Once again, Jesus reminds us that the ministry of peace is one of radical welcome. In our world, the world of western, 21st-century health care, we tend not experience the ugliness of sickness. We hospitalize our sick, we put our dying in hospices, we institutionalize our mentally ill. And in the process, we do not see the broken, sometimes disfigured bodies, traumatized spirits, and overwhelmed minds.

And yet that was the reality of what confronted Jesus. Broken, crushed, disfigured, and marred people crying out for healing. Jesus was able to stay and welcome all of it. Perhaps the cornerstone of his healing is that he was simply not willing to turn his head away. He was willing to look it in the face, to welcome it. To suffer with it.

1 John 4:18 tells us that “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” The ministry of peace is a lifelong journey of letting our fears die to perfect love.

By Tim Moore from D365