HEALING is a normal part of the ministry of the Church. It belongs in the relationship of Christian believers who “bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” The New Testament recognizes the Holy Spirit's gifts of faith, of healing, and of miracles along with other gifts. Healing has attended the ministry of the Church in its finest and most vital times. It has, by and large, attended the ministry committed to the validity and authenticity of the Scriptures as the inspired word of God. Jesus linked preaching the gospel of the Kingdom with the ministry of healing. Nothing more demonstrated Jesus' divine power nor expressed God's great love for human beings than the healing of bodies. And nothing gained the attention and confidence of people so much as healing.
In many churches this ministry has been neglected. It seems to be regarded as something limited to the first century church. But all across the years there have been experiences of healing. Clearly it is taught in the Scriptures. There is need for fresh, serious attention to this subject. Our concepts need to be strengthened, deepened, and clarified. In the following pages we seek to explore healing in a bit broader context than is customarily considered. For one thing, we consider it in the light of the holistic view of life and creation as seen in the Judeo-Christian tradition. We distinguish this from the dualism which prevailed in the Middle Ages and, to some extent, since. We also seek to explore it in the light of new perspectives gained by science, particularly of psychology and the awareness of the power of the subconscious. We seek to explore it especially in the context of the caring Christian fellowship such as must have been true in New Testament days.
Everywhere you look there is suffering and need. The offices of physicians, psychiatrists, and counselors are full of people seeking some cure for physical and emotional anguish. It seems a pity that, when the Church has in its custody such wonderful saving truth and such potential for loving, praying, believing support, it often has well-nigh forsaken that vital life-giving ministry of healing and left it in the hands of others. We face the challenge of a future when great new insights will come. Let us bring together the power and love of God, the caring fellowship of his people, and the best insights we can gain, bringing healing to those who hurt.
Chapter 1
Creatures of Earth and Sky
WE HUMAN BEINGS are creatures of the earth as well as of the Spirit. We have earthly, physical bodies as well as that peculiar, God-given genius we call spirit. Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (or soul). To deny either the earthly or the spiritual nature of a person is to deny the Holy Scriptures. We cannot close our eyes to what is manifestly, even painfully, apparent—that we are very earthy, physical beings. We have the insistent, demanding urges and drives of the animal, and we have the soul-stretching longings given us by our all-wise Creator. We are subject to the ravages of disease, to physical deterioration and decay, to accidents and the violent acts of nature, and to the hereditary factors which so largely “program” our bodies and, to some extent, our personalities. Whatever consideration we give to divine physical healing, then, must take account of our total nature. We cannot ignore the laws of nature and the fact of God in nature.
God of Law and Order
If God created the world and nature, then nature must reflect something of God himself. All through the Bible you see that sages, seers, and prophets reverenced and worshiped the Creator because of what they saw in his creation. The psalmist cried in reverence, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psa. 19:1–4). This is the silent language of nature which proclaims throughout the world that the Creator has ordained laws by which all nature operates. The Apostle Paul was so convinced of this that, when he wrote to the Romans, he insisted that even pagans, who had no knowledge of God such as the Jews had would be nonetheless responsible: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse …” (Rom. 1:19–20). Nature is God's creation. If you look at the human body itself, you cannot help being impressed with its wonder and beauty, the delicate intricate balances, the mystery of procreation and birth, and the tremendous vitality of life. The laws of God are written within the physical processes, the tissues and cells, and we disregard those laws at our own peril.
All this tells us that God is not capricious or fickle. He is orderly. While many such physical laws are beyond our understanding, we can be sure that God's creation makes sense.
Cause and Effect
Things do not just happen. The principle of cause and effect is always in operation. For every effect there is a cause. Sometimes we speak of God himself as the “prime mover” or “original cause.” Behind the changing scenes there is the Master of the show. We, of course, cannot see behind the scenes. We see only the superficial things; thus, our understanding is only a hint at what is really there. But we do know that this is not a capricious kind of universe. It operates by law, by cause and effect. We cannot assume that everything, no matter how trivial, is personally ordered by God according to some whim of the moment.
The principle of cause and effect is not limited to the purely physical, either. It surely must apply to what we may call spiritual laws. The fact is that we cannot separate the physical and spiritual, for life is one great whole.
Life Is a Rhythm
Life comes and goes in cycles: birth, life, reproduction, decline, and death. But death and decay help produce new life. Leaves spring out green and fresh; blossoms appear in all their variegated colors; fruit grows, ripens, then falls with its seed; leaves turn in color, drop to the ground, and become the fertilizer for new life and growth. Is one part of the cycle good and the other part evil? Seen in total perspective, it looks like all one beautiful plan.
