Matthew 16:5-12 Beware of yeast!

Matthew 16:5-12  When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread.  “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”  Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?  Do you still not understand?  Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread?  But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The disciples were upset about their lack of bread as they journeyed across the lake, for they had only one loaf with them.  As they discussed this omission of not bringing enough bread for the thirteen of them, they were probably throwing around a lot of accusations and blame, maybe even some heated statements were made about the failure of someone or another not bringing enough bread with them.  Jesus overheard their discussion and then said something quite odd to them, a non sequitur: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  In Mark’s account of this incident, He adds Herod, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”  (8:15)  Jesus’ remark confuses his disciples for what did the priests and yeast have to do with not having enough bread on this journey.  They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”  Jesus, knowing their discussion that followed his statement, interacted with them about not having faith, and that their attitude about a lack of bread has everything to do with their attitude about the situation.  “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?  Do you still not understand?”  He reminds them of feeding the 4,000 and the 5,000 with an insufficient amount of bread.  In both circumstances, they had a limited supply of bread, sufficient to feed only a few people, yet both crowds ate plenty with some left over.  Of course they knew of both situations, the feeding of the 4,000 had happened just that day.  Jesus was now shaming them with their lack of understanding of what occurred a few hours before.  The disciples were quite aware of the Sadducees and Pharisees’ hatred towards Jesus.  They probably had heard the rumors that both groups wanted Jesus dead.  Now their beloved leader, Jesus, was telling them that their behavior and attitude was very close to these people who aggressively sought Jesus’ demise.  Jesus, who had been listening to disciples about not having enough bread with them, knew their hearts could easily become hard, taking in miracles yet not believing.  The Sadducees and Pharisees had seen many miracles yet they did not see Jesus as divine, for they were consumed by their self-interest and position in society.  They just saw him as a man who could do great things, maybe even under the influence of Satan, but definitely not as a messenger from God.  Now Jesus’ disciples were acting as if they did not see Jesus do many wonderful things; they were consumed with their own self-interest and position within the twelve.  They were taking on the mindset of unbelievers as Herod and the priests exemplified.  Jesus does not mince words with them.  He goes to the heart of their spiritual condition of unbelief—their lack of faith.  How could they had seen the healing(s) and miracles and still not understand who He was and his concern for people?  If they lacked bread on this journey, Jesus would provide for them, for He loved people.  Sadly, the disciples had seen the supernatural events, but still sat in the darkness of unbelief, for they were more concerned about their daily experiences than in Jesus’ miraculous works.  They had seen the miracles and probably rejoiced for a while about the events after they happened, but they were still hesitant about Jesus’ involvement with them in every new situation. 

The Sadducees and the Pharisees had seen Jesus perform many miracles, but their hearts were hardened to these supernatural events.  They had no belief in Jesus’ Messiahship.  Because of their disbelief in Jesus as the Messiah, they had little respect for him or fear of him; they intended to kill him.  They feared only the people who followed him.  When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them.  They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.  (Matthew 21:45-46)  The people clamored after Jesus for many reasons, not because they thought He was divine, but because Jesus could meet their needs.  To them, He was considered at most a prophet in the likeness of Elijah of old.  His power or god-like authority might even deliver them from the oppressive hand of the Roman empire.  However, the people’s spiritual leadership, the Pharisees and Sadducees, did not believe in Jesus’ divinity and would not accept the miracles and healings as being from God, at most they assigned these miraculous actions to the devil and the demons.  Now as Jesus observed his disciples squabbling over who failed to bring bread on their journey across the lake, He questioned them about their faith by pointing to the Pharisees and Sadducees’ unbelief.  He wanted them to understand that the disciples’ point of view of being helpless when not having enough bread with them was close to the way Pharisees and Sadducees live their lives, not believing God was intimately involved with their lives.  All of their religion, their relationship with God, depended on works and performing perfunctory religious rites.  They thought of themselves to be right with God because of their heritage and their hierarchal position in the Jewish society.  They lacked awareness of an intimate God who wanted to meet people’s needs.  As the Messiah, Jesus came to minister to the needs of the people.  He had the heart of God: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (Luke 4:18-19)  Sadly, the religious elite’s intentions and lifestyle were to lift themselves up.  “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.”  (Matthew 23:5-7)  The disciples were now being overcome with the same spirit of the priests.  They were important people now because of being close to Jesus.  Now in their own minds, they could determine what was right and what was wrong about any situation.  Why, because they were now looked up to by the people in the crowd.  They had the special position of being Jesus’ friends and bodyguards.  As they were arguing about who should have brought more bread, Jesus perceived this attitude of them feeling they were very special because of being close to him.  James and John even wanted to be so special to Jesus that He would assign them seats on the left and right of him in the Kingdom of Heaven.  (Mark 10)  Jesus corrects this attitude by saying, beware of the leaven of the priests.

