The Messiah - Part 19

His Healing Ministry

Isaiah 35:4-10 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Here is a prophecy that was partially fulfilled at the coming of Jesus the 1st time when He went about healing the sick. That was only part of the fulfillment. At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ complete restoration and healing will occur. There will be a highway of holiness where the redeemed and the ransomed of the Lord will walk. There will be joy, peace and love. Sorrow and sighing will flee and not be found. The unclean shall not enter this place.

Unclean could not mean naturally dirty and without bathing or washing. Unclean means spiritually unclean or full of sin. To redeem means to make a payment for something to be saved or redeemed. Someone had to redeem those who are called the redeemed. To ransom or rescue also means the same thing. Someone had to save these redeemed who walk in the New Kingdom. Someone had to pay the ransom for them to be saved.

I sincerely believe that Jesus Christ fits this prophecy. He came to save and redeem. He came to heal that which is broken. He was the perfect spotless sacrifice to pay for all of our sins and bring us healing as well as salvation. What joy it is to think of what awaits those who receive Christ and continues to walk in Him. We don't have to wait for some of the gifts He gives. He gives us the Holy Spirit to abide within us while we wait for His return. The Holy Spirit directs our paths and shows us how to serve the Lord occupying until His return or we are called home by with of natural death. Our soul and spirit do not die.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Some seem to think that the phrase, "With His stripes we are healed", means spiritual healing. I think sincerely that it means both the physical and the spiritual. Many times in the New Testament Jesus would go to heal the sick and instead of saying, "Be Healed," He would say, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." He was saying that He had the power to forgive sins as well as heal the sick. Jesus took care of both the physical and the spiritual need of mankind at the same time. Jesus came the first time to heal, save and make the sacrifice for all the sins of the whole world. That work on the cross will only count for those who believe and receive this.

Matthew 9:2-6 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

We see then that when Jesus healed sicknesses, He forgave sins at the same time. This did not stop at the time of Christ. Why? Because it is still the time of Christ. Just because Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and not still walking among us does not mean that He doesn't heal today. That never stopped. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. We just need to believe these things to receive them.

Matthew 11:4-6 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

John the Baptist preached repentance of sin but he didn't heal the sick. Jesus came to do both. This was a sign that Jesus was truly the Messiah and savior of the world. No one before had ever done this. There are some isolated cases of healing in the Old Testament but it wasn't done on a large scale until Jesus. This was one of the signs that He was God in the flesh, the Messiah and the Son of God.

Mark 5:25-29 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

Many times through faith in Jesus Christ people have been physically healed. I see this as a foretaste of what is to come. When we are physically healed our bodies still will die at some point in the future if the Lord's coming does not occur in our lifetime. The day is coming however when we will receive the ultimate healing which will last forever. At the great future resurrection day, the resurrected faithful believers in Jesus Christ will receive new bodies that can never die again. Jesus through His resurrection was the first fruits of all of those who sleep. All believers after Jesus' resurrection will be resurrected.

There are two resurrections. One occurs exactly 1000 years before the other. The first resurrection occurs at the Second Coming of Christ and it is just for the faithful in Christ Jesus. The second resurrection is one of judgment and all that have ever been born as humans will face the great judgment day of God to be judged for their sins. If they neglected to allow Jesus to take away their sins then they have to pay for their own sins.

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

If you are reading this and have not yet Received Jesus Christ into your life then please do not delay. The above verses may seem severe but a big price has been paid for you to be saved. You do not have to be lost. You can be saved. Jesus suffered in your place and remained on the cross until death when He could have called the angels to rescue Him. Sin is expensive. It costs a lot to get rid of sin. Jesus paid the cost. We don't have to.

You may say that I'm too bad and I'm not worthy to enter heaven. Well, none of us are. All have sinned and all need a savior from sin. That is the wonderful news that grace brings. Jesus came to save all of us that do not deserve to be saved. All we have to do is believe this. It is through the grace and mercy of God that we are saved. We don't deserve it. God gives it as a gift.

If you win a big prize in a drawing of names or contest, you don't refuse it because you think that you don't deserve it. If a rich relative dies and leaves you his fortune, you probably wouldn't refuse it because you didn't do anything to earn it. We don't deserve God's grace and gift of eternal life yet if we refuse it, it is like slapping Him in the face and rejecting His gift. He wants us to be saved more than we want to be saved.

On the other hand you may feel that you have never done anything bad and do not need to be saved. Maybe you've given to the poor and done many good things to help others. You still need God's salvation. You can't earn a place in Heaven by just doing good deeds. That doesn't mean that we don't do good things but Heaven can't be achieved solely by doing good things, we all have to come the same way. Jesus paid a price of great sacrifice and suffering to give us eternal life and there is no other way to be saved.

Ephesians 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Romans 3:22-26 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

It is the same to all. All have sinned and all need to be saved. Jew, Greek, Roman, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, every religion, every race, man, woman, and child at the age of accountability need to be saved.

Religion cannot save. Good works cannot save. Being good cannot save. Repenting of sin and receiving the free gift of salvation is the only way to be saved from sin and inherit eternal life.

There is no other way. It is a simple and easy step you can take. It is so simple that a child can receive it. Child-like faith is all we need to be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. He is waiting for all of us. He is waiting for you. DC

Messiah Index

Messiah part 20