...and He healed them all
Posted On Sunday, March 9, 2008 at at 11:00 AM by Sidharth
By Sidharth Mohandas
The Two-Fold Atonement
"Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment]
But He [Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." [Isaiah 53:4-5]
The Atonement of Jesus is two-fold: He paid for all our iniquities and He paid for all sickness. This verse is absolutely Universal.
"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons ALL your iniquities, Who heals ALL your diseases" [Psalms 103:2-3]
I'm glad David in the above verse didn't say "my" iniquities and "my" diseases. Or else we'd have some come up with a teaching that the promise was only to him. On the contrary, this reaffirms that God wants our sins forgiven and diseases healed.
In this article I wish to deal with the second half of the Atonement: Healing.
Our example: Jesus' Ministry
There is not a single place in all Scripture where we find Jesus refusing to heal the sick or the diseased while He walked on earth. Let's examine how Jesus met with infirmities of the body:
"And Jesus went about in all Galilee...healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people." [Mat 4:23]
"And the report of Him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto Him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them." [ Mat 4:24]
"And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick" [Mat 8:17]
"Jesus went about all the cities and the villages...healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness." [Matt 9:39]
"many followed him; and He healed them all" [Matt 12:15]
"there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at this feet; and He healed them" [Matt 15:30]
"great multitudes followed him; and He healed them there" [Matt 19:2]
Authority to Heal
I have studied the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of His disciples, I have also analyzed their response to the sick and do you know what I found out? There was not one instance where either Jesus or His disciples asked God to heal the sick. I had written an article on this earlier, but I think I'll explain it again. You can't ask God for something He has already given. God has delegated each of us the authority to heal or in order to avoid controversy, let me put it this way...He has given you and me the authority to impart healing to the sick.
"And He [Jesus] called unto Him His twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness."[Matt 10:1]
"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give." [Matt 10:8]
Let's consider what Peter's response to the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate: "Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." [Acts 3:6]
God has freely given us healing, and therefore it is wrong to ask Him to heal someone or ask Him why He won't heal someone. Have you ever seen Jesus asking God to heal or pleading with God? Did Peter and John plead for healing in the above Scripture? No! They took authority and commanded. We are in command in this area of healing, friends. Stop all your pleading and go by Constitutional rights and exercise your authority over the works of the devil.
This is going to offend many religious people who think it's humility to ask God for healing than to command sickness to be healed. If this is so, you should ask God to cast out demons too, don't command them! The truth, I say again, God has given you the authority to heal just as much He has given you the authority to cast out demons!
If you're one who thinks God sometimes gives you sickness to teach you things, you're deceived. God is never in such a business. Satan alone is the author of sickness. However, God may allow sickness to come upon you, but again that is so that you can exercise your faith. Brethren, Your faith will be tried!
Requirement for Healing
Faith in action is the key to healing. Let me show you this from Scripture...There is one recorded instance where Christ could not heal, and there is one recorded instance where His disciples could not heal. Again notice, I did not say Christ would not heal. But let's examine Scripture and find out why Jesus could not heal...
"He[Jesus] could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith." [Mark 6:5-6]
"Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." [Mark 9:17-19]
In both these places, God never withholds healing. In the latter case, Jesus could have dismissed the case by talking like many religious people today... "God sometimes doesn't heal." Instead He said, "O unbelieving generation!". How many of us will hear those same words today from Jesus' mouth?
Again Jesus said this to His disciples before He ascended back to heaven...
"And these signs will accompany those who believe...they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." [Mark 16:17-18]
"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up" [James 5:15]
A person who is unsure whether the Lord will heal him or not, lacks faith. How can I say this? This is why: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for..." [Hebrews 11:1]. If you and I can't be sure about something we hope for, then it's not faith. The only way to have faith for healing is to be sure that you'll receive the healing you are hoping for.
Faith comes from...
If you want to receive faith for healing, go to the Word. Set aside words from other sources and agree with what the Word of God has said.
