Left-handedness

Left-handed people amount to 5 - 10 %, regardless of races. There is a hypothesis that as evolution progresses the left-handed increase. However, an observation on a group of chimpanzees revealed that 14 % of all the chimpanzees were left-handed. Some scholars considered that about 17% of CroMagnons were left-handed judging from wall paintings in caves which they seemed to paint by their hands powdered with coloring matters. It seems that we should doubt the hypothesis that evolution produces many of the left-handed.

It is why we can consider that majority of people in the days of Jesus were right-handed. Here comes a question. There is a verse in the Gospel of Matthew, "But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn him the other also. (Matthew 5:39) If majority of people are right-handed, people are more likely to be stricken on the left cheeks than on the right cheeks. Therefore, this word of Jesus sounds to be directed to about 10 % of people, which is very strange because the words in the Bible should be universal, in other words, should be applied in any case.

Left-handed people are apt to be placed in disadvantageous circumstances because most of the equipment and facilities are mainly for the right-handed people. Doors of refrigerators, scissors, knives, screwdrivers, telephone dials, zippers for pants and driving ranges are all for the right-handed. In Japanese a drinker is called "leftist", and we are generous enough to forgive overdrinking and impoliteness during drinking. Maybe this is only one exception in which the "left" is advantageous.

It has been considered that the left-handed are more skillful with their fingers. One of the most famous works in Toshogu Shrine, Nikko, is "Nemuri-neko" ("sleeping cat") by Jingoro Hidari, who has been supposed to be one of the most skilful men in Japan.

Is it true that Jesus spoke to the left-handed on purpose because they were so frequently discriminated? Some people say "no" to this question, for, as a matter of fact, we can think of cases in which somebody is stricken on the right cheek by a right-handed man. We can suppose that the Jews, who were rejected everywhere, were often stricken on the right cheeks by the backs of the right hands, which meant the rejection by other people. With this assumption this verse in the Bible can be considered a supreme order of God that the Jews should be ready to have the left cheeks stricken and tell the good news of Jesus Christ fearlessly whatever rejection they encountered. It may be a wisdom to take such a fearless attitude in this society with so many kinds of discrimination.

Jaw bone

It is our anxiety that children with weak jaw bone have increased in number. We feel anxious about recent reports that irregular set of teeth is produced because of the immature jaw bone. It is true that nowadays we cannot see many people with big chins. Then, why does jaw bone not develop fully? We can think of many reasons.

Most of precooked quick foods are soft not to become a burden to jaws. We tend to be choosy about our food and prefer softer food. It is not considered to be graceful to eat with obvious mouth movement. We do not often laugh with our mouths wide open. We do not usually clench our teeth. All these things are considered to make the jaw bone weak.

By the way, we can presume the age of animals according to the size of their jaw bones. In the case of a human being, when you get older, the size of jaw bone becomes smaller and similar to that of child's jaw bone. Jaw bones play very important roles in daily life. They are used at many occasions such as in eating, drinking, talking, laughing and biting.

In the Bible, a jaw bone appears in Judges 15:15. On Ramsth-lihi Samson found a new jaw bone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. Can you imagine a jaw bone of an ass could kill a thousand men even if you know it is very strong? Even a sword can be snapped unless it is extremely durable. But you should know that the bone is like a pipe where bone marrow producing blood exists. An iron pipe is more elastic and stronger than an iron stick. So, the bone like an iron pipe is not easily fractured.

Furthermore, the Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson. No wonder, Samson and jaw bone are the strongest combination that can ever be desired.

Blindness

In the Bible there are many stories about the blindropsia can be caused by encephalopathy, disorders of optic nerve, retina, corpus vitreum, lens, or cornea. It is hard to distinguish what kind of disorders each of the blind in the Bible had. Eyes of two blind men in Matthew 9 were opened, and in Matthew 20 Jesus in pity touched the eyes of two blind men sitting by the roadside, and immediately they received their sights. Judging from these two expressions, the blind in the former case had different paropsia from the ones in the latter.

There may have been many people with eye diseases in Asia Minor where clouds of dust whirled. By the way, these two stories of wonder seemed to be intended to warn the teachers of the law. Jesus concluded that the Pharisees were blind and said to them sternly, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, 'We see, therefore your sin remaineth." (John: 9:41) Jesus criticized the blindness of the Pharisees through his healing for the blind. It is true that you cannot see if you do not try to see. In a flower garden boys can see only butterflies, and realty dealers may be more interested in a railway station near-by.

Jesus healed another blind man. He made clay of the spittle, anointed the man's eyes with the clay, and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam (John: 9:6 to 7). Many people know that Dr. Waxman discovered streptomycin in the ground getting a hint from this story. Silicate crystals in the ground absorb various detrimental materials. Saliva contains enzymes and immunoglobulin which dissolve membrane of bacterium which keeps us from senility was discovered. But we cannot heal a man who was born blind.

Of course it was a wonder by God. The blindness to God can be healed also only by God.

Laughing

Among many animals only human beings can laugh. Monkeys and horses sometimes seem to laugh but it is not a true laugh but only a kind of mouth movement.

We can think of many kinds of laughs, such as a happy laugh, a scornful laugh, a suppressed laugh, reminiscent smile, and the most difficult one, emotionless laugh.

