Restoration

Allan S. Contreras Ríos

A few months ago, we bought the apartments below ours. It can be said that repairs will be extensive, much will have to be knocked down, thrown away, spackled (repaired), restored…

Some of us have suffered or are suffering from heartbreak, violence, bitterness, stress, etc.; things that are gradually killing us, and without realizing it, many of us look like those apartments, in need of being restored. But it should be said that this repair is extensive for us too. That, in many cases, it will hurt, because it means we will have to let go of many things (throw away) to replace them for something better (spackle/repair). But at the end, it will be worth it because we will be restored.

In traditional Christianity, unfortunately, much emphasis is placed on leaving this world to go to heaven. And we see the option of being restored as something far way. The reality is that it is in this life that we are being repaired and restored, even when the process seems to be extensively difficult.

In Jesus’ ministry, specially in the way Luke tells it, many people looked like those apartments, and were restored by Jesus. The emphasis is often made on the healing of the sick, when reality goes much further than that.

When Jesus healed the leper (Luke 5:12-16), the important thing was not to heal him, but to restore him to society, a society that had rejected him for being sick. This was a man who had probably not been touched for years. And Jesus, before healing him, touches him (v. 13). He shows the affection of the restoration that only God could bring.

When Jesus healed the paralytic (Luke 5:17-26), before healing him, He forgives his sins. He restores this man to God first. Then He heals him to restore him to society, a society that had rejected him for being sick. And He does this without a mention of caring about the sunroof they made on the roof (which was like a wall, Deuteronomy 22:8) of the house – the house that could very well be of Jesus Himself according to a possible translation of the Greek in Mark 2:1.

In Levi’s case, a rejected from society because of the job he had (Luke 5:27-32), Jesús calls him to follow Him, to be part of a new society, to be part of a group of people who follow Jesus, to be part of the Church.

When He heals the man with the withered hand (Luke 6:6-11), Jesus breaks a rule of men to heal him. The Sabbath should be kept, as the Pharisees and Scribes think, but Sabbath was suppose to give the People of God a rest, not the opposite (which is what the interpreters of the law did when they made it almost impossible to do – with their added rules some groups did not even go number 2 so they would not break these rules). And, what a better way to rest than by taking away the problem he had in his hand!

When Jesus heals the Centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10), the Centurion bows down before the authority of Jesus. His trust in Him is such that he does not require Jesus to go heal him, he trusts that Jesus can heal him from a distance. So it was. Jesus restores the servant to the society to which he belonged thanks to the faith of the Centurion – a Gentile.

When Jesus raises the son of the widow from Nain (Luke 7:11-17), Jesus does many things. First, he has compassion for this woman. ¿Why? She is a widow, that is, she has no husband, obviously! And now she does not have a son either. And her misfortune is increasing because, without a husband or offspring, her only option for survival and her dignity are gone in the social context in which she lived. Second, He touches the coffin, which, according to traditional rules, would make Him ceremonially unclean. Third, he resurrects the child. He restores him to life, but He also restores the dignity and survival of the mother. 2x1 combo!

When a woman who was a sinner (this means an immoral woman) comes to wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and dries them with her hair (Luke 7:36-50), Jesus restores her by forgiving her sins (v. 48).

When a demon-possessed man comes to Jesus (Luke 8:26-39), Jesus allows Legion to enter a herd of pigs to leave the body of this naked man who lived in the tombs. The life of one man is worth more than 2000 pigs to Jesus. Jesus restores him.

And there are many more examples in the ministry of Jesus in Luke. What do they all have in common? (1) They are rejected by society, because of illness, demons, death, a job, etc. Have you ever felt rejected? Has your illness ever driven you away from people? Do the “demons” of your past ever keep you from enjoying your present? Has someone’s death ever left you hopeless? (2) Jesus.

Jesus heals them, resurrects them, frees them, restores them…. Only He can do it. Like Levi, who in the new society was named Matthew, your identity can be made new. Through the transgression of Adam and of those who follow his example, death reigned (Romans 5:12). But through Jesus, and through following Him obediently, life reigns (Romans 5:17). This restoration begins here and now, because we were saved in hope (Romans 8:24). The Church – the body of Christ – is the society to which we are all restored now, not in a future in heaven, but right now. Hope begins here, and it definitely does not end in heaven, for God’s gift is eternal life… something that never ends. Hope begins here, because the story of Jesus, especially seen in the examples above, is about the kingdom of God coming to earth.

In order to be restored, we must remove things in our lives – like in those apartments that look like Chernobyl. Leave your past behind, put your burdens on the yoke (teachings) of Jesus (Matthew 11:28), He helps you carry them, the Church helps you carry them too! Exchange that heartbreak for Christ’s love and of His Church. Seek the peace of Jesus and stay away from the violence that surrounds you. But do it right now. The goal is not heaven, the goal is renewal (Romans 6:1-11; cf. 12:1-2), the goal is restoration. Eternal life is for those who have learned to live in that restored community. What are you waiting for to be one yourself? What are you waiting for to stop being an ugly apartment and be the beautiful Temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19)?