March 20 – Healing

Matthew8: 14 – 17  (NLT)

Jesus Heals Many People

14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. 15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.

16 That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. 17 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said,

“He took our sicknesses
    and removed our diseases.” (Isaiah 53: 4)

Jesus definitely has compassion for sick people. It’s interesting that when Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, she got up immediately and served Jesus. When Jesus heals a person, that person is willing to serve him.  Isn’t that what happens to each of us when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour?  At that point, the Holy Spirit begins his transformative work in us and we have a desire to serve Jesus. 

In those few verses we also see many people coming to Jesus that very night. I suspect word spread of Peter’s mother-in-law’s healing. People who are suffering really want it to go away. But does Jesus heal everyone?  The verses quoted by Matthew from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah tell us about the coming Redeemer. Jesus did come, healed many, but also suffered a horrendous death himself. When we read the epistles, we hear about people who were sick and there didn’t seem to be any relief. Paul, himself, talks about a health issue he had that he prayed would be taken away, but realized that was not God’s will.   

I suspect today with our emphasis on science and rationality, we don’t expect God to heal diseases. That is a department left to doctors, and I do think that God uses doctors to heal us. But we can pray and ask for healing in God’s will. In early 2010, when the doctors told my husband he had 2 weeks to live, many people prayed, and one of the elders from LSA came to the hospital in London and anointed him. He did get better over the next few months, and the doctors didn’t have any idea why. We felt it was definitely an intervention by God, and were so grateful for the 8 following years we had together. But not all diseases are healed the way we’d prefer.  

But one thing we do know – we will be healed from all diseases in heaven.  Listen to these words from Revelation 21:

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (v. 3 -4)

In the meantime, we can pray for healing, knowing that God is capable of anything, and also knowing that God’s answer will be the right one for us.

Our song for today is I Speak Jesus by Charity Gayle.