed individual to whom He first appeared after His
resurrection. It wasn’t to Peter the Prophet or to any of the Apostles that He
first appeared, but to Mary Magdalene, a woman who had suffered through seven
evil spirits who took over her body and by other infirmities that rendered her
incapable of becoming who she wanted to be, until, in His infinite mercy, she
was healed. In gratitude she followed
Him and did all she could to alleviate His own sufferings. In tears she wept for her Savior who had died
and whose body went missing- at His words of comfort that he yet lived, she
wept all the more now with tears of joy and hope.
How many of us are like Mary? Suffering from infirmities of
the body, mind or spirit- burdened with a heavy load? Wanting to be more than we are and feeling as
if there is no hope of getting better.
Because of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice we do not have to bare our
burdens alone. As He hung on the cross,
others mocked Him saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save.” The truth is, He could have saved Himself,
but to do so would have meant death for the rest of us. He bore a burden so heavy it is unimaginable-
one that could not be eased or lifted or lightened- one He had to bear the full
weight of so that each day, everyone of us may have our own burdens lifted and
our own hearts healed.
Sister Carole M. Stephens has said she “often meet
Latter-day Saint women who are desperate for help, yet they do not turn to the
One who can provide everlasting help. Too often they seek for understanding by
searching “the great and spacious building…. How can we see peace and
understanding and strive to endure joyfully in our unique mortal journeys?” She
suggests that “we begin, as Nephi says, “with unshaken faith in [Christ],
relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.” Our faith in
Jesus Christ enables us to meet any challenge. He knows us. He meets us where we are. Lay the burden at
the feet of the Savior. Hope and healing are not found in the dark abyss of
secrecy but in the light and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The master healer can comfort and sustain us
as we experience painful realities of mortality such as disaster, mental
illness, disease, chronic pain and death.
We may not be healed completely when we desire but we can receive the
light of hope in a time of intense darkness.
When the darkness feels unremitting, we can rely on the memory of
Christ’s tender mercies. They serve as a
guiding light as we navigate through hard times.
The scriptures also tell of many healings that Jesus
performed during His short earthly ministry.
Christ healed so many people hurting, aching, and burdened by no fault
of their own. He healed the deaf, sick
of palsy, raised the dead, and gave sight to the blind. What I found interesting is the numerous
times that the blind were healed. The Bible Dictionary teaches us that, “In
addition to the healing of physical blindness, the mission of Jesus included
curing blindness to the things of the spirit. There is evidence that some of
the Jews thought blindness was always the result of sin, but Jesus made it
clear that physical impairment may be due to other causes and is not
necessarily due to sin.” Of the many accounts of His healing the blind, we find
that He did not perform each healing in the same manner. To some He said, “Go
thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.” To others who asked to be healed, He
simply touched their eyes and they were made whole. For one, Christ made clay to place on the
man’s eyes and told him to go and wash-which he did, bringing about a complete
healing. For yet another, Christ spit
upon his eyes but the healing was incomplete- he could see some light and
figures but not clearly- Christ but His hands upon the man’s eyes and told him
to look up and finally the man was healed and saw clearly. There is a life lesson here- for complete
healing, look up!
Why did He heal the same infirmity in so many differing
ways? Why were some of the healings
immediate and some took long and more effort?
Healing is done one by one.
Healing is unique. Healings come
in the Lord’s timing and healings come in the way Christ sees is most
beneficial for us. Christ healed several
blind men (and aren’t we all blind at times and in need of healing?) and just
as He healed them each differently, we too can be healed and it may take a
blessing, medication, counseling, physical therapy, time or the resurrection-
just as some of the blind were healed by His words, others by clay, but all by
faith. We each can be healed through
Christ’s Atonement, but each healing with be individual and given in the
specific way we need it. Matthew 12:25
tells us the “he healed them all” and He will heal us all through the
Atonement, if we let Him. Sometimes
healing is delayed in this life so that we may learn, we may teach others, we
may grow, we may come to know the Lords, we may be more blessed by the weakness
than we could have been without it, and often, it is for us to become an
instrument in God’s hand. Elder Evan A.
Schmutz said of Paul the Apostle, “In an intimate and reflective passage, Paul
tells us of an unnamed “thorn” in his flesh, which caused him great pain and
brought him three times to his knees, begging the Lord to take it from him. In
answer to Paul’s prayers, the Lord did not remove the thorn but did speak peace
and give understanding to his heart, saying, “My grace is sufficient for thee:
for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” With new understanding, Paul was
able to accept and be grateful for the thorn he was given. He said, “Most
gladly therefore will I … glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me.”
We also see with Ammon and his fellow missionaries
that not all infirmities and burdens will be removed from us because there is
greater purpose in the suffering. They
were cast out, mocked, spit upon, smote, stoned, bound with strong cords, cast
into prison and they suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that
perhaps they could be the means of saving some soul- of being an instrument in
God’s hand. “When [they] were depressed and about to turn back, behold the Lord
comforted [them] and said, Bear with patience thine afflictions and I will give
unto you success.” In Doctrine and
Covenants we read, “For I will go before your face. I will be on your right
hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels
round about to bear you up.”
One last example from the scriptures that I want to share
with you is of Mary and her sister, Martha.
They were good friends with Jesus.
They spend time together and served one another. One day, Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus,
died. They mourned. Bruce R McConkie indicated that the Savior
“tested the faith of Mary and Martha to the utmost when Lazarus died.” When Christ finally arrived four days after
Lazarus’s death, He had compassion on His friends and wept with them. S. Michael Wilcox said, “He wept for Martha
and Mary and for all who suffer or cry out in anguish, ‘Lord if thou hadst been
here!’ He wept for all who long for the Lord to heal their sorrows, to wipe
away their tears, to reward their faith in Him…He wept for all the innocent,
trusting, faithful saints who would always say, no matter what happened, ‘I
believe that thou art the Christ, the son of God, which should come into the
world.’ The Savior knows that in time He will wipe away all tears from their
eyes, but as in the case of Mary and Martha, that time may not come as quickly
as desired.” In Revelation we read, “and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”
Brother Wilcox walked about his time as a bishop where he
saw many tears and could do nothing but listen and hand them a tissue. They wiped away the tears he could see but
often their souls were still weeping.
Though he could not always wipe away the tears there is One who can. What Jesus did for Mary at the tomb at His
resurrection, He will one day do for all.
He is the beginning of Happiness.
There is such sweetness in the words, God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes- God will not just hand us a tissue, but He will wipe away the
tears- an act of love and intimacy. “It is a gesture of Love and tenderness, a
gesture of the Savior Himself. There is
an end to suffering. Jesus is that
end. There is a beginning to joy. Christ
is that beginning.”
