Healing in His Wings
Lots of scientific deductions can be made about rear wings on cars. One such fact is that they look cool. Period.
Okay, there’s more. But for now, know that thermodynamic theory on rear wing efficacy can be summarized (and ignored) as long as you know these three principles: 1) a rear wing affects the air going above the wing, 2) a rear wing affects the air going below it, and 3) the wing does not affect them in the same way.
Maybe wings have been on your mind when you’ve heard the classic Christmas hymn “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” especially during the line “Risen with healing in His wings.” Surely we’re talking about a car wing, right? Why else would we sing that? Does Jesus have wings? No. But that line isn’t in there by accident.
It’s actually an Old Testament reference. It’s found in Malachi 4, which contains the last six verses of prophecy before Jesus was born. And they’re doozies. From Malachi 4:1-2: “‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.’”
The verses foretell both the birth of the Savior into the world and the final day of judgment. In both instances, Jesus acts as a rear wing or an airfoil, affecting every human under the same three principles for wings listed above: people within his shelter and guidance are affected differently than people outside. However, just as there is no neutrality on a wing – no air sitting idly on a wing’s leading edge, comfortably in the middle – there is no person who is unaffected by Jesus.
Consider the air being channeled through the wing. It takes on a new shape after leading the trailing edge. It has a new purpose. This is the manner in which Jesus came: to collect “all who revere [his] name” under his healing wings, and redeem and restore them to a new shape and a new purpose.
So, if healing is at the top of your Christmas wish-list this year, ask for it with no strings attached. Healing doesn’t happen without change. Turbulent winds are smoothed and made effective by the power of a wing, but they also take on a new direction. This could be the start of something new.
Like wind, we don’t get the option of choosing how God shapes us, or what sinful activities we can continue while still being within the wing. That’s the arrogance Malachi was describing in his prophecy. Instead, we get to surrender to the redemption, healing, and guiding that can only come from Jesus, and “go out and leap” with joy because God chose us to be included in His plan. So, go! Get your hark on.
