Healing

Throughout the New Testament, we find that Jesus had a three-fold ministry.  The first was preaching and teaching, the second was healing the sick, and the third was casting out demons.  It is my wonderful privilege to share what the Scriptures declare: that Jesus is our Healer!  In Luke 4:18, Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”.  We find in this passage of Scripture that Jesus was anointed to bring deliverance, healing, and recovery.  In Acts 10:38, we read “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil…”  Jesus’ heart was toward the sick.  I believe that He and the Father saw that the world was suffering not only from sin, but from the effect of sin – sickness.  The Godhead had never planned that man should be sick.  He was made in the image of God and God has never been and never will be sick.  As Jesus walked throughout His ministry, He laid hands on the sick, spoke the Word to them, put mud on blind eyes, and told lame men to rise and walk.  Jesus’ call to us today is to rise and walk, to be healed and to be whole.

Wherever Jesus went, He encountered religious dogmatism which rejected His healing power.  Multitudes of the common people ran desperately after Him, searching for healing, for they could not find it in the synagogues nor could they receive it from the Chief Priests and Elders.  Jesus’ problem was never with the common people.  It was always with the leadership of His day, the Pharisees, elders, and chief priests.  They were the ones resisting Him, time and time again.  Sadly, it is the same today.  Far too many leaders reject the obvious Scriptural doctrine of healing. 

In Mark chapter 3, Jesus entered a synagogue and found a man with a withered hand.  The Pharisees, Scribes, and Chief Priests watched Him to see whether He would heal the man on the Sabbath day.  Even though Jesus was in the midst of something religious, with religious people surrounding Him, on a religious day, the man still had a withered hand.  It must have been hard for the Son of God to endure such hypocrisy, for where else should a man look for healing but in the house of God and from God’s people.  Jesus told him to stand forth in the midst of the people and He healed him.  The Pharisees were furious and began to search for a way to destroy Jesus.  Nothing could grieve a loving heart more than what Jesus encountered.  It is unreasonable to deny God’s will concerning healing.  How many people suffer needlessly because of men who don’t or refuse to believe the Bible?  We must stay away from those blind leaders of the blind or else we will fall into a ditch. 

Jesus was called to bring deliverance to the captives.  In Luke 13, we find this story, “¹¹And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. ¹²And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. ¹³And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God…¹⁶And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?”  In this passage of Scripture, Jesus’ words “ought not” shows that He believed she should have been healed and because His heart is filled with goodness, love, and concern for His people’s welfare, He healed her.  Jesus is a good God.  He loves us and knows that the devil is out to kill, steal, and destroy God’s people with sickness (John 10:10 – “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”)  Jesus set Himself apart and as the opposite of our enemy, Satan.  The devil brings sickness.  Jesus brings healing and deliverance.  This battle has been waged from the beginning.  Jesus came to give abundant life.   He came to save, heal, deliver, and restore His people.

No one ever had to plead very long with Jesus before He ministered healing to them.  He was instant in season.  As soon as they asked He was ready to go and deliver.  The first half of Matthew 8 is an example of a day in the life of the Lord Jesus.  From morning until evening, He was Jesus the Healer.  The most touching story in all the New Testament healing accounts is this one found in Matthew 8:2-4, “²And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ³And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed…”  A leper, who shouldn’t have even been in the crowd, came worshipping.  You know that it took a lot for this unwanted leper to fight his way through the crowd, knowing he would have been severely punished for being there.  He said something to Jesus that most of us have said at one time or another.  He said, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean”.  What went on in the mind and heart of the Immaculate Son of God, we do not know.  The Scriptures do not say.  But I believe that Jesus’ heart was smitten with compassion as He looked upon that awful sight called a human being.  He was so moved that before He could speak, He put forth His hand and touched Him, releasing virtue (power) from within, and after He had touched him, He said, “I will, be thou clean”, and immediately, the leprosy was gone and another man was free and made whole!  I think that this speaks clearly about the Lord’s will concerning healing, for in verse 7 immediately following the first passage, a centurion beseeches Jesus to come heal his servant stricken with palsy, grievously tormented.  Once again, Jesus immediate response was, “I will”.

Jesus loved bringing health, goodness, deliverance to people, and I might add, He’s the God that does not change (Malachi 3:6). Hebrews 13:8 declares, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”  He is still doing it, even to this present hour and He does it despite the erroneous teaching that all the gifts and power of God died when the last apostle John died.  We must understand that this is a man-made doctrine and it doesn’t hold up in the light of a thorough searching of the Scriptures. 

In verse 14 of Matthew 8, it seems to be the afternoon.  Jesus has spent the entire morning healing the sick.  Upon entering Peter’s house, He finds Peter’s mother-in-law sick with a fever. He doesn’t even speak, healing is such a way of life with Him.  He just touches her hand and the fever leaves.  She arose and ministered to them, probably fixed them lunch.  The very next verses in Matthew 8, verses 16-17 it says “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

Jesus healed morning, noon and at night.  Of all the wonderful Scriptures concerning healing in Jesus’ ministry, I have selected just a few.  But that which I have selected should help all of us see how wonderful, kind, loving, merciful, and gracious our Jesus is.  Sickness must flee at His Word.  Demons of torment must stop oppressing as He commands them to go.  The Lord never turned away anyone searching for His healing power and neither does He turn them away now.  His healing hands, His back full of stripes, always beckons to us.  The words still ring in the air from that time down through the ages to our time, expressing His heart, “I will, be thou clean”.

My prayer is that now when we pray, there should be no question in our hearts or minds concerning God’s will concerning healing.  I think for most of us the truth is, we must certainly believe He can heal, or that He is able, but is He willing? The answer is yes!  Let there be no mistake as we consider Jesus’ ministry of healing, that it was God the Father healing as well.  Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me” (John 9:4), as well as “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9), and “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” (John 5:19).  Jesus also said, “I do always those things that please him.” (John 8:29).    Jesus is the “express image” of the Father (Hebrews 1:3).  He is the part of the Godhead that represents their will.  So from now on, we should know because the Scriptures declare it so, that God’s will is for us to be healed.  He is not only able, He is willing!  This is just another marvelous aspect of our great God’s character.  When we pray, meditate, and consider Him, let this true Biblical image of “God our healer” resound in our hearts.