Healing - Scripture cross-reference

Paragraph

Text

1







 

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

Divine healing is a miracle which God in His mercy and love may extend to those who call upon Him in time of need, according to faith and/or other factors. Christians are encouraged to appreciate this special benefit from God as well as to do everything they can for themselves in times of illness or injury by seeking the most competent professional help. Faith in God for healing does not conflict with the use of modern medical science. The healings of Jesus Christ demonstrate and represent His power to express compassion, to forgive sin, and ultimately, to resurrect the dead and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
to the top

It is quite evident that God is not healing today in the same manner or to the same degree that He did in early New Testament times. It is equally evident that the physiological knowledge and medical expertise of the end of the 20th century is far advanced over that of the middle of the first century (and certainly unrelated to the magical rites and potions of even earlier centuries). Consequently, Christians today can take full advantage of the latest information in health maintenance and the most modern techniques in health care, recognizing that such proper physical concern in no way detracts from one's faith in God.
to the top

Healing may assume various forms in the Bible. The actual biblical usage of the English word "heal" (and the Hebrew and Greek words from which it is translated) is quite broad. It can mean the healing of the body, but is not limited to the physical body; it can refer to the healing of the mind or the emotions (Psalms 147:3); it can have the metaphorical connotation of the healing of the land (2 Chron. 7:14), God's people as a whole (Jer. 6:14; 8:11), the nation of Israel (Lam. 2:13; Hosea 7:1), and gentile nations such as Egypt (Isa. 19:22) and Babylon (Jer. 51:9); it can refer to the healing of inanimate things such as the earth (Psalms 60:2), water (2 Kings 2:21; Ezek. 47:8, 9), and even the "altar of the Lord that was broken down" (1 Kings 18:30, where exactly the same Hebrew word that is usually translated "healed" is translated "repaired"); it can allude to abstract concepts such as the healing of faithlessness or backsliding (Jer. 3:22; Hosea 14:4); it can also be used of spiritual healing, the healing of the " sin-sick soul," as it were (Psalms 41:4; 2 Chron. 7:13, 14; Isa. 57:19; Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27).   
to the top
 

Rafa' is also the same word found in Exodus 21:18, 19:

"When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but keeps his bed, then if the man rises again and walks abroad with his staff, he that struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed."     to the top

This shows that an individual who caused an injury was responsible to have the injured person "healed," indicating that "healing" (rafa’ is not limited to God. 2 Kings 8:29 (also 9:15; 2 Chron. 22:6) reads:     to the top

"And King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah."

The miracle of healing is an act of God's divine grace, which must not be taken lightly. It is therefore important that one understand the topic of healing in the context of the entire Bible. If one approaches the scriptural references to healing without the full biblical context, and out of the context of human experience, he may fix upon them a meaning not supported by logic, common sense or proper biblical exegesis. In this regard, we should consider some important scriptures.   
to the top
 

Among the blessings God offered to the nation of Israel was the removal of diseases from among them. Several statements made to the Israelites in the wilderness show this; perhaps the most familiar is Exodus 15:26:

"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."    
to the top

Exodus 23:25, 26 adds to this:    to the top

"You shall serve the Lord your God, and I will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of you. None shall cast her young or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days."   

The converse of these blessings promised for obedience are the curses pronounced for disobedience. Instead of removing sickness and disease, God would allow these afflictions—along with many other curses—as the natural consequences of man's ways apart from the ways of God. Deuteronomy 28 enumerates these curses in great detail (see especially verses 21, 22, 27, 28, 35, 59-61). The promises are conditional. Blessings come only with obedience; curses automatically follow transgression. But notice that these promises are national rather than individual. Sickness would be removed from the nation to the same extent that barrenness, miscarriages and premature death were taken away. Healing as such is not really promised in these verses except as it is implied in a general way in the promise to remove sickness.    
to the top
 

Several examples of non-healing are also recorded in the New Testament, even during a period when special gifts were possessed by some and astounding healings were being performed by various of the apostles. Paul writes that Epaphroditus was very ill, almost to the point of death (Phil. 2:25-27). But God had mercy on him. Healing was here given as an example of mercy, not of faith or obligation (or at least not of these alone).    
to the top
 

On another occasion, Paul mentions that he had left Trophimus ill in Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20). He does not elaborate on the situation, but illness is taken as a matter of course rather than as some sort of unexpected occurrence. In fact, in an earlier letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul refers to Timothy's "frequent ailments" (1 Tim. 5:23).     
to the top
 

