Jesus is a healer. That’s what the Bible shows us. Yet, oftentimes, there’s a disconnect between what we, as believers, experience when it comes to the healing ministry of Jesus today. I want to say this truth for it’s vital that we hear it: Jesus Christ is still heals today. In Hebrews 13:8, ESV, we learn, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Simply put, the same Jesus who walked the streets of Galilee healing the sick is the same Jesus walking the streets of our cities looking to heal the sick. Jesus has never stopped healing the sick. In reality, we’ve stopped expecting Him to heal the sick. That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post.
One of the most important and fruitful ministries that Jesus walked in was healing. Jesus healed them all. In Matthew 15:30, NLT, we read, “A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.” Notice, He healed them all. No one walked away empty handed. That’s the Jesus I serve: He heals all who are sick. This is what people need today. They need to know that Jesus can, does, and will heal the sick. He is a healer.
God never intended mankind to suffer under the weight of sickness and disease. That was never part of His plan for mankind. What happened? Sin. Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit of sin. Mankind has been biting into that forbidden fruit ever since. That’s what opened the door to sickness, disease, and death. And we must acknowledge what opened the door to sickness and disease. It was never God. Yes, it was always us. We sinned.
But Jesus came. And when He came, He didn’t condemn us in our sin. No, He chose to rescue us from our sin. “God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world.” Jn. 3:17, God’s Word Translation. Read that again. Jesus didn’t come to condemn or judge the world or people in the world; rather, He came to save us from ourselves. How? By healing us. By rescuing us. By delivering us. By freeing us. By saving us.
Jesus’s name means Jehovah is salvation. He’s a savior. He’s not just a savior we preach about. No! He’s actually a savior who heals us. Why, then, is there so little healing in the Church? Yes, we must acknowledge the truth, there’s very little healing in the Church. Now, it’s not meant to be that way. It never was meant to be that way. How has that happened? When did the Church lose the healing ministry of Jesus? To be honest, I don’t know. Yet, what is clear: we have very few healing miracles.
When we look at the world, what we see is a great need for the healing miracles that Jesus regularly performed. Jesus intended His Church to be His hands and feet. We are to bring His healing to this world. Not just in the form of hospitals, but in the form of healing miracles. Jesus healed hard cases, including the blind, lame, deaf, crippled, terminally sick. Jesus healed ordinary sicknesses like colds, migraines, and other minor ailments. To Jesus, all were possible and available. The angel said, “for nothing is impossible for God.” Lk. 1:37, God’s Word Translation. And Jesus said, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” Matt. 19:26.
Jesus hasn’t changed. His desire to heal hasn’t changed. God’s will to heal hasn’t changed, for Jesus is the perfect reflection on God’s will. What, then, has changed? Why are so few healed? Now some may say, we lack faith. But is that the reason? Some may say, healing isn’t for today; it was only the Apostles who had the ability to heal. Is that true? How about Phillip? He wasn’t an apostle. Others may say, that was for that time period. Jesus healed to prove who He was; we don’t need healing miracles today. Is that really true? Aren’t there sick people in our churches, hospitals, and world? I find no good reason for the lack of healing in the Church or the absence of the healing ministry.
Quite the contrary, there is a great need for healing today. We have many sick people. Even ministers wrestle with sickness and disease. Healthcare is a significant cost in our world today. And oftentimes, modern medicine, as good as it is, has no solutions for a myriad of medical issues. The healing ministry, contrary to every other ministry the Church offers, will be received by the sick person with open arms. The bedridden, terminally ill, cripple, blind, deaf, lame, and pain stricken will seek relief from any source. We have the answer. Healing and the Church’s healing ministry is desperately needed.
What that means is simple: We must commit ourselves to rediscovering this vital ministry of the Church. The Church is meant to be a place where healing regularly happens. The Apostle James’s statement in James 5:15, “the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” His solution: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord”. James 5:14. Notice, Church elders are to pray the prayer of faith and without fail those who are sick, even those sick as a result of their sin, will be healed. In the Apostle James’s mind, it was a certain outcome, like the sunrise and sunset, healing would absolutely, positively happen.
Given what the Apostle James expected and what regularly happens in the Church, I’d say we’ve fallen far short of functioning in the healing ministry that he describes. That begs the question: How can we see this vital ministry of the Church restored? I believe that it’s necessary to upgrade our theology to make room for God to heal the sick. We must begin asking the right question: Why, Lord, aren’t we seeing the sick healed on a regular basis? If you are seeing the sick healed on a regular basis, then the question might be: Why aren’t all being healed? Irrespective, the Church must pray for the restoration of the healing ministry, for it’s desperately needed.
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