In this process, nature is selective. Only the fittest survive. The weak are crowded out. Even whole species of life have become extinct. In the balance of nature one species of animal feeds on another, and that species on still another, and that one on certain vegetation. The ecological balance has prevailed for thousands of years and involves life in all its forms. Nature can be cruel and inexorable as its laws operate. And, let's face it, we are a part of this nature.
In the whole structure of nature and life, sensitivity plays a major part. The lowest forms of life know little or no pain. There are worms, for instance, which can be cut up into little pieces and each piece will grow into a whole worm. But at high levels of life the organism becomes more complex, sensitivity increases, and suffering is inevitably a part of life. Even in the human family there is a great range of sensitivity. The more sensitive we are, the more we are capable of both pleasure and pain. In human beings, furthermore, pain can be mental and emotional as well as physical. Some of the greatest anguish is of that kind. Pain is even necessary. It is our signal that something is wrong. Were it not for pain we would not know when to seek help. Thus, aging, pain, sickness, and death are a part of the cycle of life as the laws of nature operate impartially. We human beings have common ground with all other forms of life.
Causes of Suffering
There are many reasons why people suffer pain. There are hereditary factors which leave some people with weak or deformed bodies. There are economic and social factors which deny many thousands the proper nourishment and shelter. There are diseases which infect the body bringing temporary or permanent illness. There are the abuses by which we bring upon ourselves unnecessary illness: overwork; overeating; use of poisonous substances like nicotine, alcohol, drugs, and so on. There are the accidents which befall us, sometimes through our own or someone else's carelessness. There are the violent acts of nature like volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, or floods. Then there are the tensions, stresses, anxieties, and worries which may bring on heart attacks or high blood pressure. (To worry yourself to death may not be as spectacular as shooting yourself through the head—but it's just as permanent, and a lot more painful!)
There are causes of suffering which we can correct. There are some over which we have no control. To recognize the laws of nature and to respect those laws could relieve us of much of the suffering in the world. We might well give more attention to intelligent cooperation with nature's laws before questioning an all-wise God and his goodness. He gave us eyes and ears and minds to use in learning all we can about those laws. An unduly mystical interpretation of what befalls us can be a hindrance to the common sense realism so necessary to live in harmony with the laws of God in nature.
Vitality of Life
On the positive side of all this is the tremendous vitality and adaptability of life. In recent years we have been informed by some very fine television presentations on wildlife and the balance of nature. One can hardly help being impressed with the countless forms of life across the whole gamut, from the tiniest insects to the most pondorous creatures of the land and sea. And they show only a very small fraction of the forms life takes. You can't set your foot down without treading on life—even though it is too small to see. The earth is literally bursting with life of all kinds.
Then there is the persistence of life. Some creatures survive under the most harsh and hostile conditions, guided by some marvelous instinct that enables them to adapt to changing conditions, to avoid being consumed by predators, to build their homes and care for their young. To observe the powerful, instinctual mating urges and the sometimes elaborate performances of the mating process is to see how powerful is the procreative nature and how very necessary to the survival of the species. The care and training of the young is marvelous to behold. True, there is death lurking behind the bush but the young are taught the dangers. True, many die in the predator's jaws but nature provides an abundance of offspring and the species generally lives on. What if there were no death? Soon the overpopulation would bring the death of all.
Healing Is Part of Nature
The physical body, including the human body, has tremendous recuperative powers. The animal that is wounded is driven by instinct to seek shelter, to eat only what is needed, and to rest, giving the body its optimum chance to be restored. Who teaches the animal all this? No one. It is a built-in capacity. Archaeological finds have shown that recovery has been made even when severe bodily damage has been inflicted. This is true of both animal bodies and human bodies. Healing is not foreign to nature. This amazing resilience in life is true all across the spectrum.
Plants heal as well as animals. Lightning may strike a tree and split it. Unless it is damaged too badly, the tree recuperates and the wound heals over. A branch is cut off and the wound heals over. You cut your finger and very shortly healing begins. A wound becomes infected and the blood forms pus as a protective device.
Physicians know full well that they themselves have no healing power, and the drugs they administer are only to counteract the poison or correct the obstruction. Nature itself does the healing.
The earth itself has healing qualities. The sun is a great healer. These, along with the herbs and plants having medicinal qualities, are a part of nature itself. Healing is taking place all the time in plants, in animals, in marine life, in the fowl of the air, and in the human body. We should not think it strange, then, that healing is a part of God's plan for us. All healing must surely be from God, the Author of nature. This is not to say that all such healing is what we would call “divine healing,” but that healing is not foreign to God's creation. It is part of the whole cycle of life that he has created.
