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Healing Scriptures of the Bible NT
As we continue our study of the Scriptures about healing from Part One we will move into the life of Jesus. In Part Two of this study we will look from the Old Testament promises to the New Testament fulfillment.
The coming Messiah
The best place to start our study of Jesus and His healing ministry is in Isaiah. Yes, I know that Isaiah is not in the New Testament; however, God told Isaiah what the Messiah would do.
For Jesus to be the Messiah He had to fulfill the prophecies we find in Isaiah 53. In this passage, we find healing is an explicit part of the atonement. We will see that Jesus did fulfill all that is written in this passage.
The prophet Isaiah tells of the coming Messiah and what He will do for those who care.
So, before we get to Jesus and His disciples let’s see what Isaiah tells us about this coming Messiah or Christ.
You should read Isaiah’s testimony about healing and atonement found in Isaiah 53:1-10. In this study, I will only cover a few of the verses to explain how they define Jesus’ ministry.
The prophecies Jesus fulfilled
Our eternal salvation is what we normally think about when we think of Jesus. How He died on the cross for our sins and gave us access to God the Father. This is how it should be, but we need to look at all of God’s provisions.
Jesus did much more for us. Isaiah says, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 NKJV
Why did God do this?
Isaiah is expressing God’s plan for rescuing all mankind from their wicked ways. When God gave us free will He knew that we would go astray, but He wanted us to follow Him because we loved Him. God wants us to choose and obey Him out of our love for Him, not because we have no other choice.
So from the beginning, God planned to provide us with a way to be with Him in Heaven. Jesus is that way, but God’s plan was bigger still. He also wanted to provide healing through the same Savior.
Let’s look at the prophecies!
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 NKJV Paul quotes this same Scripture in Romans to illustrate our need for Jesus as our Savior.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. Isaiah 53:10 NKJV
There are three bold statements in this passage concerning healing in the atonement.
The Hebrew word used for grief means physical pain and mental pain. These healing Scriptures of the Bible tell us that the Messiah would take upon Himself our hurt as well as our sin. The Messiah came to give us salvation from sin, and also to give us healing.
Verse 4—He has borne our griefs. The Hebrew word for grief includes sicknesses.
Verse 5—By His stripes, we are healed. Healed includes emotional and physical healing.
Verse 10—He has put Him to grief. The amplified version says, “He has put Him to grief and made Him sick.”
What happened when Jesus became sin for us?
As followers of Jesus, we all know the price He paid on the cross for our sins. We have heard that message preached many times.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
We understand that through Jesus, our sins are no more. They are gone forever, as far as the East from the West. Gone! Praise God!
When we accepted the message of salvation, Jesus took our sins. First, God gave us the faith to believe in Jesus, and once we accepted His gift of grace, we are free of sin. We can now enter into the presence of God.
What we seldom hear
We seldom hear that Jesus died to bring us healing of our physical bodies. But, this is part of the covenant. God promises forgiveness of our sins and that he will bring healing.
In the same sense that He became sin for us that we might be righteous, He also became diseased and sick so that we might be healed and made whole.
The above Scriptures show healing is a part of the atoning work of Christ. We have redemption through the precious blood He shed and the stripes that Jesus bore for our healing. He took our diseases as well as our sins.
We find fulfillment in the New Testament of these Scriptures from Isaiah.
The evidence that He was the Messiah
Matthew takes time in his Gospel to point out the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He considered this fulfillment to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. Therefore, he ties it to the prophecy in Isaiah 53:4.
He wanted you to know that he was an eyewitness to these events, and they proved that Jesus was the Messiah. He did not stop with these healings but listed many, many more healing Scriptures of the Bible.
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, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.” Matthew 8:16-17 NKJV
Jesus was committed to the healing covenant.
Jesus taught with authority the truths of God, and he practiced healing the sick throughout His ministry.
His practice of healing proved that He was the Messiah. It showed that He had a commitment of healing to all who came unto Him. We must also remember that “Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 NKJV
Jesus did not just heal a few. The Scripture is full of accounts of His healing the sick. For example, in Scriptures such as Matthew 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
There are also these Scriptures about healing from people simply touching Him.
Matthew 14:36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Luke 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
Stop for just a moment and think about these Scriptures. Let your mind create a vision of the sick healed. Blind people are seeing for the first time. Those who were deaf were hearing for the first time. Those who could not walk before are now helping others come to the one who had healed them.
Which is harder healing or forgiveness?
In Mark, Jesus ties the two together. Like many of His miracles, He teaches and proclaims who He is simultaneously. Jesus wanted to let those who would condemn Him know that He was more than a healer. He was the One with the authority to heal and forgive sins.
So He says, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? Mark 2:9
Sin and sickness came through the sin of Adam and Eve. Therefore, healing and forgiveness will come from our Savior as promised in the Old Testament.
Jesus constantly proclaimed His authority over sickness and to cast out demons. Even after His crucifixion, we see Him working through the Apostles to heal the sick.
Healing is always part of the Church
Healing has always been a part of the Christian tradition. We have the example of God healing a cripple through Peter. In this case, Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Acts 3:6 NKJV
As you search for healing Scriptures in the Bible, you will find many more examples.
Praying for the sick is commanded by James the brother of Jesus, 14 Is anyone 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. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. James 5:14-15 NKJV
Most denominations have ignored James’s instructions to the church.
Why?
