Healing

"Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared." (Matt. 8:2,3)

Wow! The subject of healing is just one of the many fascinating subjects the Bible deals with. And, just like anything else, everyone has an opinion. We like to think ours is Scriptural. Does God supernaturally heal today or was it just for the apostles and the "Bible times"? Hmmmmmmmm.....

Let's take the second part of the question first. The power and authority to heal was not just limited to the apostles, nor did it die out when they did. According to John 14:12

"...anyone who has faith in me will do what I've been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

Anyone who has faith has the power and authority to do what Jesus did...and more. There are those that may argue that Jesus was speaking to the apostles (who were disciples at the time), therefore the promise is limited to them.

If, in fact, it is true that the above statement was limited to the apostles, we're in big trouble. If that promise was limited to the apostles, how do we know that all the promises of salvation can apply to us? How do we know that wasn't limited to the apostles too? Besides, would He have said "anyone who has faith in me" if He was speaking only to the apostles?

Secondly,

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb. 13:8).

He's always the same! He doesn't change from one day to the next, giving us power and authority one day, and taking it all back the next.

Next, the Bible is the living Word. Just like Jesus, what the Bible said then and what it says now is the same... it means the same thing, it contains the same truths, and it's alive for each one of us, individually, who reads it. For instance:

"Suddenly a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. "Lord," the man said, "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean." Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed." And instantly his leprosy disappeared."

Bob came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean." Jesus reached out and touched Bob. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed."

Suzy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing..."
Jesus reached out and touched Suzy. "I am willing," he said.

Tom came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing..."

Starting to get the idea? :0)

Jesus has never, never turned away even one single person that honestly sought Him. Not in the Bible. Not in the centuries since. Not even one person. Not even one time. Not for healing. Not for salvation. Never.

It might be interesting to note that at the time the above words were spoken, Paul --still called Saul, at that time-- was a persecutor of the Jesus crowd. It wasn't until some time after the crucifixion that he had his Damascus road experience and became a believer. Yet Paul healed countless people! Clearly, he was not one of the apostles Jesus was speaking to when He spoke those words. Assuming that Jesus was speaking only to His disciples and that the power and authority was given only to them, how did Paul heal? Either the promise was limited to the disciples, or it was made to "anyone who has faith" in Jesus. You really can't have it both ways. That's cheating! :0)

Now, back to the first part of the question. Does God supernaturally heal today? Yes and no. It's really not meant to be a cop-out, but what we mean is this:

People are "healed" today by faith in the name of Jesus, but the actual healing was done on the cross!

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows..." (Isa. 53:4).

"...by his wounds we are healed." (Isa. 53:5).

Matthew 8:17 restates Isaiah 53:4. Jesus bore our sicknesses on the cross just like He bore our sins! We were healed when He died on the cross, taking our sins and our sicknesses back to where they came from.

You were not saved when you accepted Jesus as your Savior. You were saved when He died on the cross. You received your salvation when you accepted Jesus, but the salvation was given long before you were born. Same with healing. You were healed on the cross. Whether you have received it or not, only you can say.

What we actually experience today is not so much being healed, as it is taking authority over the sickness and casting it out. In fact, we believe it's safe to say that sickness is not a physical attack, as much as it is a spiritual attack that manifests itself in the physical body.

(Before we're misunderstood, that's not to imply that sick people are
demon possessed, by any means...that's not even close to the truth. Of course, they can be, but Job was not demon possessed, though he was afflicted by the devil. Satan threw some nasty stuff on Job that caused him to suffer greatly...but he was not demon possessed!)

So if we're all healed...or at least, if we have the authority to heal...why are so many sick?

There are probably as many answers to that as there are people. The truth is, I don't know. I do know this, though. We've been healed. There's so much to this thing, it can't all be addressed on a webpage, but here are some starters for you.

Lack of faith. A lot of people just don't believe in Jesus healing our sicknesses today. Or they believe he CAN heal, but their sickness serves some sort of divine purpose...like it's God's will or something. But, I wonder...

If those people really believe it's God's will for them to be sick, why in the world do they go to the doctor to try to get better??? Seems they'd want to stay sick to stay in God's will...

Another problem we have is that many of us don't know how to receive. We don't mind helping others in need, but we're embarrassed to ask for help for ourselves when we need it. We can do it on our own. Or maybe we don't deserve it. Be real! None of us deserve it! But he gives it freely anyway!

I suppose this ties in with lack of faith, but many of us choose to believe we're sick, as opposed to believing we're healed. Still another issue: some of us thrive on being sick...which sounds a little twisted, I know. But they crave the attention that comes with it...the sympathy, the fuss that's made, people trying to make them more comfortable, or just the ooh's and aah's for all the insurmountable obstacles they overcome everyday.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not making light of anyone's illness by any means. But we all know at least a couple of people that can't wait to tell you about the miseries they endure, along with all the details. At the same time, the hospitals and nursing homes are chock full of people that are a whole lot more in need.

Some of what we experience is demonic. In some instances, we should be casting out demons instead of asking for healing (Mark 9:17-22). Maybe we aren't patient enough sometimes. Daniel waited for an answer to his prayer for 21 days while the angel that was sent to bring that answer was wrestling with a demon (Dan. 10:13). Maybe sometimes we give up too quickly.

There are so many things we don't understand. There are many answers we'll likely never have in this life. But the one thing I DO know is this: Jesus heals. And when we don't experience healing the way we think we should, it's not HIS fault...it's ours.

Lack of faith. Lack of education or understanding. Lack of patience. I don't know what the answers are. But I know he heals. And I know it's not God's will for us to be sick. Who knows? Maybe one of the purposes for this website is to draw us together until we do find some answers.

Wouldn't that be an awesome thing!!!