Physical and Spiritual
In human beings we must consider more than the physical body alone, for we are more than animals. The highly developed nervous system with its marvelous instrument, the brain, makes us a different kind of being. The spiritual nature given by God puts us in a whole new dimension. We have the powers of choice, of imagination, of memory, of sustained attention, of faith or unbelief. It is well known that our mental and emotional climate powerfully affects our bodies. Physicians say that a high percentage of those who are ill have really a mentally or emotionally induced illness. Estimates are that fifty percent (and up to ninety percent) of the hospital patients are suffering from psychosomatic (mind-body) disorders. The mind has a very great influence on the body, and vice versa.
It is apparent, then, that to consider healing we have to think in the broader context of the laws of nature and of the complex nature of persons. The Bible does just that. It is fitting that we approach this consideration with reverence and with appreciation for all that our Creator has provided—not in an overly-simplistic or rigid way, and certainly not in a demanding or condemning way. Life is one beautiful whole and it is given by God. His revealed will in his Holy Word will be our guide.
For Discussion
1. In what sense are we to understand that we, as human beings, are creatures of earth and of the Spirit? Is the human being an animal? What more?
2. If God is a personal God touched by our needs, does that mean he overrules the natural laws? How do you harmonize your conception of God and of physical laws?
3. If we, as human beings, are part of the natural order, can we expect to be exempt from the sometimes cruel forces of nature?
4. How do you see divine healing fitting into the creation of law, of cause and effect, and such? Does this seeming incongruity affect your faith?
Chapter 2
Healing and Wholeness in the Bible
THE INFINITE God who created nature and life surely is able to heal and renew life. It is not strange, therefore, that we find references to physical healing in the divine record. While healing comes into clearer and more vivid focus in the New Testament, especially in the ministry of Jesus, it is seen in the Old Testament as well. It is part of God's unfolding plan for his people. Before tracing that, however, it will be helpful for us to observe some basic concepts in which healing is to be understood.
God Is Present
The Creator did not wind up creation like a clock and then sit down in some splendid distance to wait until it ran down. He is present in his creation. He sustains his work. He is “upholding the universe by his word of power” (Heb. 1:3). Theologians use the word omnipresent to say that God is present in all places at all times. “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?” cried the psalmist, “Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, thou art there! If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me” (Psa. 139:7–10). God is! He is real, and he is present. When Moses was sent to Pharaoh to secure the deliverance of the Israelite people, he was overwhelmed with the size of the assignment. “If I come to the people of Israel,” he lamented, “and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’ ” (Exod. 3:13–14).
If God is present, then, he must be present in his fullness, for he is one God, present as he is. He never loses the identity of being. He is not fragmented. And he is not capricious. He is unchanging, eternal. He is the same in every age. He is always available. God is!
He Is Present in All of Life
In the Bible and in Hebrew thinking you do not see a false separation of the physical and the spiritual. It is all one world, one creation. The false dualism came from other cultures. In New Testament times it was the main heresy the Church had to contend with. More about that later. The point here is that all God's creation is united in one great reality. This means that human and physical affairs are God's concern just as spiritual things are. Every part of life is to be under his control.
It is logical, therefore, that God's covenant with Israel included provision for the body. It dealt with physical habits, cleanliness, diet, and measures to assure the survival of Jewish culture. Through the illustrious leader, Moses, God gave them this promise: “If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord, your healer” (Exod. 15:26). In a number of instances this was affirmed to them. (See Exod. 23:20–25; Deut. 7:15; 28:58, 61.)
It is quite clear that God was concerned with all of life; the spiritual, the physical, the social, and the national. In considering this, we must remember that he was preparing the way for his Son to make known his will more fully. When you turn to the New Testament and the ministry of Jesus, you see in full glory the concern God has for all of life, for Jesus touched people at the place of their need, no matter what it might have been.
Promise of Healing in Prophecy
In keeping with God's purpose, the concern for all of life comes through in the prophecies. The prophets were not bashful about addressing very human, physical problems. They rebuked those who made religion a separate thing—something that took place in the Temple by the ceremonies and rituals of the priestly class. They demanded justice before the law, fair weights and measures, fair and charitable treatment of the poor, and so on. Bodies counted as well as souls.
Nowhere does this total concern come through more clearly than in Isaiah's prophecy: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn …” (61:1–2). That covers life as a whole. It doesn't sound like something “spiritual” removed from everyday life.