Why should Jesus speak of little faith when warning the disciples of their attitude while squabbling with each other?  The priests had won the world in their own eyes.  People gave them deference; they received respect wherever they went in the Jewish society.  People thought of them being closer to God because of their preferential position in the Jewish society.  Surely, the crowd thought the disciples were special people too, not just fishermen, tax collectors, and the like.  They assumed rightly or wrongly, the disciples had to be special or Jesus would not have chosen them.  Of course, the disciples watching the miracles and being in the presence of people who were in awe of Jesus’ power to heal must have had an impact on their attitude about themselves.  They had become important people overnight, so quickly it must have made their heads swell a bit.  But Jesus said beware of that yeast for it leads to unbelief, secular thinking.  As with Herod, he could cut off any head he wished.  The priests could demand anything they wanted from the people.  This power in the world, controlling your own and others’ destiny, diminishes the thought of God being sovereign in one’s life. The disciples had forgotten that Jesus was in the boat.  They were now considering their own answers to the situation, based on their own sufficiency.  Worldliness follows that attitude.  When we allow yeast, self-will, self-importance, to infest our lives, we begin to look to our sufficiencies, to our answers for every situation, rather than to know God is in the boat.  We cannot live this kind of life happily and in peace if we lack faith in God’s sovereignty over our lives.  Our life’s struggle with the way things are will be constant; little peace will be found in our inner person. The divinity of Christ and his leading in our lives will be neglected.  Our strength, our wisdom, our knowledge will supersede faith in God.  The disciples were well aware that they had only one loaf to feed all of them.  Because of that fact, they were distracted, not realizing Jesus was with them.  The Pharisees and the Sadducees saw Jesus do marvelous acts, but the answer to them for their lives and the people’s lives lay in their works, not God’s works.  They missed Jesus altogether as they passed through their lives.  The disciples were in danger of missing Jesus in the boat that day.  The yeast of self-authority was beginning to permeate their souls.  No longer fishermen and the like, they now saw themselves of men of notoriety, able to decide what is possible in life, and if necessary who is right and wrong in life.  We who are at this breakfast table need to be aware that the world’s approach to life and self-interest will never solve the world’s concerns and never will it satisfy our own souls.  Nothing short of complete faith in Jesus’ words and in his authority in our lives will answer the needs of the world.  He is in the boat, the bread of life is always available to us.  Any other lifestyle or answers to life is but yeast, and it will eventually contaminate your whole life.  As the old gospel chorus says: Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full on his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.  

Matthew 15:32-39 Compassion!

