OUR GOD HEALS!
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever received miraculous healing? I know many who read this will answer yes. In more than 30 years of ministry I’ve witnessed several documented healings and have personally received a healing touch from God. I unreservedly preach that divine healing is provided for in the atonement and is the privilege of all believers. In my mind, if God created human beings, then He has the power to intervene when disease and sickness attack that creation.
Luke’s gospel does not shy away from showing Jesus as a healer. His letter to Theophilus is filled with divine intervention in the lives of the suffering. Two powerful stories found in Luke 5:12-26 help us see the power of God to heal. But let’s start with an important question, “Where does sickness come from?
WHERE DOES SICKNESS AND DISEASE COME FROM?
Simply put, sickness and disease are a result of humankind’s disobedience to God. When God created Adam and Eve, He did so with perfection. They were never sick. They never experienced disease. As a matter of fact, they were never even meant to die.
But when they chose to rebel against God and do things their own way, sin entered the human existence. Sin ushered sickness and disease into our world. Sin brought both spiritual and physical death to us. All humanity lives under the curse of sin. What does that mean
Every foul thing that occurs on this planet is a result of man’s rebellion against God. Brokenness, slavery, sexual immorality, hate, prejudice, abuse, war, violence, and more are all a result of disobedience to God’s Law. This curse is the penalty or wages levied against you and I because of sin.
That’s the bad news, but here is the good news. Jesus Christ came to redeem us from the curse. He came to pay the penalty of sin and restore us to right relationship with God the Father.
CHRIST PAID THE PRICE TO LIFT THE CURSE OF SIN FROM US
When Jesus went to the Cross, He atoned for our sins. That is, Christ made it possible for us to be right with God. His atoning work provided two forms of healing available to all:
Spiritual healing
Physical healing
Isaiah 53 describes what Jesus accomplished at the Cross:
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed (Is 53:4-5).
There are two ways to read this verse. First, Christ heals the pain and suffering caused by rebellion against God (spiritual healing). Peter looks back to the Isaiah passage and summarized the promise of salvation in his pastoral letter:
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pt 2:24).
The context of this passage is healing from sin. However, Matthew 8:16-17 opens up the Isaiah passage in a different way:
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Mt 8:16-17)
So, Isaiah’s passage can also be read with physical healing in mind. The Apostle’s show us that CHRIST’S work at Calvary is so effective that it not only redeemed us from sin, but from its curse that brings sickness and disease into our lives. God, the healer of sickness and disease, for those in covenant with Him is not just a New Testament reality.
THE GOD WHO HEALS
One Old Testament description of God is Jehovah-Rapha (The God Who Heals). God’s healing activity in the Old Testament (OT) is clear:
5 times barren women are healed.
4 times God healed plagues brought on by sinful rebellion.
He healed Moses, Miriam, and Naaman the leper.
3 times God raised the dead.
In total the OT record 16 individual healing and 7 mass healings for a total of 23 separate accounts of healing. Is it any wonder the ancients described him as The God Who Heals? God’s healing brings restoration to the whole man: spirit, soul, and body. Just like God the Father, Jesus’s ministry is also characterized by spiritual and physical healing
JESUS HEALS
One out of every five verses in the New Testament point to physical healing. Luke’s gospel emphasizes the healing ministry of the Son of God. Luke 6:17-19 tells us that Christ healed all who came to hear him preach and cured those troubled with impure spirits. But Matthew’s gospel also put emphasis on Jesus’s restorative actions for the suffering and sick. Jesus went about:
“…healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Mt 4:23).
“…healing every disease and sickness” (Mt 9:35).
In addition, Jesus:
“…healed all who were sick” (Mt 12:15).“
…healed [all] their sick” (Mt 14:14 – emphasis for context).
His ministry is so marked by healing that, “People brought all their sick to him…and all who touched it [cloak] were healed” (Mt 14:34-36).
Healing is not just something Jesus did. When he sent out the 70 messengers in Luke 10:9 to preach the gospel, He tells them to, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.”
Let me be very plain. If you believe in Jesus, you can pray for the sick (even yourself) expecting God to heal. None of us possess the power to heal. What we have is the gift of faith that comes from God to call on Him to intervene on our behalf. This reality brings up some important questions for discussion.
HOW TO PRAY FOR THOSE WITH SICKNESS OR DISEASE?
Jesus never healed the same way twice. He did not speak a certain set of words or repeat a prescribed mantra. No! The only common elements we find in these instances of divine healing are compassion and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is moved by the plight of the infirmed and listens for direction from the Helper.
However, considering the whole New Testament teaching there are some elements of prayer for the sick and diseased to consider.
LAYING ON OF HANDS
Jesus held the spiritual power to speak one word and instantly heal everyone in a village or crowd. He doesn’t do this, instead Jesus laid his hands on every one of them and healed them (Lk 4:40). In Matthew 9:18 Jesus is asked by the father of daughter who just died “…come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”
ANOINTING WITH OIL
In other places the sick or diseased were anointed with oil when prayer is made for their healing. Mark 6:13 states, And they [the disciples] cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them (emphasis mine).
The Apostle James instructs believers in this manner.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (James 5:14-15).
Notice the connection of spiritual and physical healing? There is nothing magic or special about the oil! It’s just olive oil. It is a physical symbol of Holy Spirit but also a representation of our faith in the Holy Spirit to effectively work through our faith filled prayers.
The laying on of hands and anointing with oil are important, but there is one aspect of prayer for the sick that cannot be overlooked. There will be times when oil is unavailable to us. Sometimes distance will prevent us from laying hands on the suffering. Nevertheless, we can always pray with faith!
FAITH
When I talk about faith and prayer for the sick, I am referring to both the faith of the person who is sick and the person who is praying. James 5:14-15 informs us the elder’s prayer of faith is vital. Luke recounts the story of the paralyzed man being let down through the roof by friends. When Jesus saw their faith (that is the faith of the friends not just the paralytic) He honored that trust in God’s power to heal their friend (Lk 5:19). Other New Testament passages mention the faith of others when healing is needed:
The Canaanite woman for her daughters healing (Mt 15:18)
The Centurion for his servant (Mt 8:10-13)
Exercising our faith for others who are too sick to do it for themselves is crucial to loving those in the body of Christ.
There is also the faith of the person who is sick. Luke 8:48 famously records the story of the sick woman who pressed through the crowd just to touch Jesus. Her faith led to action and when she touched the hem of His garment, she received healing. Ten lepers are healed in Luke 17:19 and one comes to Jesus to say thanks. Jesus tells the former leper; your faith made you well.
Sometimes it’s our faith and sometimes it’s the faith of others that reaches out to God. But faith always points to trust in Jesus to heal and deliver (never to us or other human beings).
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