And this is precisely the passage Jesus read in the synagogue in Nazareth as he launched into his earthly ministry. Luke records it (4:18–19) and adds Jesus' comment as “the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him …” He said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (vv. 20–21). He plainly accepted the thrust of the prophets' concern as his own commitment. Many passages in the prophecies contain allusions and direct references to God's care for physical and social life. Liberation was to be for the whole person. The thinking was holistic, not dualistic, and it was theistic, not humanistic. Matthew, who saw so much direct relationship between the prophecies and the ministry of Jesus, cites the instance where he had healed Peter's mother-in-law. He says, “many [came] who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick.” Then he adds: “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases’ ” (Matt. 8:16–17). Thus, in both Old and New Testaments the same steady purpose is continued—to minister to the whole person.
Instances of Healing
Since the next chapter will be discussing healing in the ministry of Jesus, our purpose here is only to show that there were indeed instances of healing in the Old Testament times and that the idea was always a part of God's plan. We turn simply to a few examples of such healing.
The first is that of Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria—not a Jew but one who reverenced the Lord. Second Kings 5 gives us the account. Naaman was a victim of the most dreaded disease—leprosy. A little girl who had been taken as a captive from Israel was a personal servant of Naaman's wife. She told him of the prophet Elisha and advised him to seek healing. The story is a familiar one and need not be repeated here, but the humbling experience of a “great” man does deserve reflection. The strange command to dip seven times in the muddy Jordan River called for simple obedience, and that is a lesson in itself. In any case, Naaman was healed.
One more instance will do. Second Kings 20 gives us this account: Hezekiah was at the point of death. Isaiah, the prophet, gave him the Lord's word, “Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not recover” (v. 1). But Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed, weeping inconsolably. Then the prophet received another word from the Lord. “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah … I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you … I will add fifteen years to your life” (vv. 5:5).
God's power was more in the form of certain visitations for healing in the Old Testament. In the New Testament it becomes a normal part of divine ministry. While somewhat incipient in the earlier days, God's plan was nonetheless apparent and real. Healing was definitely a part of his covenant with Israel. “I am the Lord, your healer” (Exod. 15:26b).
Healing, Physical and Spiritual
We love to hear the beautiful and assuring affirmation in Psalm 103:1–4: “Bless the Lord, O my soul … and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.” Remember that was chanted for hundreds of years before the time of Jesus. The healing of body and soul are linked together. This always had been true but here we see it in sharp focus. In the New Testament, of course, it was even more apparent. The preaching of the gospel and healing of the sick were part of the same ministry, in Jesus himself and in the charge he gave to his followers. It shows up in Jesus' healing of the paralytic in Capernaum, as recorded in Mark 2:1–12: “My son, your sins are forgiven … Rise, take up your pallet and go home” (v. 5). They are like two sides of a coin. In the instruction of James 5:13–16 we are told that “the prayer of faith will save the sick … and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” We will return to this important principle later, for God's plan includes both physical and spiritual healing.
Sickness and Sin
On the negative side, there has been the association of sickness with sin. “Who sinned,” asked the disciples of Jesus, “this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:1–2). Of course, Jesus corrected their wrong notion but their thinking was typical. There was a common belief that sickness was sent by God as a punishment for sin.
This was the great argument in the Book of Job. The “friends” and “comforters” persisted with the idea that Job's afflictions were the consequence of some sin he had committed. Job stoutly defended himself and argued the question because he knew better. Even today there are such “friends” who add condemnation to the affliction and aggravate the burden of the sick. There is indeed a relationship between sin and sickness, but not necessarily personal sin. Rather, it is sin in the generic sense—the sinful condition. Human beings are part of the sinful society with its often degenerate practices. The sins of the fathers often are visited upon the children “to the third and fourth generation,” as the First Commandment says. But it is wrong to condemn a sick person by assuming that there is some personal sin in his or her life. There is a difference between the state or condition of sin and the personal sin which brings guilt upon the soul.
Nonetheless we suffer in many ways as the result of sin. There is a solidarity in the human race. No one is an independent entity separate from the rest. We are all in this together, like it or not. And the fact that you are a Christian does not make you immune.
A Concept of Healing
To develop an adequate doctrine of healing would require much more treatment than we can give it here. Some basic conceptions may help, however. What is sickness? Is it God's will or not? The attitude of the Bible, especially the New Testament, is that sickness is evil. Its origin lies in the disobedience to divine laws, the lack of harmony with the laws of God and of his creation. Exodus 15:26 gives us this basic concept early. Jesus treated sickness as an evil to overcome. In healing a sick person Jesus made that person a participant in God's will. Liberation from sickness and sin was one operation.
