Category: Heal the Sick

Mark 1:40-45
40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed
43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once,
44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

See also Matthew 8:2-4 and Luke 5:12-15

The leper came in faith the Jesus could heal him, but he did not seem to be in faith that Jesus would heal him.

This reminds me of many prayers I have prayed before (and I am sure that I am not alone in this).  I believed that God could heal people, but I didn’t want to presume that He wanted to.

The prayer would go something like this: “Please heal John Doe, if it is your will. Amen.”

That is the way that this leper came to Jesus. He said “if you are willing, You can make me clean.”  He believed in the ability of Jesus to heal, but he questioned His willingness to use it.

Jesus wasn’t mad about this.  Instead, look at the simple reply. Jesus said “I am willing.”

The Greek word that is translated “willing” gives some additional light to this:

WILLING
Greek = thelo = Strong’s 2309

1) to will, have in mind, intend
1a) to be resolved or determined, to purpose
1b) to desire, to wish
1c) to love
1c1) to like to do a thing, be fond of doing
1d) to take delight in, have pleasure

Jesus made it clear that healing this man is something he would very much like to do.  It’s not like Jesus said “well…ok, but just this once.”  It was more like “I would love to!”  This attitude toward healing that Jesus displays here is consistent in all other examples we have listed in the four gospels.  He is willing to minister healing.  That is something to keep in mind when you have the opportunity to minister healing to others.

Let your faith toward Jesus and your opinion of His nature be in harmony with what the bible says about Him.  You are not being presumptuous if you believe God wants to heal.  Read about Jesus in the four Gospels to see if God wants to heal.  Jesus always healed the people that came to Him, and He was always doing the will of the Father (John 5:19).

Jesus was willing to heal, and he still is.

PS. Jesus “strictly warned” this man not to tell anyone what happened, but to go do what the Law required.  If we assume that Jesus meant what He said, then we cannot say that the primary purpose of healing this man was to spread the gospel.  God can heal you just because He is compassionate.   God is good :)

Jesus said “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

Jesus also said “I always do things that please the Father.” (John 8:29)

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father (Hebrews 1:3)

Jesus came to reveal the Father to us…to make Him known to us…to show us what He is like.  Based on the three passages above (along with many others), I believe that we can look at the life of Jesus to learn some things about the character and nature of God, and get to know Him better.  We can learn how God the Father feels about different subjects.  We can see what it looks like for the Father’s will to be demonstrated and obeyed perfectly on the earth.

Those are some general statements, and now I would like to be more specific. Let us view the actions and attitudes of Jesus during His time on earth in a physical body to get a view of how God our Father feels about sickness, disease, and other physical ailments.

Acts 10:38 – 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.

Matthew 8:2-3 – And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 8:5-6 – Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

Luke 9:10-11 – And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

Matthew 14:14 – And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Luke 4:40 – When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

Matthew 4:24 – And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

For many more examples just like these, you can read through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, looking for instances where people approached Jesus that needed to be healed.  You won’t find any cases of a person coming to Him in need of healing, and going away without being healed.

But don’t just take my word for it.  Read it and study it yourself.  See what you find.  When I read about Jesus in the bible, I see him having compassion on sick people, and ministering healing to them.  Healing was a large part of what He did, and it was always included in the instructions whenever He sent out people to represent Him.

In John 5:19, He says this: “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.”

Jesus was doing what His Father showed Him to do.  All of these times that Jesus was healing people, it was the will of God the Father being acted out by God the Son…Jesus.  It was God’s will to heal people.  If we go by the accounts provided to us in the four Gospels, it looks like it is ALWAYS God’s will to heal people, because that’s what we see Jesus doing.

Are there exceptions to this?  Are there times where God’s will is for the person to remain in their sickness?  Read the Gospels and find out for yourself.

(NOTE: If you are thinking about Paul’s thorn right now as an exception, it isn’t.  Click here to read about it.)

There is only one place that I’m aware of the Gospels where people didn’t get healed by Jesus.  But in the story it wasn’t because he wasn’t willing to do it, it was because the people wanted nothing to do with him, and so they wouldn’t allow him to minister to them.

Mark 6:5-6 – Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

Notice that is says he “could” do no mighty works there.  It doesn’t say that he “would” do no mighty works.  The implication is that He was willing, but the people were not interested because of their unbelief.  If you read the surrounding verses for context, you will see that they were offended at Him, and basically wanted nothing to do with Him.  In spite of all this, He still healed a “few sick people.” He can still heal people even when there is unbelief around. Just come to Him.

