Jesus the Balm

 


Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, I Timothy 2:1-7

Jeremiah has a sick heart and is weeping for Israel for the brokenness of the daughter of my people. He cries out asking if there is a balm in Gilead, a physician to save the spiritual health of Israel. You see Gilead was known for its balm, a substance grown there that could cure one from physical diseases. It had this power to soothe and heal. Unfortunately, Jeremiah doesn’t know of the great physician Jesus who will come to bring salvation.

I Timothy tells of this great physician who has brought salvation. It is the one mediator between God and humans – Christ Jesus. The healing balm being his blood for the atonement for our sins. He gave himself a ransom for all.

In this passage the writer tells how the aim of all worship should be salvation for all. Included in our prayers should be the kings and all who are in high positions. Why? So, we can live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. In these Pastoral letters in the New Testament godliness is the benchmark of doing God’s will. What is God’s will? It says God desires salvation for all. Only God can restore the brokenness of people that Jeremiah mourns over searching for a balm or physician to heal the brokenness and restore his people to the godliness encouraged in I Timothy.

Today we sing the African American spiritual where the question of whether or not there is a balm in Gilead has been put into a positive statement stating there is a balm in Gilead that will make the captives whole and save the sin sick soul. American theologian Howard Thurman noted: “The slave caught in the mood of this spiritual dilemma and did an amazing thing. He straightened the question mark in Jeremiah’s sentence into an exclamation point.”

Christians believe that Jesus is the ultimate balm of Gilead because he provides true and lasting spiritual, emotional, and even physical healing for the brokenness of the human soul. John Wesley states: “Why has Christianity done so little in the world? Is it not the balm…which the great Physician has given to men to restore their spiritual health?” He is saying then that we have failed the words in Timothy to bring salvation to all.

May we continue to pray for salvation for all the world, for healing from brokenness. We need not mourn like Jeremiah but boldly sing There is a Balm in Gilead – it is Jesus whom we need to share with and pray for the entire world. Amen.


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