The Resurrection signals Christ's victory over the “last enemy which is death.” Thus, the whole life and ministry, death and Resurrection of our Lord is the act of the Almighty God in restoring a mortal, sinful person to wholeness and abundant life. This includes all of life—body, mind, and soul. It allows no compartmentalizing of life. The lordship of Christ is over all. Physical healing has been an integral part of God's plan all across the generations. It was a part of his covenant with Israel. It was promised by the prophets. It was, in Hebrew history, at least an occasional reality in experience. In Jesus Christ it came into full expression. He charged his apostles to continue in the same work, preaching salvation and healing to all the world.
For Discussion
1. What is meant by the “holistic” view of life, in contrast to the “dualistic” view? Check the dictionary for these meanings and see how you view life. What difference does it make in our beliefs about the body and about healing?
2. In what sense are sickness and sin related? If a person is sick, is that an indication of sin in his or her life? What of the person who has been prayed for but has not been healed?
3. How do you understand the relationship between healing and forgiveness? If a person is healed, is that person always forgiven, also?
4. State briefly your conception of healing. Do the members of your group basically agree on this?
Chapter 3
Healing in the Ministry of Jesus
IF ONE were to point out any one thing in which Jesus majored, it probably would be healing. To read the Gospels is to see how “he went about doing good,” opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, raising up the dying and even the dead. The list is almost endless. If John's last comment is to be taken seriously there must be a great deal of which we have no record, for he said, “There are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). Now, assuming that much of what was not written was physical healing, that's a lot of healing!
The healing miracles largely catapulted Jesus into prominence. After the searching experience of fasting and prayer in the wilderness for forty days and nights, and the onslaughts of Satan in the three great tests, Jesus apparently had done quite a few healings. At least Luke records how “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country” (Luke 4:14). Immediately his name was on everyone's lips. The many thousands of people who were sick and desperate turned eagerly to him. Pathetic people—malnourished, poor, disease-ridden—stretched out their arms, pleading for his help. It was not a pretty sight, we can be sure of that.
He Was Moved with Compassion
Jesus was magnetic. Wherever he went, all eyes were fixed on him. Hostile eyes. Pleading eyes. Skeptical eyes. He saw it all, and he was undismayed, for he saw people “like sheep having no shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). They were “lost” in different ways. They had many different kinds of problems. Jesus looked upon every one of them with that great love in his heart which can come only from God who is love. He looked upon people with deep compassion. He carried a sob in his heart.
And they felt that. Here was one person in all the world who really cared about them. No doubt their whole outlook was changed and their faith inspired just to be in his presence. What a change it must have been for those who had seen so much of condemning legalism and so many frowning priests and rulers! Here was sheer love. Jesus was like a shaft of pure, golden sunlight through the clouds on a murky and dark day. Love must have shone from his eyes. His hands must have had the tender strength that brought great comfort and courage to their hearts.
Some have thought that Jesus performed healings and other miracles mainly to gain publicity and thus get his message across. But that is quite unthinkable. For one thing it would have to be a little less than authentic and sincere. But even more it was unnecessary because love was the message. Wholeness was the objective.
No, while his healings did bring recognition and his ministry was authenticated by them to many people, we have to conclude that Jesus healed because he loved—far more than we can know. Divine love and spiritual energy flowed from him and it was expressed largely through his healing ministry. And love is to human life what light is to a plant. It is creative. Love, in the way Jesus expressed it, was divine. It did not merely respond to value and worth as does our human love. It created value. It imparted worth. Such love allowed no limits to be set upon it by a person's worthiness or unworthiness. It was unconditional. It was unmerited favor. It is impossible for us to imagine what that meant to people who had never known real love and care. It was a revelation.
Perhaps the most fundamental requirement—really the highest privilege—in receiving healing is simply accepting God's love, believing that he loves us. Real faith for healing is predicated on the acceptance of that love and upon acceptance of the idea that God loves the whole person, body as well as mind, and soul.
Jesus Saw Life Whole
Earlier we insisted that, in the Hebrew teaching and tradition, life was holistic—that is, it was all one. There was no artificial separation between the physical body and the spiritual nature, nor between the physical world and the spiritual. Jesus' ministry was within this tradition and belief. He saw life whole. His ministry was to bring people to wholeness.