(A note on the word “unbelief” in this passage: This is not the Greek word for doubt, or for little faith.  It means “faith in reverse” or “believe against.”  These were not Christians who were struggling with doubt.  These were people who “believed against” Jesus and wanted Him to go away.  In spite of this, He still healed some of them.)

So, if we look at Jesus as an accurate representation of the character and nature of God the Father, then we have to conclude that healing is a big part of it.  Healing is part of God’s character and nature.  It is a part of who He is.  He is a healer.

In Genesis chapters 1 and 2, we are told that God made earth, and He made the first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve).  Here are a few passages that tell us what life was like at that time in human history:

Genesis 1:27-31

God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.  And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.” It was so.

God saw all that he had made – and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Chapter two gives us more details of the creation of man from chapter one.

Genesis 2:8-17

The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)

Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams.  The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.   (The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there).   The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through the entire land of Cush.  The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.   Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

Up this point, sin had not entered the world, and there is no mention of Satan having any influence.  Everything is wonderful.  There was no sickness or disease or death, and there was no lack (there was an entire planet’s worth of resources, and only two people to use it).  With everything in this state, God said that it was “good.”

Then, in chapter 3, we have the story of the serpent deceiving Eve, and then Adam making his decision to join Eve and disobey God.

Genesis 3:1-7

Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’”

The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

At this point in our history, life on earth changed.  Originally, man was free from sickness, sin and death.  He had unhindered fellowship with God, and God had put him in charge of the earth.  But from this day forward, death enters the world, along with increasing amounts of sickness, sin, famine, and poverty.  Satan has also usurped man’s role as ruler of the earth (John 12:31, 1 John 5:19, Ephesians 2:2) and we get to see the results of his activities in the world around us from then until now.

If we fast forward, and look into what we know about the future, we see in the last few chapters of the book of Revelation that Satan will be removed from his current role, and cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).  After this everything goes back to being wonderful again.  There is no more sickness, no more death, no more poverty, no more sin, etc.

So, to summarize…

• Before Satan gained influence in the earth, there was no sickness or sin.
• After Satan’s influence is removed in the future, there will be no sickness or sin.

Sickness entered our world when man gave in to Satan’s influence and committed the first sin.  I have heard it said this way: “Sickness is the foul offspring of its father, Satan, and its mother, sin.”  This is the source of sickness.  This is where it came from.

I am not saying that every sickness is directly caused by Satan, or that every sickness is the direct result of a personal sin.  What I am saying is that without Satan and sin, we would not be dealing with sickness.  It would not be a part of life for us.

So, what should we do about it?

It is always wise to look at Jesus to find an example of how to think and act.  Did Jesus do anything about sickness and disease?  If so, what did he do?  What did that look like?

Acts 10:38 – 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.

1 John 3:8b – For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.

John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Matthew 4:24 – Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.

Matthew 8:16 – When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick…

Matthew 12:15b – …And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all

Luke 6:19 – And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all

When Jesus encountered sickness and disease, He would remove it from the afflicted person.  He healed all that came to Him.  Then He sent out people to represent him, and He gave them power and authority to do the same thing (Luke 9:1-2).  Then He sent out more people in the same way (Luke 10:1,9).  Then He told all of His followers to keep doing these same things, and to make disciples and train them to do the same things they were doing (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:17-20).

Sickness is a result of the influence of sin and Satan in our physical world.  Jesus gave us power and authority to do something about it, and we are to do it the same way He did.

 

When studying the Bible, you can find some great truths if you examine the passages where a subject is first mentioned.  That concept is the basis for this article.  We are going to look at the first time divine healing is mentioned in the Bible.  It is found in Genesis chapter 20.  Here’s a link to it on Bible Gateway.

Here is a brief background of the story, followed by a short summary of the story.

• Abraham is married to Sarah.
• Sarah is a very attractive woman.
• Abraham is afraid of someone harming him in order to take his wife.
• On several occasions, he asks Sarah to lie and say she is his sister.

As strange and awful as that sounds, that is backdrop for this story.  Now on to the actual story.

In Genesis 20, Abraham and Sarah journey to a city named Gerar. The king of this city is named Abimilech.  Abimilech finds out about Sarah somehow, and he takes her to be in his harem.

Before Abimilech is able to have relations with Sarah, God warns him in a dream that she is Abraham’s wife. God makes it clear that it is in Abimilech’s best interest to return her to her husband Abraham, because some bad stuff is going to happen if he doesn’t. In fact, he’s going to die, and the women in his land are no longer able to have children!

