Jesus lived amongst us and God anointed him “with the Holy Spirit and power, and … he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38).
There is no mention there that only SOME people would be healed, He healed them ALL. He didn’t leave any sick saying that the sickness would develop their character and teach them patience. He didn’t say He would return later to heal them. He didn’t check their theological understanding of how He was going to heal.
He healed everyone who trusted Him to heal them, then and there! Jesus told us that it was His WILL for us to be healed and He was incredulous that so many people in His day and age were disbelieving of His power to heal (eg Mk 9: 19, 22-23, Matt. 8:2-3).
One of my favourite sections of Scripture is this: “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” (Matt. 8:16-17).
I love it because it clearly reveals that Jesus wants us healed in mind, body and spirit. The chapter in Isaiah that Matthew quoted shows that our salvation is inextricably linked to our physical healing.
“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. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 53:4-6)
We can’t separate healing from the covenant that Jesus made with each one of us for Jesus “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases” (Psa. 103:3). If our salvation was an outcome of the cross, so was our healing. This was the central message of my book, The Power You Have Available, and the message that I want all of my readers to comprehend and access. As readily as we pray for salvation we should pray for healing.
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 5:23).
Footnote: Regularly I get questioned about using doctors and I want to make it clear that I am not dismissing them. All I am saying is trust in God FIRST. To clarify, I will repeat the quote used by Mervyn T. Judge in a recent blog article:
“My child, when you are ill, do not delay, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you. Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly, and cleanse your heart from all sin. Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; do not let him leave you, for you need him” (Ecclus.38:9-10,12 RSV).
*Quotations from the NIV
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