If a person does not receive healing, the Church leaders do not want to explain why. It is easier just not to pray for someone’s healing. If the person is not healed, they believe it reflects on them.
If more churches prayed sincerely, believing that God can and will heal, you would see many more people healed. As God healed more, you would find more asking for prayer.
The church is trained not to expect answers to their prayers for healing. However, when God heals someone, you see people openly proclaiming that they prayed for the sick person.
It is time we start consistently praying for God to heal the sick. Then, God will honor our prayers and heal those He chooses. Part of God’s plan is that we exercise our faith in asking for healing.
If you believe in God’s promise to heal, you need to answer two questions. The answers will make your faith stronger. They are simple questions with simple answers.
The two questions we need to ask:
First, since Jesus died for our sins, how many of us is God willing to forgive?
You know the answer, “Whoever believes.”
Secondly, since by “His stripes we are healed,” who will He heal?
The answer is, “Whoever asks in faith.”
I do not know why forgiveness is easier to receive than healing. It seems clear that one was no more complicated than the other with Jesus. He healed and He forgave.
The problem is with us. Faith in forgiveness is much more ingrained in the church than faith in healing.
Peter sees healing as already accomplished.
Peter says about Jesus, ” who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV
To me, this is one of the most powerful of the healing Scriptures of the Bible.
This verse from 1st Peter says Jesus bore our sins on the cross, and He healed you by His stripes. Since Jesus did it, now it is up to us to accept it by faith.
You cannot see His salvation.
You cannot see salvation, and you may not see healing. Both salvation and healing are by faith. Healing is as much a part of the Atonement and the New Covenant as forgiveness of sin.
The same Bible that invites “whosoever” to be forgiven of their sins, also invites all to be healed of their sicknesses.
Christ always forgave sins, always healed sicknesses.
Likewise, the Scripture that says, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body,” also says, “by whose stripes you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV
The same Scripture that says, “Who forgives all your iniquities,” also says, “Who heals all your diseases.” Psalm 103:3 NKJV
Healing is simply the salvation of Jesus Christ taking divine action in your body as it did in your soul.
Why do Christians fail to get healed?
There are about 50 scriptures that are considered healing Scriptures of the Bible. So, I have listed a few of them to show that healing has always been a part of God’s plan.
Now I would like to spend some time on why we don’t see more healing. Healing was evident in the Old and New Testaments. God has promised to heal those who call upon Him.
If all of this is true, and it is, then why is it so difficult to believe in and receive healing?
There are several reasons.
Some we could correct quickly, but others require much greater effort. Let’s look at some of the factors that can hinder us.
The First Four Reasons
- The number one factor in my experience is that the Church does not teach the healing Scriptures of the Bible. Nor do they teach it as a part of Jesus’s ongoing ministry. Healing is set aside as something in the past. Often the Church teaches us to pray for the sick but does not encourage us to believe that God is still active in healing.
- Lack of faith in both the one praying and the one seeking healing– we must believe to receive. It takes faith for healing to happen. – Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. Acts 14:9-10 NKJV.
- You cannot have an unrepentant heart and unconfessed sin – But your iniquities have separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear. Isaiah 59:2 NKJV
- If you are double-minded, you believe, but doubt, you are not fully convinced – 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-8 NKJV
The Second four reasons
- Self Indulgence –Asking to benefit you. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3 NKJV
- You are indifferent towards God and His will. 28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord,30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. Proverbs 1:28-30 NKJV
- You cannot build your faith on your worldly experience, circumstances, or unanswered questions concerning healing. It must be on the Word of God – 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 NKJV
- Unscriptural beliefs about healing – 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV
Other Factors
Jesus was not able to do mighty works in His home area even though His faith was always in the fullness of the Spirit. Why? Because of their unbelief. 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Mathew 13:58 NKJV
- Jesus sent out His disciples under His anointing, and they healed people, yet there were times they failed. God did not heal all Christians. Like Paul leaving Trophimus sick, 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. Paul also spoke of Timothy’s sickness in 1 Timothy 5:23
- Note that Paul realized his lack of perfection and lack of faith but still made a commitment to press on to God’s perfect will – Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Philippians 3:13-15 NKJV
Note: As believers
- As believers, we will not always see healing in some instant form. God does not always heal instantly by prayer and the laying on of hands. Nevertheless, he is God, and He does choose how to perform His wonders.
- We, as believers, need to keep in mind that Apostles were men with all our weaknesses. Each of us needs to remember to press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. We have not yet appropriated the fullness of the atonement provision in our lives. Therefore, even though Jesus made full provision for us in the atonement, we have not received the fullness of our salvation, but never-the-less we press on to that which Christ Jesus has already laid hold of for us.
- Another factor to consider is that the Body of Christ as a whole is still in an unperfected state. Nevertheless, the more the Body of Christ comes into the stature and fullness of Christ, the more we will be able to partake of the blessings such as healing.
Conclusion
I pray that these Scriptures will help increase your faith in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ in the Church today. You may or may not be healed in the way you ask. God is not on your schedule. Like praying for anything you may have to wait.
God may also say no! He did with Paul. Paul ministered God’s healing to many and yet was not healed himself of at least one thing he prayed for.
The Bottom Line is that the healing Scriptures in the Bible should increase your faith.
Faith and healing come from a heart convinced of God’s will to heal.
Jesus made a New Covenant with us that includes healing.
He cannot deny Himself or altar the covenant.
In Psalms 89:34, God says, My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out.
Click HERE to go to Part One
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