07/20/2018
The act of Jesus healing and casting out demons is scripturally a rather mysterious process for us, but there are clues put forth in Matthew, and Isaiah that give us some insight into it. It is not mysterious as to whether it actually occurred or not, but rather, in how it was accomplished. When we have a child that is ill we often pray that if it were possible that God allow us to become sick in place of our ailing child. Did you know that in praying this way you are praying with scriptural backing... that you are asking (perhaps unknowingly) to be granted the power to heal as Jesus did?
“That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases."”
Matthew 8:16-17 ESV
In the Orthodox Jewish Bible this scripture in Isaiah (Yeshayah), which Matthew referred to here reads in the following way...
“Surely he hath borne our sufferings, and nasah (carried [Vayikra 16:22; Yeshayah 53:12)] our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, [i.e., like a leper is stricken] smitten of G-d, and afflicted [see verse 8 below].”
Yeshayah 53:4 OJB
There is one more thing that we know from scripture... that healing begins as a power which is granted of God. We know this because Jesus passed this authority to His twelve disciples...
“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.”
Matthew 10:1 ESV
In this passage Jesus gave this authority, and then sent them out to heal. We read this account, and believe it, but it doesn’t speak to exactly how they were to use this newly acquired power. Did they simply lay hands on the sick? Did they heal with a word? Did they pray over them? Did they take on the illnesses themselves? Did they heal in all of these ways, and perhaps others?
There seems to be a touch that goes with the process, and we read of it in many of the healing stories, but there is something more too. Listen to the account in Mark of Jesus healing of the leper...
“Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”
Mark 1:41-42 ESV
What did Jesus mean when He said “I will be clean”? Was He merely pronouncing this man to to be healed and clean, as several commentaries suppose? Was he healing him before the touch so that He remained clean himself, as other commentaries presume? Or, was he actually taking the illness of this man into His own perfect body, in which it could not exist. Jesus didn’t say “YOU will be clean” but rather “I will be clean.”
Stick with me here... let’s assume for a moment that as Jesus healed He took on the illness of the person He was healing. Wouldn’t this imply that He also took on the suffering that came with it? If that is true, then being given the power to heal carries with it the need for great courage, compassion, and an immense love and faith... even if that suffering was for a brief instant. If that is true, did Jesus take into Himself the death and disease of Lazarus as He raised him from the dead? Think of the implication.
Understanding healing in this way makes it a foreshadowing, a preview, or a reflection, of what was about to occur on the cross. Jesus was preparing to take on the sins of the world, and in His healings He was announcing its coming. Does the thought of this thrill you? Does it mean that in healing today, the healer experiences a bit of how Jesus felt on the cross? Just as each person who takes communion remembers Jesus, does a healer feel a touch of Christ’s suffering as he heals?
If healing a sick person who was dying of cancer meant that you had to take that cancer into your own body... would you be willing to do so? Maybe for one of your children, but what about for a perfect stranger, how about a filthy beggar dressed in rags who was lying on the roadside moaning in pain, and struggling for every breath? Would you be willing to take his unknown infirmities into your body so that he could be healed? Would you be willing to take his pain; even for a minute? Could you love him enough to do this? Thankfully Jesus still heals.
We don’t know the exact way in which Jesus healed, other than to know it was a power that He had been given, and what we can glean from the various Bible stories we read. We debate the process, and yet, even as we do, there are healings being performed all around us today, and they are evidence that Jesus continues to heal...
“And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed." And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.”
Acts 9:34-35 ESV
So if Jesus takes our sickness into His own body, that still occurs today and we don’t have to. If Jesus experienced the suffering of the sick and lame, that still happens today, and we don’t have to. If Jesus took on the death of Lazarus, he still does that today, so we don’t have to experience that ourselves. We pray and ask in the name of Jesus, and in His name miracles continue to occur, and perhaps He suffers the pain of healing for us even to this day.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ in whose name we are provided for, and healed. I thank you for the mystery of His healing touch, and for the very name of Jesus Christ in which we can ask for these things, and receive them today from you. Thank you for your mercy and grace Holy Father, and thank you for the ebbing of our suffering as it is taken from us, and placed in your Son... the lamb of God. There are many who are sick and suffering around us Lord; hear our prayers, and heal them in the name of Jesus. Give us the faith to call confidently upon His name, and may your will be the purveyor of your promise, and at the heart of our prayers. Thank you for the cross, for Jesus who hung there, and for the defeat of the sins of the world that rushed onto Calvary that day. Encourage us in faith each and every day Father as we see the healings performed in your Son’s name, and know that by His stripes, His suffering, we are healed. Praised be your name, and Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, from whom all power and healing flows.
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."”
Acts 4:29-30 ESV
Rich Forbes