Understanding Healing

It is hoped that the following list of Biblical facts will help to provide greater understanding of God's provision of healing:

1. The source of healing is God

God said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you" (Exodus 15:26, NKJV, emphasis added).

2. God's healing nature was manifested on earth in the Person of Jesus Christ

The apostle Peter who had been a witness of the earthly ministry of Jesus described it this way:

"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38, emphasis added).

Notice we have all the three Persons of the Godhead mentioned in the above one verse. The two important things included in the earthly ministry of Jesus were: Doing good and healing all. So we can say that the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are united in the ministry of healing to sick humanity.

On the other hand the implication is that sickness is of the devil. Those who were healed were described as oppressed by the devil. God does not have any sickness or disease. If He has He must have got it from heaven and we all know there is neither evil nor sickness in heaven.

3. The Scripture says God makes healing available through His Word

"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions" (Psalm 107:19, 20).

When the people cried out to the Lord in their trouble, by His mercies, He did three things:

a. He saved them from their distresses.

b. He sent forth His Word and healed them.

c. He delivered them from the power of Satan.

4. The basis of all God's mercies, including healing, is what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

There is no other basis for the mercies of God but the atonement of Jesus on the cross - forgiveness of sins, healing of sicknesses and diseases, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gift of eternal life.

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it it written, 'Curse is everyone who hangs on a tree'), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13, 14).

Notice that the word "cross" in Hebrew is a tree. The escape from the curse of the Law and the qualifying for the blessing and the receiving of the Holy Spirit are made available to us on the basis of what Jesus suffered on the cross for us.

5. All God's provision for His people is administered by the Holy Spirit

Jesus said, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:13, 14).

All that the Father has He shares with the Son and so both of them together owned all the wealth of the universe. But the Holy Spirit is the administrator. So if you want to enter into the riches of God you have to make friend with the Holy Spirit. You cannot bypass the Holy Spirit and get anything form God.

6. The way to receive what God Has for you comes from hearing God's Word

Paul said, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

If you do not have faith you can get it by hearing God's woice - hearing is the key. One of the important things about hearing God's voice is laying aside your preconception about the Scripture.

Healing before the Cross and healing after the Cross

Even though God is the source of all healing there is a big difference in how healing is administered by Jesus and received by people before and after the cross. In other words there are important differences in the healing ministry of Jesus before and after the cross.

All the four gospel writers recorded Jesus taught His disciples how to pray but never once did He teach any one of them how to heal the sick! Careful sturdy of the Gospel clearly shows that Jesus alone was anointed to heal the sick. The disciples needed authority from Jesus first before they were sent out to cast out demons and heal the sick. The following sections will make this clear.

Healing before the Cross

Biblical facts concerning Jesus' healing ministry:

1. A principle of Jesus' healing ministry

Most people have the preconceived idea that Jesus just healed anybody at any time that a person came to Him. Every now and then He did that but it was very much the exception. More than 90% of all His dealing was done in a time and in a place of His choosing. And the people who sought healing had to follow Him to that place. Sometimes they had to go two or three days before they came to the place where He had determined to minister healing. But when He began to minister then He ministered to all of them.

I wondered why those people who were healed by Jesus seemed to have so much faith. I then come to realize one thing - The people without faith were dropped out by the way!

Let us look at some Scripture passages found in the Gospel according to Matthew:

A. "But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all" (Matt. 12:15, emphasis added).

Jesus withdrew from the place where the Pharisees plotted against Him.

B. "Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, mained, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them" (Matt. 15:29, 30, emphasis added).

Notice all those people - the lame, blind, mute, mained were only got healed by Jesus when they followed Him to the mountain. They were truly desperate as they went up the mountain with great difficulties! They were crying out to Jesus in their hearts just as what the psalmist said:

"All my springs are in you" (Ps. 87:7). If Jesus failed them they had no other source of healing to turn to!

C. "Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there" (Matt. 19:1, 2, emphasis added).

So we see, from the above three different occasions, a principle of the healing ministry of Jesus is revealed. The principle is - Jesus wanted the people to have faith in Him. He wanted them to follow Him, even on a long journey and up the mountain to build up their faith, before he healed them all.

2. Jesus did not heal the same sickness with the same method

A. The healing of a blind beggar

"So Jesus stood still and commanded him (the blind beggar) to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' He said, 'Lord, that I may receive my sight.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sight; your faith has made you well'" (Luke 18:40 - 42).

B. The healing of a blind man at Bethsaida

"So He took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, 'I see men like trees, walking.' Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly" (Mark 8:23 - 25).

C. The healing of a deaf mute

"And He took him (a deaf mute) aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched hs tongue. Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly" (Mark 7:33, 35).

D. The healing of a mute man

"As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke" (Matt. 9:32, 33).

Now, why did Jesus used different methods to heal the blind and the mute?

As we have seen the source of healing is God and Jesus was obedient to God and He ministered healing according to the way God the Father wanted Him to do.

Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:19, NKJV).

3. Jesus' disciples could not minister healing until and unless Jesus gave them the authority

A. The healing of Peter's mother-in-law

"Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them" (Luke 4:38, 39, emphasis added).

If Peter and any of the disciples could minister healing they would not have to call for Jesus.

B. Power and authority given to the twelve

"Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick" (Luke 9:1, 2).

Obviously without power and authority the disciples would not be able to cast out demons and heal the sick.

Healing after the Cross

Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus, the sin-bearing Servant in Isaiah 53. This passage of Scripture clearly says that both salvation and healing are provided for all by the redemption of Christ. Let us pick up the verses pertaining to healing:

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4, 5, NKJV, emphasis added).

Peter echoed what Isaiah said in 1 Peter 2:24. Notice the word "healed" is in the past tense signifying that we are already healed as soon as we are born again. And if we were not well we are made well when we are saved. And so the question is not whether Jesus will heal us or not but rather whether we are capable of receiving the healing that the Bible speaks about!

The healing ministry of Peter

We have seen that healing ministry was not opened to the disciples before the Cross. But after Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit Peter and the other apostles were given the healing ministry.

Let us take a look at the healing of a lame man as recorded in Acts 3.

Peter said to the lame man, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).

Another miracle of healing manifested through Peter is recorded in Acts 5.

"And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them" (Acts 5:14, 15).

Obviously Peter did not copy any of the healing methods of Jesus. If he had he might not have been sucessful. If Jesus did not teach Peter how to heal then who taught him?

Conclusion

After Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, healing ministry are given to all Christians and not just the apostles. But why are we not as effective as the apostles and many people are not able to receive healing?

There is a God-given principle behind the ministy of healing and it is our interest to search out. Basically this principle is not to follow somebody else's example or to copy what someone else is doing in praying for the healing. We are never called to follow the healing methods of Jesus. As I have said it depends entirely on the leading of the Holy Spirit - The Admistrator of the provisions of God, including healing!