I was just talking to a friend of mine about the topic of healing and when I asked him why we see cases where people do not receive healing [Don't get me wrong, I've seen too many healed through laying on of hands], he said, "Lack of the Word". That's exactly what the problem among most Christians is today. God sent forth His Word and healed His people [Psalm 107:20]. How many of us are sure about what the Word has said? How many of us have aligned ourself to the Word?
My dear friends, through God's Word God has given you His authority. Take a look at Jesus' statement here:
Jesus said "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came..." [John 10:34]
God called men "gods" to whom His Word came. If you look into the context in Psalm 82:6 from where Jesus quotes this Scripture, you will find that God was speaking to those whom He had given authority to rule and judge. These men had received God-kind of authority. And that's what we who believe in God's Son are given too!
Can you look at a crippled man and say, "Such as I have give I thee"? Or would you conduct a prayer meeting for that crippled man there?
[Continued...]
The Two-Fold Atonement
"Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment]
But He [Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." [Isaiah 53:4-5]
The Atonement of Jesus is two-fold: He paid for all our iniquities and He paid for all sickness. This verse is absolutely Universal.
"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons ALL your iniquities, Who heals ALL your diseases" [Psalms 103:2-3]
I'm glad David in the above verse didn't say "my" iniquities and "my" diseases. Or else we'd have some come up with a teaching that the promise was only to him. On the contrary, this reaffirms that God wants our sins forgiven and diseases healed.
In this article I wish to deal with the second half of the Atonement: Healing.
Our example: Jesus' Ministry
There is not a single place in all Scripture where we find Jesus refusing to heal the sick or the diseased while He walked on earth. Let's examine how Jesus met with infirmities of the body:
"And Jesus went about in all Galilee...healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people." [Mat 4:23]
"And the report of Him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto Him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them." [ Mat 4:24]
"And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick" [Mat 8:17]
"Jesus went about all the cities and the villages...healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness." [Matt 9:39]
"many followed him; and He healed them all" [Matt 12:15]
"there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at this feet; and He healed them" [Matt 15:30]
"great multitudes followed him; and He healed them there" [Matt 19:2]
Authority to Heal
I have studied the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of His disciples, I have also analyzed their response to the sick and do you know what I found out? There was not one instance where either Jesus or His disciples asked God to heal the sick. I had written an article on this earlier, but I think I'll explain it again. You can't ask God for something He has already given. God has delegated each of us the authority to heal or in order to avoid controversy, let me put it this way...He has given you and me the authority to impart healing to the sick.
"And He [Jesus] called unto Him His twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness."[Matt 10:1]
"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give." [Matt 10:8]
Let's consider what Peter's response to the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate: "Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." [Acts 3:6]
God has freely given us healing, and therefore it is wrong to ask Him to heal someone or ask Him why He won't heal someone. Have you ever seen Jesus asking God to heal or pleading with God? Did Peter and John plead for healing in the above Scripture? No! They took authority and commanded. We are in command in this area of healing, friends. Stop all your pleading and go by Constitutional rights and exercise your authority over the works of the devil.
This is going to offend many religious people who think it's humility to ask God for healing than to command sickness to be healed. If this is so, you should ask God to cast out demons too, don't command them! The truth, I say again, God has given you the authority to heal just as much He has given you the authority to cast out demons!
If you're one who thinks God sometimes gives you sickness to teach you things, you're deceived. God is never in such a business. Satan alone is the author of sickness. However, God may allow sickness to come upon you, but again that is so that you can exercise your faith. Brethren, Your faith will be tried!
Requirement for Healing
Faith in action is the key to healing. Let me show you this from Scripture...There is one recorded instance where Christ could not heal, and there is one recorded instance where His disciples could not heal. Again notice, I did not say Christ would not heal. But let's examine Scripture and find out why Jesus could not heal...
"He[Jesus] could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith." [Mark 6:5-6]
"Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." [Mark 9:17-19]
In both these places, God never withholds healing. In the latter case, Jesus could have dismissed the case by talking like many religious people today... "God sometimes doesn't heal." Instead He said, "O unbelieving generation!". How many of us will hear those same words today from Jesus' mouth?
Again Jesus said this to His disciples before He ascended back to heaven...
"And these signs will accompany those who believe...they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." [Mark 16:17-18]
"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up" [James 5:15]
A person who is unsure whether the Lord will heal him or not, lacks faith. How can I say this? This is why: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for..." [Hebrews 11:1]. If you and I can't be sure about something we hope for, then it's not faith. The only way to have faith for healing is to be sure that you'll receive the healing you are hoping for.
Faith comes from...
If you want to receive faith for healing, go to the Word. Set aside words from other sources and agree with what the Word of God has said.
I was just talking to a friend of mine about the topic of healing and when I asked him why we see cases where people do not receive healing [Don't get me wrong, I've seen too many healed through laying on of hands], he said, "Lack of the Word". That's exactly what the problem among most Christians is today. God sent forth His Word and healed His people [Psalm 107:20]. How many of us are sure about what the Word has said? How many of us have aligned ourself to the Word?
My dear friends, through God's Word God has given you His authority. Take a look at Jesus' statement here:
Jesus said "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came..." [John 10:34]
God called men "gods" to whom His Word came. If you look into the context in Psalm 82:6 from where Jesus quotes this Scripture, you will find that God was speaking to those whom He had given authority to rule and judge. These men had received God-kind of authority. And that's what we who believe in God's Son are given too!
Can you look at a crippled man and say, "Such as I have give I thee"? Or would you conduct a prayer meeting for that crippled man there?
[Continued...]
The word speaks for itself doesn't it?
Lord God, reveal the obstacles and hindrances which hinder your healing power from flowing. Increase our faith. Thank You for Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Lord God, we believe, help our unbelief! In Jesus' name, amen.
awesome awesome post siddu. Not one person can prove from scriptures that God is not willing to heal! And the compilation is perfect.
We might have seen a lot of cases where a person was not healed but let me ask you, does that deny the fact that Jesus heals. Absolutly not! You have a choice whether to meditate on what you experience or WHAT THE WORD SAYS!!! the choice is yours.
None of us doubt Jesus's willingness to heal. But we always doubt God's. Remember Jesus is the exact representation of God. Jesus is wiling because God is! If you were in a room with a dying friend, How many of you would agree that if Jesus walked into the room at that moment he wouldn't hesitate from healing him. i am sure nobody would. But see Jesus is living in our hearts right now through the precious Holy Spirit.
The body of Christ needs to really see that these things are so!
I can't seem to find an e-mail for you. I would love to speak with you further about checking out a site that I created. Maybe we could trade links. Please feel free to e-mail me to discuss.
Thanks.
JV
http://www.godsurfer.com
jeffv@godsurfer.com
A Great post Sidarth. I need to think a lot more about this. I do believe that Jesus bought our complete salvation on the cross and this includes our physical healing, but our salvation is something to be worked out and we do not see the fullness of the kingdom of God yet.
You said,
However, God may allow sickness to come upon you, but again that is so that you can exercise your faith.
I find this a very strange idea, that God would allow us to become sick so that we can exercise our faith to become well. However, I do think that like Job we can demonstrate faith in God's faithfulness and goodness when we suffer.
Dear Mike,
It is one thing to suffer for what Jesus paid for, and another thing to suffer for Christ.
Firstly....Job did not live in a time of fullness of grace and truth, where Christ came and paid for sins and sicknesses.... nor did he live when the prophetic voice was fulfilled, "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases..."
Second.....Ol' Job got healed once he had a revelation of who God was. He said, "I had only heard of You, but now I have seen You".
You and I need a greater revelatory knowledge of who God is....
Problems DO NOT come to teach us, [though you may learn something out of it], they come so that we can practice what has been taught.
For example, when you are tempted...do you expect God to say, "I want you to sin so that you learn something out of it". Now, many of us may learn to be humble when we fall, but does that mean that God wants us in sin or willed it? Never! He wants us to overcome sin.
