Below are the notes I used to teach this message the audio of which can be heard on our PodCast by clicking here or on the image.
I. Healing is in God’s covenant.
In the Old Testament God tells the Israelites that He is their healer and that part of the blessing of following Him, part of His covenant with Israel is walking in full health.
And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”
Deuteronomy 7: 6 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
12 “Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. 13 He will love you and bless you and multiply you; ...14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle.
15 The Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.
We know now that through Christ we have been given complete access to all rights and privileges of God’s covenant with Israel. See Ephesians 2 below:
Ephesians 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
II. Jesus paid the price for Forgiveness AND Healing
In the same way we expect God to forgive our sins we can expect God to heal our bodies. With the same expectation that we will go to heaven when we die we can expect Heaven on earth while we live! We see this modeled all throughout the life of Jesus who did what He saw the Father doing. Jesus represented the will of heaven on earth. There are many examples in the New Testament of Jesus healing them all wherever He went.
Matthew 4:23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
Matthew 4:24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.
Matthew 8:16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.
Matthew 9:35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Matthew 12:15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all,
Luke 4:40 While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them.
Luke 6:19 And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.
Throughout the bible healing and forgiveness are tied together. We see in these passages examples of Jesus work on the cross providing BOTH healing for sickness and forgiveness of sin:
Psalm 103: 3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;
Isaiah 53:4 Surely our sicknesses He Himself bore, And our pains He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
So the question is: Do we expect God to heal us as much as we expect Him to forgive us? When someone comes up and asks us to pray for them to receive Christ and receive salvation do we believe that they will get healed if they are sick as well as receive forgiveness for their sins?
Why do you think Jesus played out the scenario below like He did:
Mark 2:3 And they *came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith *said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
Jesus was clearly demonstrating that He came to bring BOTH forgiveness of sins AND healing!
There is more than one way to get healed.
We also see in the Bible that the person who is sick does not have to be the one who has faith in order to be healed. Jesus healed the centurion’s servant based on the faith of the centurion not the sick servant. Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law and she did not even ask for it.
Matthew 8
8 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion,“Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment. 14 When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. 16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
We know that Jesus raised the dead and a dead person cannot have faith, it was the faith of Jesus that raised the dead person and many times it was the faith of Jesus that healed the sick. Yes Jesus had to walk by faith too!
Jesus lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, by faith doing what He saw the Father doing. Jesus did not use His Triune power to perform miracles because he laid down His divinity and became a servant. (See Philippians 2):
Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Acts 10:38 sums up the healing mission of Jesus: “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
Is God with us today? We know God is with us, better yet God dwells in us by His Holy Spirit.
John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
III. How to Pray for healing.
How did Jesus pray for the sick? He commanded healing he did not ask for it.
Mark 2:11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”
John 5: 8 Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”
Acts 3:6: But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!” 7 And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Since Jesus already paid for healing and forgiveness do we need to ask God to heal someone? Isn’t asking God to heal someone actually unbelief since he has already done the work. It is like someone paying your bill at a restaurant. The waiter comes to you and says that couple over there paid for your food. Then you finish eating and still ask the waiter for the bill.