Already we have cited the synagogue experience in Nazareth, as recorded in Luke 4, where Jesus stood up to read from Isaiah 61. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he has anointed me ….” He claimed this as his own commission saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The commission included preaching “good news to the poor,” proclaiming “release to the captives,” and “recovering of sight to the blind,” “setting at liberty those who were oppressed,” and “proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord.” (The last reference here was to the year of Jubilee when captives were released and crimes forgiven.)
This commission manifestly relates to life as a whole. It includes physical needs, social problems, and spiritual rebirth. It is significant that Jesus announced this as the thrust of his ministry. The objective was wholeness of life and the glory of God.
Jesus' view of sickness was that the whole person was ill, not just the body. The problem was alienation from God and persons. Wholeness was being in right relationship with God and others. Therefore physical healing and forgiveness go together. “Thy sins be forgiven thee,” he said—and almost in the same breath, “Take up your bed and go home.” No, the combination is not always seen just that way, but there surely was this total impact in his ministry. It is important that this be also the focus of our ministry in his name.
Jesus came to do not his own will, but the will of his Father. Always he lived and taught and acted as the Son. He declared: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14:11). “We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:4–5). Referring to John the Baptist, Jesus said, “The testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36). Therefore, if we accept what Jesus himself said, we cannot question the fact that he regarded all his acts of healing as willed by the Father. They were indeed a sign of his compassion, for Jesus always took upon himself the burdens, the suffering, and the heartache of those who came to him. The importance which he gave to healing constitutes a convincing, visible sign of the redemptive love of God the Father. It was full redemption—the salvation of the whole human being—physical healing being an important element of it. According to the account in Genesis, the first man's sin separated him from God; it resulted in spiritual death. This spiritual break left in its wake guilt, condemnation, sickness, suffering, alienation, and death. It is the sign of our sinful state—our separation from the Source of life. Redemption, then, had to include restoration to spiritual and physical wholeness. That is in keeping with our nature as God created us. “Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7).
Sickness is Evil
The Gospels give ample evidence that, in Jesus' view, sickness is the work of Satan. The fact that he cured many people's illnesses by casting out demons surely proves that he regarded them as being of satanic origin. Today, most diseases have been classified and defined, studied and treated scientifically. Even the biblical cases of demon possession often are explained today as mental and emotional disorders. But Jesus branded it otherwise. “Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years,” he asked, “be loosed from this bond [even] on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16). And that was not a case of demon possession, either—it was a bent back. But it was not a part of God's plan for her.
When Jesus healed a blind and dumb demoniac, some Pharisees accused him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. His reply was that such an idea was self-contradictory. It would be Satan working against Satan. (See Matt. 12:22–26.) Here also sickness is regarded as being of satanic origin. There was a vital relationship between sin and sickness and between forgiveness and healing. Jesus affirmed healing as a part of the divine plan. It was not incidental but integral in his ministry.
Sick People Are Not to Be Condemned
The basic association of sickness with the sinful condition, which was valid enough, led to the erroneous conclusion that if a person was sick it was because of that person's sin. Job argued strenuously on this point, as you will remember.
“Who sinned,” asked the disciples, “this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” The inference is clear: If one is blind it must be because of one's sin. But no sickness is related to the whole sinful condition and the fall from fellowship with God; yet no person is to be condemned or accused of personal sin because of sickness. Great harm has been done by such condemnation, and good people have been burdened even further because of the insensitivity and misinformation of some who seem to feel called upon to pronounce judgment.
If a person acts contrary to the laws of God—whether through ignorance, folly, or sin—that person does have to bear certain consequences in the suffering of body, mind, and emotions. There often is a quite direct cause-effect relationship. (Lung cancer is allegedly linked to tobacco smoke, for instance.) But not all sickness can be said to result from this cause-effect relationship. As a part of the great human family we may suffer liabilities that we do not individually deserve just as we enjoy certain blessings and assets which we did not personally earn. “No man is an island,” said John Donne. Each of us is linked to the great mainland of humanity. It is in this broader sense that sickness is related to sin—or rather, to the sinful condition.
So when we see Christ healing as well as forgiving, we have evidence that the intention of God is health and wholeness. Two heresies rob us of living faith. One is that the sick person is under condemnation because of personal sin. Another is that sickness is “normal” or that God sends sickness upon us for our spiritual growth or discipline. Nowhere does Jesus either condemn the sick or urge people to live with their sickness. He healed them! Healing was a unique expression of God's love.