Matthew 15:32-39  Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.  I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”  His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”  “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.  “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”  He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.  Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied.  Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.  After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Many interpretations exist of why Jesus fed crowds of 5,000 and 4,000 men.  But whether these explanations are right or reasonable does not matter.  What matters is that He fed several thousand people bread and fishes.  He illustrated that He is the Bread of Life.  As the Messiah sent by God, He always does the will of the Father.  God in the days of Moses fed the Israelites in the wilderness.  Jesus was demonstrating that his Father feeds the hungry.   I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.  I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.  But the food the people ate that day could not sustain life indefinitely.  Just as with the manna in the wilderness, they would need to gather food daily for themselves to exist.  This is the process of life day-in and day-out, a continuous search for food.  But Jesus’ mission on earth was to provide them spiritual food that would last forever, satisfying their souls within them.  This divine food freely given through the works and words of Jesus Christ was God’s will.  Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”  Then Jesus declared, “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  (John 6:32-35)  Of course some followed Jesus for their own selfish reasons, seeking what Jesus could do for them.  They did not understand the true bread from heaven; they knew only that Jesus healed them and sometimes fed them. The food satiated the body’s needs, but did nothing for their spiritual health.  To counter this attitude of following Jesus for their physical needs, Jesus declares a strong analogy with cannibalistic elements that separate many from following him.  Jesus’ words are so emphatic and so strange that many thought of him as being mad.  Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.  (John 6:53-56)  The people asked how could one eat of his flesh or drink of his blood?  Of course Jesus was describing the process of eternal life after his crucifixion.  We who are alive IN CHRIST forever are part of his body in flesh and drink.  Jesus’ reference to eating and drinking of him describes a new kingdom where life is derived from him.  This eternal life, partaking of his nature, is not a principle that the unredeemed of the world who sought Jesus for their own needs could understand or even cared to understand.  They lived for the carnal world of self, not for knowledge of eternal life.   

The key to living a life in victory is to place one’s hope on eternal life in Christ.  Jesus came to reveal truth.  When interacting with Pilate who had the authority to destroy Jesus, Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”  Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”  Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”  (John 18:36-37, KJV)  By feeding the people in this miraculous way, Jesus bear(s) witness to the truth.  If one could feed this many people with a few loaves and fishes, then He must be heard and believed.  For sure Jesus knows the Father God who created all things, and He possesses the truth of life, the reason for living.  Jesus through this act of feeding the people reveals his concern for their welfare.  He also knows the crowd before him is starving for the truth of God.  Therefore, He comes to them as The Truth, The Way to salvation.  He is eternal life beyond this terrestrial, finite existence.  Jesus through his miracles and healings reveals God's plan for them to inherit eternal life and not perish.  This plan was from the beginning of time.  Paul would describe it as a mystery, creating children in the image of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Jesus possessed the Father’s heart for the people.  As Jesus walked this earth, He taught them and fed them.  Even if they followed him for the fishes and loaves, He knew they were hearing the Father’s heart, for He was speaking God’s words.  If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person.  For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.  There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.  For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me COMMANDED ME TO SAY ALL THAT I HAVE SPOKEN.  I know that his command leads to eternal life.  So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.  (John 12:47-50)  The truth as spoken by Jesus was coming to the Jewish crowd who were in the wilderness, far from fishes and loaves of bread.  They were in a remote place, but God was there in the form of his beloved Son.  Jesus was there not only to feed them, but to instruct them on the way to God.  The way to God and his Promised Land was through believing in Jesus Christ’s words.  God’s love fed them, but God’s purpose for that day was to deliver them from the famine in their souls, to reveal The Way, The Truth, The Light, his Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah. 

