“Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known” (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter 8, emphasis original). After the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Faramir, the new steward of Gondor, lay at the point of death and was being grieved by an old wife, Ioreth, the eldest woman in the houses of healing. She longed for a king because kings had the ability to heal. To her surprise, the king arrived. He didn’t have the appearance of a king, but his kingship was revealed in his healing powers.
Some believe Tolkien references Medieval lore that English and French kings had healing powers. Others posit that he is making an apparent reference to the kingship of Jesus. Even if Jesus’ kingship wasn’t at the forefront of Tolkien’s mind, Aragorn’s healing powers as king are an echo of the Great King.
When the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, cries out for healing, he calls out to the Son of David, the king of Israel, to heal him (Mk 10:47). Why would he call for the king of Israel to heal him? Because he knew that the hands of the king were the hands of a healer. Isaiah prophesies that the servant of Yahweh, the king, will heal the land, open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf (Isa 35:1, 4, 5; see also 42:7). The king is revealed by his healing powers.
When Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey riding upon outer garments and palm branches while people shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” they are proclaiming him king. “Hosanna” is a prayer translated “Save us now, we pray.” God’s king is coming to save. The words “saved” and “salvation” refer to a broad spectrum of rescue. The words were used in the medical field to speak of healing. Our enemies range from the heathen that attack us from without to the sin and disease that eats away at our bodies. Jesus has come to save us in every sense.
When Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, he goes to the Temple, drives out all those who bought and sold, overturned their tables, and then sets up a house of healing. “The blind and lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them” (Mt 21:14). Matthew is careful to mention that they were “blind and lame” because there is a connection with King David. When David was about to take the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, they sent word to mock David, saying that they would have the blind and lame guard the city (2 Sam 5:6-10). David comes in, takes the city, and establishes it as the place of God’s earthly throne.
But there is a problem with the blind and lame being in the Temple City, where they are near to God. Those who draw near to God can have no malformation or deformity in their bodies. Priests (Lev 21:17-20) and animals that represented worshipers in offerings were required to be without physical blemish. Yahweh castigated his people through the prophet Malachi for offering the blind, lame, and sick to him as peace offerings (Mal 1:8). Physical deformities prevented people from drawing near to God. But Jesus is welcoming the blind and lame into the Temple. However, he is doing so to heal them. He makes them fit to draw near to God, and drawing near to God is life.
Many before Jesus had been proclaimed king as he was on this Palm Sunday. Once anointed king by order of Elisha, Jehu had garments laid before him to ride upon (2Kg 9). In the second century B.C., the Maccabees rode into Jerusalem in a similar fashion as Jesus and even cleansed the Temple. But the king is revealed through healing. These others killed, but they couldn’t heal. The true king is revealed when he heals the blind and the lame.
God’s intention was never to allow sin and its effects to separate us eternally from him. He kept us at a distance for a while, making temporary provisions so that we would not suffer eternal death, but the plan was always to send a healing king. Jesus is that king. He will be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, but by his stripes, we will be healed (Isa 53:5). United to his resurrection body, we will be made completely whole.