Furthermore, the word translated "save" in verse 15 is the Greek word sozo. As previously explained, sozo is used only a few times in the Bible in reference to a sick person being made well (e.g. Mark. 6:56). The overwhelming majority of times (over 100) that this word is used in the New Testament it is in the spiritual sense of eternal salvation. Likewise, the word "raise" in this verse, egeiro in Greek, can mean "to rouse from sleep or lift up as from a bed or floor"; but egeiro is used most often in the New Testament to represent the resurrection from the dead. (Examples of this usage are found in Matthew 10:8, where the disciples are instructed to "raise the dead, cast out devils"; Matthew 11:5, "the dead are raised up"; Matthew 14:2,"he is risen from the dead"; Matthew 16:21, "and be raised again the third day"; Acts 3:15, "whom God hath raised from the dead"; and Romans 6:4, "as Christ was raised up from the dead.") Thus, while James is primarily speaking of physical healing upon anointing by the elders, he is also alluding to spiritual salvation and the resurrection from the dead. The ambiguity caused by the double meaning of these words no doubt has a purpose. It may have been James' intent to show that God will probably heal the faithful sick person, but certainly shall grant him salvation through the resurrection. James thereby confirms the conditional nature of the promise of physical healing and the unconditional nature of the promise of the resurrection from the dead.    
to the top
 

It is true that the Bible often condemns ancient practitioners who relied on pagan gods, amulets, incantations or other forms of magic. But one cannot extrapolate from ancient superstition, demonology and ignorance to modern scientific medicine. In biblical times the medical arts, primitive by today's standards, were often associated with pagan religions and mystical rites: the line between such "black arts" and pure medicine was hazy.      
to the top
 

One example is the reference to Ahaziah in 2 Kings 1:2:

Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, "Go, inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness."      
to the top
 

This passage does not mean that Ahaziah went to Baalzebub for healing. Firstly, if he had wanted to be healed, he would have gone personally rather than just sending messengers. Secondly, he was only trying to inquire whether he would live or die, nothing more. This implies that he was consulting an oracle to try to find out the future, disobeying God's law in the process, just as Saul had done before his final battle with the Philistines. Professor John Gray in his commentary on Kings states: "daras (literally 'to seek') is used specifically of seeking divine revelation by consulting an oracle, cf. Amos 5:5." Ahaziah should have sought to God concerning his future—therein lay his mistake.   
to the top
 

In Matthew 9:12, Jesus states that: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." This saying is used in a metaphorical sense, yet it and other similar sayings give no feeling of condemnation of physicians. As Wendle Short writes:

Our Lord several times mentions physicians. . . . [None] of these sentences give the impression that the physician was generally looked upon, in Palestine at that time, as a pagan, a charlatan, or hopelessly incompetent" (The Bible and Modern Medicine. p. 30). In Luke 4:23, Jesus quoted the proverb, "Physician, heal thyself," and applied it to Himself with no hint of denigration of physicians in the process. Luke is called "the beloved physician" by Paul in his letter to the Colossians (Col. 4:14). The Greek word used here for "physician" is, iatros and means "one who heals" (cf. the verb iaomai meaning "to heal" which is used in reference to Christ's divine healings many times in the gospels). Since iatros was the normal word for "physician" used through out the Greek world at the time, there is no indication that Luke was any different from other physicians. Nor is anything said about his giving up his pre-conversion practice. (Indeed the reference to Luke as a physician, beloved at that, can be dated at 62-63 A.D.)     
to the top
 

God's earnest desire is for all human beings to live an abundant life in perfect health. This attitude is reflected in the words of the apostle John: "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (3 John 2). The Bible refers to health as a positive standard metaphor with which other things are likened ("the tongue of the wise" in Prov. 12:18 "a faithful ambassador" in Prov. 13:17, "pleasant words" in Prov. 16:24). To this end, the Bible gives basic principles of health which, counted with common sense, experience and modern knowledge, would prevent many of the health problems plaguing modern man.    
to the top
 

To the degree that a person disregards the obvious physical principles of health, such as proper nutrition, adequate sleep and rest, a positive mental outlook, etc., is generally the degree to which one suffers ill health. The obvious exceptions to this are accidents and when disease or affliction is inherited. Even these two cases are many times the result of mankind harming himself, however, because most accidents are the result of carelessness and could have been avoided, and many inherited illnesses no doubt result from the nutritional, environmental, or even medical shortcomings of previous generations. Some obvious examples are the limb less offspring of mothers who ingested the drug thalidomide during pregnancy; the children who are born deaf because their mothers had a disease during pregnancy; and those who have organic brain deficiencies due to malnutrition. It is evident, then, that most of man's health problems are self-generated.  
to the top
 

No matter how much we take care of ourselves, almost all of us become ill or sick from time to time or suffer a misfortune such as an accident. At such times, the biblical record makes plain that God can intervene on behalf of the sick and heal them according to faith and/or other factors. This divine healing process is apart from, and not in conflict with, anything a person can do to help himself. Healing is a "special benefit" which God has made available to His Church. But it is not part of His spiritual, moral law, as it were; and not being healed, therefore, is not a sin. The ill individual should look to man for whatever physical help he can receive but should also look to God to do what man cannot do—supernaturally intervene and divinely remove the illness, sickness or disease.    
to the top
 