A new people is needed for a new land.  Jesus brought this message with the 4,000 before him.  Yes, they found him creating food for them, to keep them from hunger, but eternal food was needed to survive in a new land, a heavenly home God was preparing for them.  Jesus comforts his disciples before his departure with words about this new place.  Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  (John 14:1-4)  They were upset because He said He would be betrayed and killed.  They wanted an assurance that things would work out better in the future.  Jesus told them, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.  (John 14:18-19)  Jesus provided the 4,000 food for that day on that hillside.  But his whole life illustrated that He was talking about an eternal home, not about a biological place where the physical needs must be met.  This new place was what Abraham sought, a place he did not know, a place where he could rest his feet permanently.  He was a nomad, a wanderer, but God had promised him a land.  God also promised the children of Israel a new place through Moses’ leading.  They wandered the wilderness for 40 years before they were allowed to rest in the promised land.  Noah believed God and made an ark, expecting a new existence for him and his family. These patriarchs of faith: Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others believed God had a place where they could rest and enjoy God’s creation.  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.  (Hebrews 11:1-2)  Jesus’ supernatural act of feeding the people revealed that God is in the business of making a new people.  He performed a miraculous act so the people would know that Jesus was someone divine with the answers to life.  But as with the apostles’ concern about Jesus going away, the termination of Jesus’ life would not be a horrendous ending to their hope of something new; it would actually be the beginning of a new life, a permanent home.  Feeding 4,000 is a miraculous event, but feeding millions upon millions the Bread of Life is the essential miracle to eternal life.  Our hope does not abide in eating today or tomorrow, or settling down in this frustrating, materialistic world.  Our hope is in what we do not see yet.  We have confidence that another life exists where we can abide with God.  We live as children of God on this earth.  The Spirit of God has come to comfort, to counsel, to lead us through every experience of life.  We are distinctly different from the people around us, destined to a new life, an eternal one.  Breakfast companions, you eat to survive biologically, but better yet you eat this breakfast to strengthen your spiritual souls, to help you focus on another land, a land won by faith in Jesus Christ.  Feast on the spiritual bread and wine of the Lord today, and He will satisfy your soul! 

Matthew 15:29-31 Light Breaks Darkness!

Matthew 15:29-31  Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee.  Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.  Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.  The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing.  And they praised the God of Israel. 

Jesus left the land of Sidon and Tyre where He performed many miracles and began to teach in the area of the Sea of Galilee.  Because He was a popular healer, the people followed him, wherever He went great crowds came to him.  They sought him out because Jesus could heal.  He taught them about God and their purpose for living.  Of course as the Messiah, He came to set the people free from captivity to the evil one.  This was God’s plan since the creation, to free humans made in his image from bondage to sin.  Jesus performed miracles that no man had done from the beginning of time.  These healings, miracles, validated his claim of being the true Messiah.  The lame walked, the blind saw, and the mute talked.  God’s Shepherd was in their midst: a shepherd who knew the sheep.  They could tell by his teachings and by his ministry of healing that He was a special messenger sent by God.  They followed him in great numbers.  He taught them about the blessings of God; He also taught them the necessity of living holy lives.  He wanted them to investigate the content of their hearts, how they  talked, how they thought.  What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.  (Matthew 15:11)  Jesus’ teachings were often very demanding, but He wanted the people to know that God was on their side regardless of their status, needs, position in life.  In the Sermon of the Mount He expressed God’s concern for the people: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy, and the like.  (Matthew 5:3-7)  Moses’ law was demanding, placing the responsibility of knowing God on the people’s shoulders.  You shall have no other gods before me.  “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.  “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.  “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, and so on.  (Exodus 20:3-17)  We see in the beatitudes God’s mercy and grace toward the people.  Literally, Jesus is mercy, Jesus is grace.  He healed the people without demanding they become holy or investigating their hearts before He did something good for them.  The law required obedience before God would bless people.  To know Jesus and his grace and mercy, you must receive; to know God and his holiness, you must fulfill his demands.  By receiving Jesus into your heart, you receive the holiness of God, for Jesus is God in the flesh.  The Canaanite woman received healing even though her lifestyle and beliefs did not line up with Judaism.  God through Jesus intervened in her life because of her belief and faith that Jesus could actually do away with the evil spirit in her daughter’s life.  In her ignorance, she received Jesus as the Messiah, the Lamb of God, who delivers people from the hands of the evil one.  