So, Abimilech returns Sarah to Abraham. Then Abraham prays for healing for Abimilech and everybody else, and God heals them all.

That’s it for the summary.  It is a strange story that does not go the way most of us think it should go.

Now I want to identify some principles based on this story that carry on throughout the Bible and on into the present day.

1 – God works through people.

In the story, nobody got healed until Abraham prayed for healing.  Abraham was cooperating with God to bring about God’s will.  This very frequently the way that miracles work throughout the Bible.  God works through human beings to release, exercise, or manifest His power in the tangible, physical realm.  God desires to do miracles through us, but we have to be willing to do our part and cooperate by taking steps of faith.

2 – God works through flawed people.

Abraham is the one at fault here.  He lied and caused this whole problem.  Yet, Abraham is the first person that God works through to demonstrate healing power.  Abraham was dishonest, but he was the one that ministered healing.  This shows us that our ability to avoid sin is not a prerequisite to operate in divine healing.  Sin does not stop God’s power.  God is bigger than our sins.

Sin is bad, don’t get me wrong.  But, don’t fall for the temptation to think that God won’t use you because you aren’t good enough.  Divine healing is based on God’s divine goodness, not your human goodness.  This is huge, and it is the main point I want to get across in this article.  Don’t just read past this fact. Let it take root.  God works through flawed people.  That’s all He has to choose from.

3 – The person that is ministering healing may be in need of a miracle as well.

At the time this story took place, Abraham and Sarah were childless.  They were not able to have children.  But, part of the healing that God ministered in this story was restoring the ability of the women in Gerar to conceive.

If you are fighting some kind of physical condition, don’t let that be a roadblock that keeps you from stepping out in faith and ministering to others.  100% perfect health is not a prerequisite to be used in divine healing.  Don’t disqualify yourself, and don’t disqualify others, just because you (or they) are currently in a struggle with a sickness.

4 – Although the healing may be instant, the physical evidence may show up later.

Part of the healing that took place in this story was the restoration of the ability of the women to conceive.  Because of the nature of the healing, it would be a while before they could tell for sure what happened.  They were totally healed immediately, but they would have no physical evidence until they became pregnant.

Sometimes an action is required on the part of the “patient” in order to fully demonstrate the complete healing.  In this case, each woman would have to have relations with her husband, and then some time would have to pass before they would have some kind of physical proof that the healing was real.

5 – God does things differently than we do.

I think most of us would expect some kind of punishment for Abraham. It seems like the wrong guy is getting in trouble (Abimilech).

Abilich is not innocent according to our modern moral standards, but it seems like Abraham’s dishonesty is the the real cause of all the trouble.  If he would have been truthful, then maybe this whole situation could have been avoided.

But, if you go back a few years in Abraham’s history, back to Genesis 12, you will find that God made a promise to Abraham.  God said “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.”  God is simply keeping His promise here.  This promise wasn’t conditional on Abraham’s moral behavior.  It was based on the fact that Abraham believed what God said.

This is much like the promise we have from God.  If we will believe the gospel of Jesus, then He will not count any of our sins against us (past, present, or future), He will adopt us into His own family, give us eternal life, and make us a co-heir with Jesus.  And just like the promise to Abraham, this is not dependent on our ability or inability to keep a code of ethics . It is dependent on whether or not we believe what God said about His Son.

The main point of this article is to make a point that is so simple, it almost sounds silly.  The point is this:  if Jesus tells you to do something, then you should assume that it is His will for you to do it.  For example, if He tells you to love your neighbor as yourself, then you should never have to wonder if it is God’s will for you to love your neighbor.

Now that you already know where we are going in this article, please join me as we examine some facts that will show us God’s will concerning healing the sick.

In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we get to see Jesus walking the earth and ministering to people.  And although we see Him doing a variety of things, most of His ministry can be grouped into three main activities.

1 – Preaching and/or teaching about the Gospel of the Kingdom

2 – Healing people

3 – Casting demons out of people

There are several verses that provide a nice summary for us.  Here are a few examples:

Matthew 4:23 – And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Matthew 8:16 – When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon–possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,

Matthew 9:35 – Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Mark 1:39 – And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.

Acts 10:38 – God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him.

Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, healed sick people, and cast out demons.  Those activities were a regular part of His ministry.  If you lived around 30 A.D., and you wanted to see Jesus, this is what you would see….preaching, healing, and casting out demons.  This is what it looked like when He was ministering.  This is how He spent His time.