Mr. Colt who made a special revolver ran performances with laughing gas, an anesthetic gas, to make money. At first, the audience laughed due to this gas. But one day an Indian in the audience fell asleep by this laughing gas. This caused a great disturbance for Mr. Colt greatly. After that he stopped using the laughing gas. A person who is made laugh by this laughing gas does not feel comfortable. It is already 100 years since Mr. Colt's attempt and this gas is still used as an anesthetic gas in surgeries.

Abraham was one of a few persons who laughed in the Bible. His wife, Sarah, laughed, too, even in front of God. Abraham said, "Shall a child be born unto him that is a jundred years old? (Genesis: 7:17, 18:12)

This complicated laugh does not simply come from joy but includes mixed feelings and other animals never can do it. Since men were created as in the image of God looks like, we have many unique points unlike other animals, which distinguish men from animals. Animal experiments can demonstrate so many scientific facts but cannot reveal all the facts about men.

Especially animal experiment on laughs is totally impossible. It is difficult to understand the mechanism how various emotions draw a particular facial muscle and stimulate glottis to make some sounds of laughs. Similarly, chemical analysis of tears cannot reveal the cause of tears.

Edema

On a Sabbath Jesus healed a man who had dropsy, (that is edema), in front of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law (the scribes) (Luke: 14:1 to 6). To show the healing, this disease, dropsy, should be an obvious one so that everybody there including the Pharisees and the teachers of the law could perceive the disease. For this reason his disease is not considered to be Hydropse anasarca in which water is accumulated in thoracic cavity, abdominal cavity, and pericardial cavity.

Edema in cardiac insufficiency and renal insufficiency brings dropsical swelling in the lower extremities, which can only be found by pushing on the legs. A burn in which water is accumulated under skin and a vesicular exanthema caused by virus are acute diseases, and therefore, are not the disease of the man who was described to have been ill for a long time in Luke 14. The most reasonable guess will be that he had filariasis which was a common disease in that area.

Filaria which enters into a lymph vessel occludes the flow of lymphatic stream and causes edema. When the inguinal lymph node is occluded, swelling comes down to lower extremities (legs), which makes the skin stiff and thick with its fiber-rich component and makes the legs fat. Another name for this disease is elephantiasis, which can be distinguished easily by everybody. It is surely a wonder that Jesus healed the man of elephantiasis instantly.

Jesus died on the cross. One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water (John: 19:34). It was undoubtedly edema which took Jesus at that time. Water accumulated in thoracic, abdominal and pericardial cavity because of serious hypoproteinemia and the blood in his heart seemed to have flowed out from him. Jesus on the cross was surely in the worst condistion of health.

Flow of blood

Bible Dictionary does not clarify what disease troubled a woman in Mark 5:25, "which had an issue of blood for twelve years". In Greek, it is αιματοσ and means the disease with a hemorrhage.

One of the typical disease accompanying a hemorrhage is hemophilia. Princess Anastasia of Russian Romanov Dynasty was a hemophiliac. This disease can be found when a patient is a small child of leukemia which easily causes bleeding can never live 12 years after the occurrence of the disease.

The woman who was healed by touching Jesus' garment does not sound very young judging from the word γυνη and the fact that she had been ill for twelve years. Since Bible says that she was no better but rather grew worse, it is assumed her disease was possibly the one which attacked adult women, namely metropathia hemorrhagica, endometrial adenomyosis, myoma uteri, or uterus cancer. But the description that she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease leads us to suppose that her disease was neither endometrial adenomyosis, myoma of uterus, nor uterus cancer. In these cases the patients cannot feel immediately that they have got well. Therefore, her disease is considered to be metropathia hemorrhagica caused by a disorder of estrogen.

The female hormone disorder is in many cases psychogenic, caused by mental conflicts, so there is a possibility for her to be healed by touching Jesus' garment. Even at present, like this woman in Bible, there are some patients who visit many doctors one after another, and never get well, but rather in the meantime their diseases become more serious.

Cerebral infarction

Nerves are shining silver. Mr. M's middle finger of left hand which was caught and snipped off by a machine tool showed silver nerves exposed. The doctor performed a surgery by connecting the nerves, anastomosing the blood vessels, stopping the bleeding, and suturing the skin.

After two months he regained the sensation of feeling in his finger and began to move it little by little. Complete recovery cannot be expected but anyway his finger became coapted without necrosis. Quick treatment of neuropathy often recovers a nerve conduction.

Brain infarction is a disease in which nutrient arteries that are supposed to lead to nerve cells in brain are occluded and nerve cells show necrosis. The paralytic in Bible seem to mean men with sequel by intracerebral hemorrhage or quadriplegia by brain infarction. (Matthew: 9:2, Acts: 9:33). Even with the present medical technique it is difficult to recover the nerve conduction system enabling the stimuli to go through again once electron ceases to flow. It needs exactly a miracle, a wonderful act of God. Jesus said to the man who was paralyzed by using three verbs, "Rise, take up your bed and go home." And immediately he rose before the people and took up his bed on which he had lay and went home glorifying God. Here, four verbs were used in describing what the paralyzed man did.

It was a great amazement to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who considered that paralysis was caused in a man because of his sins, for according to their belief only God could forgive sins and heal this disease.

Peter healed a man named Aeneas who had suffered from paralysis for eight years in bed in a small village called Lydda (Acts 9:33). Lydda was located on the way from Jerusalem to Joppa and halfway between Judea and Samaria.

Many people in the village glorified God and were filled with awe to see the wonderful healing which was done at the first stop of the apostles on their long way to the end of the earth to preach the good news.