When the Israelites were delivered from the hands of Pharaoh, a one-year-old lamb or goat was sacrificed in each household and the blood of this animal was placed around the doorframe of their house for their protection.  The Lord would pass over the homes where the blood was around the doors of their dwellings. No death would enter those houses, but where the blood was not present, death would enter the household and kill the first born.  The blood was necessary to keep death away and to eventually free the Israelites from the hands of the evil one: Pharaoh.  The Israelites did all of this, believing that God had a plan for them that was greater than their limited vision.  What actually happened after that first night of the passover probably was beyond their imagination, for Pharaoh freed them from their slavery, kicking them out of his country.  The Israelites were FREE INDEED.  The angel of death that passed over the houses did not investigate the nature of those who were in the house, whether they were worthy of being delivered from Pharaoh, to be set free from slavery.  No, the Lord did not investigate the content of the hearts of those who were in the households that had the blood around their doors.  He passed over them because of the sacrifices of the perfect lambs or goats—animals without defect, innocent, helpless, unable to rescue themselves.  Their blood paid the price for those who were in the homes.  Their blood paved the way for freedom.  When we see Jesus healing people, we see the perfect Lamb of God healing whosoever will come to him.  He does not look into the content of their hearts before He heals them.  He has compassion on them, for they are as sheep without a shepherd with no one to fix their wounds, to provide for their needs.  Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.  He healed all of them.  As the Lamb of God He covered their household; He delivered them from the hands of the evil one.  He did the work, not them.  He cleansed them from their defects brought on by the imperfections of this world, a dominion where the devil reigns.  He did not question them about how much evil they had done in the past.  He did not question them about the content of their hearts.  He knew their hearts.  One time He said to them, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”  (John 6:26)  Many probably had little love for Jesus.  They just wanted Jesus to touch them or feed them.  They were pursuing him because of their own selfish reasons.  But Jesus met their needs: the Lamb of God was present to heal them, to deliver them from bondage.  He represented God on earth.  

After Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the message of the Lamb became a reality to the world.  In Jesus, through his blood, deliverance was now available to all people.  Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)  We do not have to change the content of our hearts before we accept the work of Jesus.  We just need to place his blood over the doorpost of our lives.  We see in Acts, Jesus’ work of healing the biological man was still very much present in the apostles’ daily experience.  The disciples were teaching not only of God’s salvation plan through Christ, they were also healing people who came to them.  Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.  (Acts 5:16)  As with Jesus’ healing and as the Passover revealed, the content of the hearts of those who came to the disciples was not investigated, analyzed, or determined to be worthy of a touch from God.  The disciples prayed for these people.  They laid hands on them and all of them were healed.  Even Peter’s shadow would bring healing to some.  God was opening the door of salvation to the Jewish people.  Healing was a necessary component of this door opening.  The spiritual eyes and ears of a hardened community of Jews were being sensitized to the voice of God through these miracles.  Christ’s church was expanding rapidly in Israel.  Where darkness abides, miracles are needed.  Religion can bring darkness to a people.  Jesus castigated the religious leaders of his time, for they accentuated works to please God.  But they were hypocrites, for they did not follow their own teachings.  Religion, self-help techniques, will never solve the need of the heart to know God.  We need the reality of God in our lives.  We need to know what it means to be healed, to have the blood of the Lamb of God over our doorpost.  We need to know what is meant by freedom.  Freedom is the ultimate healing, for it means our souls are right with God.  We are right with God because of his works not ours.  The Lord’s prayer reveals so much about what God does and not what we do. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  (Matthew 6:9-13)   The beatitudes talk about God taking care of us, blessing us.  The law and it stipulations require us doing good for God.  The Law can lead us into bondage; beatitudes express the goodness of God and his plan for eternal freedom for us.  Darkness has to be dispelled by light or we remain in darkness.  God through our faith in Jesus dispels darkness and delivers us from evil.  We who are IN CHRIST MUST BE AT HIS WORK.  We must pray for others, pray for their healing, believe for miracles in their lives.  Wherever there is no light, miracles must happen.  Jesus healed all of the people who came to him.  The disciples healed all of them.  The nut of darkness in the Jewish community had to be broken open.  Healing and miracles smashed that darkness.  Let us pray for healing for ourselves and others.  Let us accept our healing, our freedom, for light has broken through the darkness of our souls and made us whole.  Let that healing and all biological healing come under the authority of God.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen!