Healing How Jesus Healed

During Jesus' ministry on Earth, He healed many people. In fact, He healed everyone that came to Him according to what is written in Scripture.

Matthew 8:2-3

“And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

Matthew 8:5-10,13   
“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.  And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.  When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.   And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.” 

Matthew 8:14-17 
” And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.  And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.  When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

If you notice, in each of these examples, the people came to Him. Why? He had a reputation for healing and miracles. The point here is that Jesus healed as He went about His day. Seeking people out was not His M.O. That's not to say we can't do it but Jesus didn't. At least we are not told He did it that way.  

Let's take a look at each of these instances:

Matthew 8:2-3 - 

     He was asked if He could heal him and Jesus simply declared him clean from leprosy

Matthew 8:14-17 - 

     In this instance Jesus simply laid his hand on the woman and the fever left her.

Matthew 8:5-10,13 - 

     Jesus was willing to go to the Centurion's home to heal his servant but due to his faith, Jesus simply stated that because he believed that Jesus could heal him, that he was declared healed.

In the first two examples, Jesus simply touched them and declared them healed. In the third

example, Jesus simply declared the man healed. In all three, however, there is one common theme: faith.

Hebrews 11:6 comes to mind:  "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Faith is a necessary prerequisite for healing. Yes, God can heal you even if you don't believe He can. Will He, possibly, but if you really want to see God at work in your life, have faith!

In the New King James version, faith is mentioned 243 times. Do you think it's important? Yep!

Let's look briefly at another facet of healing. When did Jesus heal? Did He go with the express intent of healing? I don't think so. Many times in the New Testament, we see that Jesus was traveling from point A to point B and while He was on His way, He healed people.

Matthew 9:35 
“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”

You see, our mission is to live our lives and in doing so, to bring the good news of the Gospel to others. Yes, some are called to be ministers, but that's not the point here. If I go to the grocery store (which I am about to do), I pray for open doors to minister God's healing power.

"But wait!,"  you ask. "Can I heal like Jesus did?" Yes, you can. Read on...

Matthew 10:1,7-8 
“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give”

Thankfully, we have, in the words of one of my favorite songs, been given "the very same power that raised Christ from the dead". Jesus commanded us to heal, cleanse, raise and cast out all manner of sickness, disease and demonic presence. Notice what He didn't say here. He didn't say, "Go pray over the sick so that maybe they would be healed". He commanded us to go heal, cleanse, raise, and cast out.

Go heal someone today and share your experience! WOOHOOO!!!™

Forgiveness

Today in Sunday School, we discussed forgiveness: What it is, what it isn't and how it affects us.

May people have the mistaken belief that forgiveness is the same as forgetting. In actuality, forgiveness has nothing to do with forgetting the sins that others have done to you. Below I am going to post 10 rules about forgiveness.

1. Forgiveness is not the approval or minimization of sin. When someone hurts you, Christian forgiveness does not mean that others should minimize your  pain or just pass it off as "Well, it's ok. He's only human. We all sin." This is a very dangerous thing. It can fester and grow inside of you if you take this approach and lead to real pain in the future if not dealt with properly.

2. Forgiveness is not enabling sin. Let me explain this one by example: If someone steals from you, you simply cannot forgive them and then lay a $100 bill on the table trusting that they won't take it. You should be responsible with your money and not enable  someone who has sinned against you.

3. Forgiveness is not denying wrongdoing. Using the above example, it would be wrong for me to state that he didn't do anything wrong thinking "He was just trying to feed his family." While that may be true, stealing is stealing just the same. 

4. Forgiveness is not waiting for an apology.  Some say, "I'll forgive that person when they come and apologize to me for what they've done." That is the farthest thing from true forgiveness. Remember this: You should truly forgive them whether or not they admit fault. Their actions should have no bearing on your forgiveness of them.

5. Forgiveness is not forgetting. If someone steals from me, yes, I should forgive them for what they've done, but I will probably never forget what they have done. These are two different things.

6. Forgiveness is not not feeling pain. When someone hurts you in some way, you will feel pain. This is a natural human emotion and does not mean you have sinned if you still feel pain for what that person has done to you. If someone steals from me, that pain will linger with me for quite a while. This does not mean I haven't forgiven the person.

7. Forgiveness is not a 1-time event. Like #6 above, most likely, I will have to continually forgive that person simply because that pain will continually remind me of what they've done and will have to really work to remember that God has forgiven them and so should I on a daily basis.

8. Forgiveness is not neglecting justice. If a thief steals from me, my forgiveness does not let them off the hook with the authorities no matter what I say. They will still have to face the consequences of their actions.

9. Forgiveness is not trusting. I will tell you this, that person who steals from me will not and should not be put in a place of fiscal responsibility for a long time, if ever. That would be silly. Yes, maybe after a period of time, they should be given the opportunity to prove themselves if they desire to, but do so with caution.

10. Forgiveness is not reconciliation. It is possible that the  person who steals may have done irreparable harm to our relationship. That reconciliation process is completely independent of forgiveness.

Your responsibility when someone hurts you is to forgive the person in love but at the same time being smart and using the Holy Spirit as a guide during the healing process. He is always there for you.

One challenge I have for you is to pray about any unforgiveness that you are harboring and ask God to help you to forgive that person.  You will be amazed at how freeing it is and how God will change your heart through forgiveness. 

Until next time, blessings and abundance in Jesus!

Joel