Then, at a certain point in His ministry, He began sending out groups of people to act as His representatives.  The Bible shows us three times where He did this:

1 – Sending out “the twelve”

2 – Sending out “the seventy”

3 – Sending out all believers (aka the Great Commission)

We will now look at these three events, read about what Jesus said and did, and we will find that His will concerning healing will become very clear, plain, and obvious to us.

Sending out “the twelve”

Luke 9:1-2 – 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.

Jesus is selected a group of 12 men to acts as His representatives.  He gave them specific instructions on how He wanted to be represented.  He wanted His representatives to do exactly what He had been doing.  And He gave them power and authority to complete their mission successfully, and then He sent them out.

Their mission included three main activities:

1 – Preach about the Gospel of the Kingdom

2 – Heal people

3 – Cast demons out of people

Notice that Jesus sent them to “heal the sick.”  If you were going to represent Jesus, then healing was going to be a big part of what you were doing.

So, take a moment right now and put yourself in the position of one of these disciples.  Jesus gives you power and authority, and He tells you go to the neighboring towns and tell them about the Kingdom of God, and He tells you to heal any sick people you come across.  Your job is to believe what He said, and trust that the Holy Spirit is going bring His power and enable you to do what He told you to do.

Now suppose that you come across a sick person the next day on your journey.  Do you think you would have to wonder if it was God’s will to heal the person?  Of course not.  If Jesus told you to “heal the sick,” then you shouldn’t have to wonder about whether or not He wanted you do to it.

The instructions were very simple and plain.  “Heal the sick.”  If they are sick, then heal them.   There would be no need to wonder about God’s will or God’s timing.  Jesus said to heal the sick.  Is the person sick?  Yes?  Then heal them.  If you minister healing, then you are demonstrating His will.  If not, then you aren’t.  Simple.

Sending out “the seventy”

Not long after He sent out the first group of 12, we see Him sending out another group of people in the next chapter of Luke:

Luke 10:1 – After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go….

Luke 10:9 – “…and heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

This is Jesus sending out a much larger group of people to represent Him.  Notice that the instructions are the same as they were for the 12.  “Heal the sick” is included in the instructions.

So again, imagine that you are in this larger group, and Jesus tells you to go out and represent Him.   You hear Him tell you to “heal the sick” as part of the instructions.  You leave and go into a town and you find a person that is sick with some kind of disease.  Do you think you would have to wonder about His will regarding the disease?  No, of course not.  If Jesus told you to heal the sick, then you should not even have to think about it.  It should be obvious.

Sending out all of the rest of us…aka the Great Commission

Let us now skip ahead to the next time Jesus sends out some people to represent Him.  This event is known as “the Great Commission.”  It is given to all of us who call Jesus Lord.  It applies to every Christian from all periods of time.  You can find portions of it at the end of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and also in the first chapter of Acts.  I am going to focus on just two of the passages, because that will be enough for us to see what we are looking for.

Matthew 28:18-20 – And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Mark 16:15-18 – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

To help us understand what is being said here, imagine that you were present when Jesus said these things.  You have been following Him around, and you have seen Him preaching the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, and casting out demons on a daily basis.  He has trained you to represent Him by doing the same things He was doing…preaching, healing, and casting out demons.

Now He says for you to make disciples yourself.  He says that you are to teach them to do the same things that He taught you to do:  heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the Kingdom.  Your commission is to train people to do what Jesus trained you to do.   And He says you should expect to see results in your life, and in the lives of the disciples you are training.

Can you see the pattern here?  Jesus healed all the people that came to Him.  Then He sent out 12 representatives and told them to heal people.  Then He sent out a larger group of representatives and told them to heal people.  Then He gives specific instructions to continue this practice indefinitely.  If you are going to act as His representative, then divine healing should be a regular part of what happens when you minister.

Jesus never sent out someone to represent Him without providing instructions, authority, and power to heal sick people.

If Jesus tells everyone He sends out as representatives the same thing (heal the sick), then it should be pretty easy for us to know what His will is when it comes to healing.  He told us to do it, so we know it is something He wants to happen.  Healing is God’s will.  God’s will is to heal the sick.

And now back to what I said at the beginning.  The main point of this article is to make a point that sounds so simple, it is almost silly.  The point is this:  if Jesus tells you to do something, then you should assume that it is His will for you to do it.

You have been told by Jesus to heal the sick, so you no longer have to wonder if it is His will or not.  We don’t have to be in the dark about His will.  He made it plain and easy to see.  Now we only need to choose to believe it and start acting on it.

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