While in a novelty shop recently, I discovered a tin of Jesus Band-Aids. It would have been a great visual aid during my brief tenure as a religious ed instructor. The lesson would be about Jesus being the Great Physician or Jehovah Rapha – The God Who Heals. I wasn’t sure what use I had for them but knew it was one of those ‘must haves,’ and bought a couple of tins.
When my children were little, we went through quite a few Band-Aids on a regular basis. They, too, seemed to hold miraculous healing power. There were times they were needed, but more often than not they were offered not to relieve pain but to offer comfort. When they ran to me after a fall, out came the Band-Aids and the boo-boo bunny we kept for such occasions. It was my attention that eased their discomfort, not the bandages. And when we played hospital, they would cover me with those little plastics as a cure-all for whatever imaginary diagnoses they came up with. Ripping them all off caused its own kind of pain.
God offers us the same comfort through the person of Jesus. We may need physical healing, but often our wounds go deeper than any Band-Aid can reach. Blessedly, there’s no hurt out of the reach of God’s healing love. My Jesus Band-Aids will simply be a reminder of Who and what is available regardless of your ailment. The Great Physician is ready to cover anyone with His peace, provision and protection. We do have to seek it and request it though, because Jesus is too polite to go where He’s not invited.
One of the problems with the kinds of wounds Jesus specializes in is we tend to keep them hidden. Life offers us a myriad of ways to treat symptoms, but sometimes the first step to healing involves ripping temporary bandages off to expose the wound. Make no mistake, healing can be painful, but until we are willing to sludge through the process, we remain stuck in our own pain. Jesus offers to walk us through that pain towards healing. As difficult as they were, those walks are some of my favorite times with Christ. They are where true intimacy was born.
The Jesus tin also boasted a prize inside. Eagerly, I ripped open the package with the same zeal I’d attack the Cracker Jack box, searching for my prize. I was disappointed to find a lame temporary tattoo – not even divinely inspired. The only fulfilling ‘free’ prize I ever received didn’t arrive in a Cracker Jack box; it arrived in a manger and may have been free to me but cost Jesus His life. The ‘prize’ Jesus promises is our salvation – and that gift never disappoints. The same way my children covered me with Band-Aids, Jesus covers me with His righteousness. The miracle of the gospel is that “… he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22).”
When seeking lasting pain relief, those Band-Aids I bought are useless except as a reminder to choose to call on the Great Physician. He is always the wise choice.