Jesus’ Healing Ministry as Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care: A Narrative-Critical Study

This article proposes that Jesus’ healing ministry exemplifies an early form of trauma-informed care within a first-century context marked by social, political, and spiritual brokenness. Through a narrative-critical reading of selected Gospel narratives, the study maps Jesus’ restorative interventions onto SAMHSA’s Four Rs framework: realising trauma’s impact, recognising symptoms, responding holistically, and resisting re-traumatisation. Case studies of the haemorrhaging woman, Peter’s post-denial reconciliation, and the Good Shepherd imagery demonstrate how Jesus named suffering, validated individual stories, enacted integrated rituals of care, and practised radical hospitality to protect the vulnerable. Findings reveal that these Gospel patterns anticipate core principles of modern trauma-informed practice and offer actionable insights for pastoral ministry. Building on this exegetical synthesis, the article develops a Gospel-rooted pastoral training model with modules on naming communal distress, cultivating empathic listening, designing holistic care rituals, and fostering safe, inclusive environments. This interdisciplinary approach not only deepens theological understandings of restoration but also equips faith communities to become true shelters for the shattered.