Jesus heals!
- Jacob Ninan
Of course! As the One who created the whole universe (Jn.1:3), Jesus can not only heal all diseases, but He can also cast out demons and raise people from the dead. He has done that during His 3 1/2 years of public ministry on earth. People experienced that one word from Him or a touch from Him was enough to heal them. Naturally, multitudes who wanted to be healed crowded to Him. He healed every single person who came to Him for healing or deliverance. He announced that He had come here to bring freedom and deliverance and to proclaim that the favour of God had come (Lk.4:18,19).
But the primary purpose with which Jesus came was not to bring healing from sickness and deliverance from oppression. He had come to deal with the root of all such problems. The angel told Mary that she should call His name 'Jesus' (meaning 'Jehovah saved') because He would save people from their sins (Mt.1:21). It was the presence of sin in the world and the curse that was on the earth that caused sickness and every other problem (Ge.3:17-19). While healing would be a blessing in this life, freedom from sin would be a blessing that would benefit us for all eternity!
The apostle John called healing and the other miracles of Jesus as 'signs' announcing Him as the Son of God (Jn.2:11). Even though Jesus healed people out of compassion for them, He hoped that they would come to Him to receive the greater blessing of salvation. But He knew that most of the people were coming to Him only because they wanted earthly blessings (Jn.6:26,27). In fact, when the crowd gathered around and He began to speak about the gospel of salvation, many got offended and left Him (v.66).
We people are the same even now, aren't we? When a preacher announces healing, the attendance is great, but when there is talk of repentance and leaving sin behind, not many stick around! When there is talk about sin, people generally want to find safety under 'grace' and not deal with it!
If we have come near to Jesus through an experience of healing or a miraculous answer to prayer, we can now come nearer to Him and ask Him to forgive our sins and set us free from its power. The one who gets healed from sickness can become sick again, and the one who is raised from the dead will die again. But we can get our sins forgiven and live with Him forever if we go to Jesus with repentance for our sins and seeking for forgiveness, because He has already taken the punishment for our sins in our place (1Jn.2:1,2).
On the other hand, if we imagine we belong to God just because He has touched our practical life in some way, we would be deceiving ourselves. That touch has brought us near to Him and now we must surrender to Him in faith. This is called entering through the narrow gate, and then there is a narrow way we walk in afterwards in obedience to Him (Mt.7:13,14). By faith we enter, and then we walk by faith. Our need draws us to Him, and our love for Him helps us to obey Him (Jn.14:15).