Let's take an analogy: I buy a very costly suit for you. And you go around wearing the old rags you once had, will I get any credit for what I did?
Jesus paid for sins and sicknesses equally. Will He get any credit for what He did? Or are we going to follow tradition and thus suppress the truth about healing?
I know the truth about healing is alien to the many in the Body of Christ, but I do see a time when it will be restored and faith will rise for healing.
Sidharth
Our purpose in life is to be faithful with what God has set before us. Each second we are to choose God's will over sin and our flesh. That is our goal.
I believe that we can be healed. But I like what Sid said, "[problems] come so that we can practice what has been taught". I don't think that our goal should be perfect health - it should be God's work. Even Paul had a thorn in his side which he asked God to remove, but God said that his Grace was sufficient.
And to keep me from being puffed up and too much elated by the exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn ([a]a splinter) in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted. [2 corinthians 12:7]
And Job also suffered at the work of the enemy.
And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life. [Job. 2:6.]
These people were before and after Christ, yet God used what they went through for His God and the building up of Christians everywhere. Healing may or may not come - but that isn't our focus.
So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [[d]in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful [e]in divine strength).
If you are following the leading of the Holy Spirit, something as trivial to God's Power as healing will follow if it is his will.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ;)
Paul's Thorn was my next post.... =)
Study his "infirmity" with reference to 2 Cor 11 [or in other words in context], the Greek word used for "infirmity" and the usage of the term "thorn" in the Bible.... This will make it clear what Paul meant in 2 Cor 12 [again remember in reference to 2 Cor 11!]. God doesn't pay for healing and show favoritism.
Healing has been given already to all, just as much as forgiveness has been. Would you say, "sometimes forgiveness comes, sometimes forgiveness doesnt"? The Atonement covers sin and sickness.
"If you are following the leading of the Holy Spirit, something as trivial to God's Power as healing will follow if it is his will."- David
Question: Do you ask for Gods will concerning forgiveness when you sin?
If you don't, then this is absolutely applicable to the second half of the Atonement: Healing.
"Each second we are to choose God's will over sin and our flesh"
The purpose of God is that we walk in the center of His will- and that involves holiness and perfect health. Jesus is our example: He did suffer persecution and met with problems but he walked in the perfect will of God: perfect holiness and perfect health. And He also went about healing all who came to Him.
If you dont know Gods will for healing you. then how can you have faith? Re-read Requirement for Healing, Dave =)
Sidharth
Wow awesome post. I agree with you that God has given us the ability to impart healing and pray for healing. God wouldnt tell us to go pray for someone if he wasn't going to do something so why do we ask Him to do something lol.
I was gonna say something else but I forgot now. But great post I really enjoyed it and it reminded me some stuff.
Dear Sidharth;
I think I was led to find you today. I was looking at another person's blog and your name came up as a Christian living in Kerala India. It interested me because my husband has been trying to immigrate to Canada for 4 years and we want so much to meet in Kerala ASAP before he gets his visa. Also, 2 days ago another Christian lady from India wrote to me and told me that her mother was just diagnosed with nose cancer, and asked if I knew of anyplace on earth that would help her, so I contacted some doctors near her and some hospitals near her to see if they offer any charity care at all. I thought for sure the Muslims would, because charity is one of their 5 pillars of faith, but I got surprising letters from the Muslims, and the Sikhs and Hindus were even colder. So now I am back to the Christians. I guess they are a minority in India. I am praying for her healing, but I had a dream that someone went to her and laid hands on her head and healed her in the name of Jesus and she was converted, so I guess I need help to find a Christian full of faith, willing to go to Chennai, or lives in Chennai. Sorry this is so long, I could not find any way to email you. So it is not a coincidence that I found a Christian in India, one in Kerala, where my husband and I wish we were right now, and your profile said you were interested in cancer!!! A coincidence is God's way of saying "This was meant to be." Do you have any ideas of a few hospitals you could call to see if they would offer free chemo treatment, or find a very faith filled Christian who might heal this lady? I hope to hear from you soon. Your sister in Christ,
Bluebirdy