His Methods of Healing
Jesus used no one method or approach in healing the sick. He had no single formula. His divine sensitivity enabled him to know, in each case, what was needed and to touch the trigger that would inspire faith. Sometimes he seemed to use what a psychologist today would call suggestion. Four examples would be: the cleansing of the leper (Mark 1:40–45), the ten lepers (Luke 17:11–19), the woman with the hemorrhage (Mark 5:25–34), and the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–18). He used a different approach with the demoniac (Mark 5:1–20) and the man “possessed” at Capernaum (Mark 1:23–28). Such instances as Jairus' daughter (Matt. 9:18–26), the centurion's son, and the nobleman's slave (which could be different accounts of the same incident—see Matt. 8:5–13, Luke 7:1–10, John 4:46–54), seem to involve the faith of other persons. These instances should be sufficient to indicate that our Lord made a different and creative approach in each case. A thorough investigation of this by a responsible scholar would inform us all.
Jesus' ministry, then, was one directed toward the wholeness of each person. That included physical healing, which seemed to be a unique and special expression of his great compassion and redemptive power.
For Discussion
1. Why do you think Jesus did so much healing? What was his purpose in it?
2. What method(s) did Jesus use in healing, and why? How can we understand his various approaches to people? Can we use his methods?
3. Do you feel uneasy about this business of healing today? Can we realistically hope for results? Where and how do we most often miss it?
4. How much did Jesus' special divine insight have to do with his healings? Can we develop any such discernment? or is the “gift of discernment” operable in this connection?
Chapter 4
Healing in the Early Church
JESUS left no question or uncertainty about his intention that such healing work as he had done should go on after his own earthly ministry was over. His promise was breathtaking: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:12–13). According to Matthew's account, he had sent out the Twelve with the clear instruction to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Matt. 10:8).
He himself had set the example before them and demonstrated the power of God. How very aware they must have been of his own ministry as, in the early church, they sought to carry on the work he did! When they were gathered together in the Upper Room prior to the Pentecost experience, they were faced with the need to choose another person to take the place of Judas who had defected. They recognized some basic requirements that such a person would have to meet. He would have to be “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to the resurrection” (Acts 1:21–22). In short, the twelve apostles were men who had lived with Jesus and worked with him intimately, and who were witnesses to his Resurrection. They had to be fully aware of Jesus' teaching, healing, and saving power. Jesus was still central. He had promised to always be with them. They lived in the freshness and excitement of the Resurrection, along with the personal impact of his spirit upon their lives. From the very first, healing was an integral part of the Church's ministry.
Healing through the Apostles
Right after the Day of Pentecost, “Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple … And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, ‘Look at us’ … Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:1–8). The immediate result was “wonder and amazement”—and persecution!
The Acts of the Apostles is a record replete with accounts of healing, miraculous deliverance, powerful influence, rebuking of evil, and contagious evangelistic spirit. “Now many signs and wonders were done among the people,” says the account, “by the hands of the apostles.” The quality of fellowship and spiritual power was so great among them that “none of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high honor” (Acts 5:12). It was a time of tremendous spiritual vitality arising out of simple faith. (One should add that certainly it was not Peter's shadow that healed anybody, but the power of God through their childlike faith.)
Healing Not Limited to The Apostles
While the twelve apostles seemed to have a special faith for healing, others also prayed for the sick with success. For instance, Paul was powerfully used in such ministry. At Lystra a man who had been badly crippled from the very time of his birth was healed when Paul commanded, “Stand upright on your feet.” The record says that “he sprang up and walked” (Acts 14:10). The crowd was so electrified that some claimed Paul and his companion Barnabas were gods. But Paul and Barnabas stoutly protested that they were only the servants of the living God who had created all things.
Always the healing was in the name of Jesus. The early Christians never attempted miracles in their own power. They knew better than that. They went as the representatives of Jesus, the Christ. They gave to him all the glory. A careful reading of the Acts of the Apostles will convince us that the power of God by the name of Jesus was very real and demonstrable in the first-century church.
There was a significant use of united prayer and faith. Jesus had promised that “if two of you [even two!] agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:19–20). There seemed to be a special focus of power in agreement, in the uniting of minds, in the mutual support of faith. Throughout the New Testament this power of agreement and focused concern is seen. It must be one of our major emphases in the consideration of healing and other miracles.
When Peter and John faced the scowling Sanhedrin, boldly declaring that the lame man had been healed by the power of Jesus, they did so with a group of praying people behind them. When Peter, who had been thrown into prison, was delivered by God's power, it was because a group of believers had gathered and prayed as one. That was the secret of much of the power in the early church—a secret now sometimes overlooked.
