It's a pretty common theme in Scripture, and in life, that to make something right, you have to come to terms with what is wrong. When the Philistines steal the Ark of the Covenant, they immediately realize this was a bad call: evidenced by the plague of tumors and of mice on their land. So to make things right, they send back the Ark with golden tumors and mice, as a symbol of that from which they need healing. Similarly, back when the Israelites were disobedient to God in the wilderness, they were bitten by snakes, and it was an image of a snake, lifted up, which healed them. Jesus says that his own time of being lifted up on a cross, as a symbol of humankind's hatred and disobedience, will also bring healing to the world. We still "lift high the cross" as a symbol of our need for healing. But I wonder: if we were to get more specific about an image for our own brokenness today--either as individuals or a society--what would that image be?
God, lift up in me what is sick. Let me look at it, and hand it over to you for healing, in Jesus'name. Amen.
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