And He Healed them all: Examples of Healing XII.mp3
Key Text:
John 6:22-59
Isa. 55:1-11
Psalm 103:3-5
Overview:
Tonight we covered the purpose of signs – esp. in regards to healing.
We essentially worked our way through John 6:22-59, paying particular attention to the way this group of people treated the revelation God had given them the previous day when Jesus had blessed the fish and bread to feed them (over 5,000 people).
That these people actually had “ears to hear” on the first day they met Christ and had placed their faith in Him as their Messiah is made event by verses 14 & 15,
“When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet Who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.” ~ John 6:14-15
Yet, less than 24 hours later they had lost their confidence and required Jesus to preform another sign. To which Jesus said,
“In most solemn truth I tell you, that you are searching for Me not because you have seen miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had a hearty meal.” ~ John 6:26
So we asked the question…What then is the point of a sign? It was to bring a person to the place of INITIAL relational trust in Jesus.
However, signs were clearly not intended to be repeat performances for long durations of time. Most often in Christ’s ministry we see Him perform signs and wonders once in a crowd, but from that point forward, He expected them to believe.
This is SO important in regards to healing. Sickness and diseases are things which have a tendency to shake us to our core. But if that core is where we really dwell in intentional union with Christ, we will find faith rising up very quickly to vanquish our foe.
That Christ saw sickness and disease as the work of the enemy, and not as a “means to encourage good” (as many today see it) is evident – not only in His ministry but throughout the Holy Word of God. We will address this in a moment.
After Jesus had already healed [John 6:2] and fed them [John 6:5-14] they were still not convinced. They were still seeking a hand out without giving a commitment to His Lordship. So Jesus shot straight with them and said,
“Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal.”
Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.“
When Jesus was able to offer to mankind an answer to what man should busy himself doing – what labor he should occupy his time pursuing He said – TRUST ME!
That’s it!
That reminds me of Mary and Martha. It was not that the “things” Martha was doing were wrong or even unnecessary – they were simply not the most expedient thing to be engaged in at the moment. Mary had chosen well to sit at Christ’s feet and it would not be taken from her!
Never the less these people Jesus was speaking to persisted in their ignorance – which only applies to us because so often we do the same things.
So they said to Him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”
Can you believe it?! After all of this they are STILL wanting a sign. It seems unbelievable that people can be this dense – at least until we look in the mirror and remember similar statements seeking for external assurances before committing our hearts entirely to Him.
Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
They said to Him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe (trust).
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out.”
The major point of this less was simply that signs are for those who have not tasted of His good yet – but for those who have, they will most likely not be given another sign. At some point God expects those who have partaken of His grace, to commit to Him in relational trust. If this is true for the non-Christian…how much more should He be able to anticipate our coming to Him in relational trust now- WITHOUT the need for signs.
This holds true for us when we come to Him for healing. God is not aloof and will not deny His children, but so often we only offer fleeting trust and do not really seek His face but the sign.
Isaiah 55 tells us to come to the waters and drink. Come to Him and listen diligently and LET our soul delight itself in abundance but this CANNOT happen if we are seeking the sign and not His person!
We often find ourselves waiting for Him to come to us, when His word to us is to come to Him. – And not only come but LISTEN. -And not only listen, but do so DILIGENTLY!
Those who came to Him that day where lazy listeners. They only casually heard His words and only in the hopes of exploiting Him for another sign.
Did Jesus see sickness and disease as the work of the enemy?
Why did God tell Israel that if they kept His commandments He would allow none of the diseases that afflicted the surrounding nations to come upon them?
Why did the psalmist say,
“Bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy Name…
Who forgives all your sins.
Who heals ALL YOUR DISEASES!”
Now I am not a large fan of applying dialectical thinking into theology as the only guiding principle leading to truth, but in this case I believe it is a clear and uncluttered path to an obvious truth which could set many people free.
If all we did was consider a few basic things consistent throughout scripture, it would put to rest three primary arguments concerning healing.
These arguments are as follows:
- Whether sickness is considered “good” by God because of the good that He can bring out of it.
- Whether healing is sometimes NOT the desire of God and in fact run contrary to His purposes and goals.
- Whether sickness (meaning its existence) is the work of satan or God.
Consider the following things from scripture:
- What does the creation and our future in “heaven” tell us about God’s view of sickness? God does not create, inspire nor desire sickness.
- What is sickness? Sickness has NO definition outside of perfect health. Meaning, If God had not created us WHOLE and WELL, we would have had no standard for realizing when our bodies were broken. In other words, sickness is to cripple, distort and destroy what God designed and desired.
- How and when did sickness come into the world? When we changed lords.
- What did Jesus come to do? Destroy the works of the devil.
- What are the works of the devil? To steal, kill and destroy.
- What were Christ’s works? He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
What is the testimony of scripture on this point?
“So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. All of us are here now in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has ordered you to say.” Then Peter opened his mouth and said, “Now I understand that God shows no partiality. Indeed, the person who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him in any nation. He has sent His word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus Christ. This Man is the Lord of everyone. You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.“ ~ Acts 10:33-38
Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me you’ve seen the Father.”
Matt. 4:24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
Matt. 8:16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
Matt. 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
Luke 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
The New Testament is replete with examples of Jesus NEVER DENYING HEALING TO ANYONE EVER!
- Is it fair to say that God would deliberately distort His handiwork by sickness and disease in order that good may come? Absolutely NOT. How can Gods truth excel through a lie?!
Paul argued the same point…
“There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the utterances of God. What if some of them were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness cannot cancel God’s faithfulness, can it? Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written, “You are right when you speak, and win your case when you go into court.” But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God’s righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.) Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world? For if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness increases to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? Or can we say-as some people slander us by claiming that we say-“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!” ~ Rom 3:2-8
The question is NOT – CAN God use sickness. That is just a stupid question – God can use ANYTHING! Furthermore it is side stepping the real question the Christian should be concerned with…
Is sickness and disease something God designed and desires to inflict upon His children? If the answer is NO then we must change our approach to healing NOT for our sake, but for the sake of His great Name.
Even if, God did occasionally choose to use sickness as a favored tool to cause His children to comply with His will through pain – you are on shaky ground to find support for it in scripture. Furthermore, if Jesus’ ministry is any indication, nearly everyone who would ever come to Him would not be denied – so that you are in the 99% chance that you are one He would heal. The problem is, we do not really believe that – in fact, it is easier to believe that we will somehow fall into the very obscure 1%! That my brother and sister IS an issue of faith or rather – doubt!