Gifts of the Spirit
It was Paul, apostle to the Gentile world, who wrote most about the gifts of the Spirit. In his letter to the Christian believers in Corinth, he gave a rather full list of these spiritual gifts (though one notices that his three lists in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4 are not identical, leading to the impression that these lists are suggestive rather than exhaustive). Among the gifts he listed were those of healing and the working of miracles (1 Cor. 12:9–10).
According to Paul, a gift of the Spirit is an equipment for service. The gift of healing, then, was the divinely given capacity for compassion and faith as a means of healing. Likewise the gift of working miracles. Healing was a normal part of the ministry of the Church in that time, just as much as prophecy or knowledge or wisdom. Healing was not the specialty of peripheral cults or glamour personalities or other tangential movements. It was very much a normal function of the fellowship. One can imagine their meetings as they gathered—often secretly—in homes or wherever they could. Knit together in deep fellowship of the Spirit, desperately needing the support of praying and loving friends, they faced the hostility and persecution; they brought their cares and burdens, their bodily illness and suffering into the redemptive atmosphere of love. One can imagine some of the beloved leaders gathering around the suffering one with the whole group united in believing love. They apparently had the custom of laying their hands on the sick after anointing with oil. We have no way to know very much about their actual customs. But we may safely surmise that they were informal and personal in their relationships, probably with a great deal of sharing of their experiences and lives.
Call for the Elders
It was James—the down-to-earth, practical man—who gave the most specific instruction we have on record with regard to praying for the sick. “Is any among you sick? 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; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:14–16a). This was not intended as a ritual to be observed or a ceremony to be carried out. It is the common-sense instruction for an orderly way to bring the greatest dimension of meaning and faith. It was to take place in the fellowship of loving, believing friends. The call or request for prayer was made by the sick one. It was at his or her own initiation, no doubt after some personal preparation, for the apostle had just said, “Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray …” (v. 13). The person was to pray for himself or herself first, then call for the elders (natural leaders) of the Christian fellowship. The prayer for healing was more than a lonely, individual prayer. The whole body of believers shared in the burden.
In the instruction also is the provision for open confession of needs, problems, and heartaches—even of faults and sins. That is sound advice. Healing takes place in an atmosphere of honesty and openness. Confession is often the prerequisite to healing. And when the healing comes, forgiveness comes also. This intimate association between physical and spiritual healing is not strange in the Bible. As pointed out before, physical and spiritual healing go together. The preaching of redemption in Christ is accompanied by healing. It is God “who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.”
Resurrection Power
According to the New Testament, the whole healing ministry related to the reality of the Resurrection of the Lord who was regnantly present among his subjects in his “body,” the Church. He acted in and through the Church in the same manner and with the same power as he did during his physical presence and ministry among them. So it was that, in accordance with the clear commands of its Lord, the Church carried forward the ministry of Christ himself. “He that believeth on me,” Jesus had said, “the works that I do shall he do also.” The early church conceived its mission in those terms.
So for the first century church the healing of the sick was an integral part of the message and mission. It was one of the most powerful signs of his authenticating presence and power.
In the Roman letter, Paul explains the direct relationship between the Resurrection and the new life given to the believer. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you” (8:11). While this text does not refer primarily to physical healing, the principle is there and it manifestly bears meaning for healing.
Elements of Healing
Nowhere does the New Testament give us, in order, the essential elements of healing. But we can see some basic elements in it nonetheless. The first surely would be compassion. The Lord Jesus was “moved with compassion” again and again. He cared. He gravitated to the needy, the sick, the lonely, and the lost. The early Christians deeply cared for one another.
Peter and John, at the gate of the Temple, fixed their eyes on the lame man and said, “Look at us.” Contact! There was something deeply personal and compassionate in their dealings.
Healings were totally dependent upon the power of the resurrected Christ. “Silver and gold have I none,” said Peter to the lame man, “but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth …” That was the crux of their message and the secret of their success. Everything they said and did was in His name.
There was authority in that name. They said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Peter knew himself to be a representative of Jesus' name. It was by Jesus' authority that he was given authority. His was a derived authority. The true authority was Jesus Christ. The phenomenal events of the New Testament can be understood only by knowing how absolutely central Jesus was in the fellowship of believers. Wherever two or three were gathered together in his name, there he was also. The Healer himself was among them.
For Discussion
1. What did the early church have that we do not have? anything?
2. Was divine healing to be limited to the apostolic days? When Jesus said, “Greater works than these shall ye do,” did he mean us? Did he have reference to quality of works? or to quantity?
3. Do only certain persons have access to divine healing powers? Only those with the “gift” of healing? What about the rest of us?
4. What special value is there in agreement among two or more persons when we pray for the sick?
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