Everywhere we look today we see (or choose not to see) a special needs population. For the purpose of this essay, I would like to expand upon this concept of special needs. I would like for us to consider any people group that has been historically "devalued" as one that has special needs. That's a pretty big group as it encompasses physically and mentally disabled, emotionally challenged, the poor and downtrodden, ethnic groups who differ from us, very often women, and any other group that, for whatever reason, do not fit into our parameters of "usefulness" or "normalcy" at any given time. Most of us have a tendency to do one of two things; ignore them (out of politeness?), or assist them (as in "downward" assistance). I propose that those of us calling ourselves Christians are to take on an entirely different role in the lives of those that are devalued.

In the Old Testament we see that people who did not fit a certain pattern of "normalcy" were forbidden from entering the temple. There were any number of reasons why they were eliminated from participating in the Israelite form of worship. Consequently, they were unable to present their sacrifices for atonement. They were outcasts in almost every sense of the word. Not only were they forbidden from temple worship, many lived outside the city gates, prevented from interaction with society. In contrast, in the New Testament (Matt. 21:12-14) we see Jesus running the money changers and sellers of sacrifices out of the temple, and inviting in the blind and lame to be healed.

Very often, upon reading this passage, we overlook the latter part, the invitational, healing part. Even to this day we see very few marginalized people meeting with God's people. We seldom see churches that are totally handicapped accessible, or where everyone is considered an equal, much less as a place for equipping these saints for service in the kingdom of God. In programmatic churches, we see more courses on money management than do we see ministries of healing and equality. Those of us in the church continue to devalue parts of our society, and at best, minister to them "downwardly". As we provide for their needs (vs. accepting them as equals in Christ, allowing for their ministry among us), we, whether intentionally or otherwise, "keep them in their place".

Needless to say, we see Jesus' healing of the blind and lame as literal, because we want to see Him in that way. We all want culturally devalued, marginalized people to be elevated so they can be "like us". This fits our picture of healing because it requires nothing of us, we that consider ourselves "normal". I too want to see people healed. I too desire to see an outpouring of God's grace where the lame are made to walk and the blind see, demons are cast out, and the dead are raised. But...I don't see it happening, at least not in my neck of the woods. Of course, we say that with medical science as advanced as it is God is no longer in the healing business, or that God uses doctors, research scientists, psychiatrists, etc. to perform His work. Maybe, maybe not. Who can read the book of Job and honestly say that affliction (sometimes) is not God's will? I believe God's will is that we ALL become more Christ-like, and He will stop at nothing to accomplish that.

Healing was more than physical, it was restorative

From a new covenant standpoint, healing was more than physical, more than casting out demons; it was also restorative. In a society where people received their "place", their standing in society, and their self-esteem from how others looked upon and treated them, healing also meant their being restored, honored, and respected within some societal framework. I think the same could be said throughout history, even today. Although we acknowledge that all mankind is "made in God's image", we have a hard time acknowledging that children born with alcohol or crack addiction, with spina bifida, Down's Syndrome, or with a mental illness that doesn't surface until they are in their 20's, as being made in God's image too. These people also are to be accepted, restored, respected, honored, loved, and empowered, no less than those of us (who think we are) without any form of impairment.

Can you imagine the dialogue when Jesus invited the lame and blind into the temple? I can just see the blind feeling their way along the walls, exclaiming, "so...this is what the inside of the temple 'looks' like!" Or the lame remarking as they were carried in, "Wow! I had no idea it was so beautiful in here!" They had finally been allowed, invited, into the kingdom of God. Whether or not Jesus healed them physically, He loved, honored, and respected them enough to invite them where they had never been before, into His Father's house. In so doing, He restored them societally as well. They were accepted and honored within the framework of a new society, a society that Jesus built. Remember, prior to this the "afflicted" were not allowed into the temple.

Who is in need of healing?

The question this raises in my mind is, who is in need of healing? In a "civilized" world, capable of enacting the American's with Disabilities Act, is there more to healing, acceptance, and honoring than creating curb cuts, braille signage, ramps, and handicapped parking places? I suggest there is, much more. Jesus' invitation of the blind and the lame into the temple was an invitation into a society, one of acceptance, of honor, of grace. Not only were the blind and the lame "healed" (accepted into His society), they were also accepted, honored, and respected within the society of His followers. They now had a people group from whom they received their sense of worth, their sense of "place". They were valued, not by what they could or could not do, but just because they existed as children of God, brothers and sisters of Christ. They were seen through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, within the existing body of Christ. In a sense, the body of Christ was healed as well. They were required to put aside their pre-conceived notions of what and whom the kingdom of God was made up. Their old concepts of acceptance and societal honor had to die, and were resurrected as seeing value in all of God's created people.

Also take into consideration Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Jews did not speak or consort with Samaritans, much less Jewish men with Samaritan women. When Jesus' disciples returned from town, Jesus and the Samaritan woman were engaged in an intimate, yet public, conversation. Keep in mind, this woman had been married five times, and was living with a man who was not her husband. What kind of emotional baggage do you think she was carrying around? Also, because of how her society looked upon her, she was at the well at midday, when no one else would be there. She was a societal outcast; devalued, disenfranchised, hardly even looked upon. Jesus gave her Himself. He spoke to her, interacted with her, accepted her, revealed Himself to her, healed her. He invited her into the kingdom where God is no longer worshipped at a special place during a special time, but in spirit and truth, and, wonder of wonders, gave her a spirit of evangelism. She immediately went into the city, into the public places where she dared not tread before, and began telling people about Him, and they listened to her! Jesus invited her into His society, an anti-society built upon love, one where He had turned everything upside down.

The "kingdom of God is at hand", proclaimed John the Baptist and Jesus. It is time we, as the body of Christ, acknowledge this "nowness of the kingdom", and stop counting ourselves among the "multitude", those that sternly attempted to quiet the blind in Matt. 20:.29-34. It is time for us to seek healing for ourselves, and ask that God give us new spiritual eyes and the ability to not only see, but respect, honor, and love into our kingdom society those that "the world" devalues. My prayer is that we be part of the kingdom that is at hand, and the foreshadow of the kingdom that is to come. I pray we be a people of shalom. I pray that we allow God to put to death our old value system, and allow Him to resurrect in us a new society, one where there are no distinctions between Greek and Jew, male and female, slave and free, abled and disabled, where there are no longer any marginalized people.

Jesus was, and still is, in the business of healing. He has passed on to us, the body of Christ, the wherewithall to be a people that incorporate healing into our daily worship and our Christian societies. By the Holy Spirit, into our hands have been placed the business of healing. Keep in mind, but for the life, death, and resurrection of the Christ, we are all marginalized people.