Physical sickness and illness can be caused by different factors. At times, it is the general result of violating the principles of health, or perhaps the direct result of a person's own sin (Matthew 9:1-7; John 5:14). At other times, sin is not involved; and the illness or infirmity is inherited (John 9:2) or the result of injury or accident (Luke 13:1-5).     
to the top
 

Whenever sin is involved, healing includes the forgiveness of that sin (Matthew 9:1-7). The final statement in James 5:14 illustrates the point: "and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." The construction used (the Greek particle kan with the subjunctive) expresses uncertainty and doubt. The person may have sinned; on the other hand, he may not have sinned. If the individual is only ill, he shall be healed. But if he has also sinned, his sins shall be forgiven as well.     
to the top
 

In John 9, Jesus confirms that physical debilities are not necessarily caused by sin. The relevant points for our purpose are contained in the first few verses;

"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him." (vv. 1-3)
to the top
 

In another context, Jesus reinforces the fact that the blows of time and chance are not necessarily related to some extraordinary degree of sinfulness:

There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?" (Luke 13:1-5)   
to the top
 

To be sick, therefore, is not necessarily to have sinned. Sickness is sometimes the result of sin and healing sometimes includes the forgiveness of sin. But at all times, whether sin is involved or not, healing is a manifestation of God's mercy and an exemplification of God's love.  
to the top
 

Though there were several notable healings in the Old Testament, by far the most important and consistent healings in history were associated with the ministry of Jesus Christ. Some examples (with references) of these healings follow. By both their quality and quantity, they demonstrate the enormous importance that the New Testament places on the healing miracles of Jesus Christ. The leper, Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16; the Paralytic, Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26; the multitudes, Matthew 4:24-25; Mark 3:7-13; Luke 6:17-19; the centurion, Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10; Peter's mother-in-law, Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39; Jairus' daughter, Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56, blind men, Matthew 9:27-31; 20:30-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43; the Canaanite woman, Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30; the deaf mute, Mark 7:31-37; the blind man at Bethsaida, Mark 8:22-25; the ten lepers, Luke 17:11-19; Sabbath healings, Matthew 12:10-13; Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-6; the officials sick son, John 4:46-54; the restored ear, Luke 22:50-51.
to the top
 

Many other verses confirm the close interdependence between healing and the full scope of Jesus' gospel of the Kingdom (e.g. Matthew 9:35). The association is profound: healing returns the body to its original, pure, wholly sound state; and so it is with the Kingdom of God, which shall return the earth to its original, pure, wholly sound state (referred to as "the times of restitution of all things" in Acts 3:21). Jesus' power to accomplish the former—the physical evidence of His healings was immediate and startling—was the clear demonstration that He likewise had the power to accomplish the latter—and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. In this context, Jesus' frequent casting out of demons as part of the healing process foreshadowed His binding of Satan in establishing the Kingdom of God.     
to the top
 

Jesus also used healing to show His authority over other aspects of God's universe, such as, for example, the Sabbath day. When the religious leaders told the man Jesus had just healed that he should not by carrying his pallet on the Sabbath, the man answered them (probably with great confidence and conviction): "The man, who healed me said to me, 'Take up your pallet, and walk'" John 5:11).     
to the top
 

But the most important aspect of Jesus' spiritual power, that His healing demonstrated to the world was His power to forgive sin, and, ultimately, to resurrect the body from the dead. As noted, the word used in Mark 5:23 to indicate Jesus' physical healing of Jairus' daughter (sozo) is the same word used in about 100 passages to represent spiritual salvation. Jesus' ability to efficaciously heal in the flesh proved His equal ability to assuredly grant salvation in the spirit, thus showing the profound relationship between Jesus' healings and salvation.
to the top
 

Jesus Christ as our Paschal Lamb was intimately acquainted with suffering and sorrow. He suffered the penalty of our sins through His beating, crucifixion and death that we might be relieved of all our infirmities, whether physical, mental or spiritual:

. . . he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne . . . because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. (Isaiah 53:4-5, Today's English Version)     

Or, in more familiar words, 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."     
to the top
 

In quoting this very passage Peter states, "Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross [stake], so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24, TEV) "by whose stripes ye were healed" (KJV). Though healing can take various forms and though by His supreme sacrifice Jesus made all healing possible—spiritual, mental, physical and even environmental—still, the primary intent of Isaiah's prophecy and Peter's reference to it does in fact refer to the healing of our physical bodies and minds. This is clearly shown by the context in which this same passage is once again quoted in Matthew 8:14-17, after Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law:

That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." Furthermore, the Greek word used for healing in 1 Peter 2:24, iaomai, is used almost exclusively in reference to physical healing (yet the context of the verse itself would not exclude a spiritual understanding as well).      
to the top
 

Paul's precise reference and analysis in verse 30 may be difficult to discern. But what is immediately clear is that physical ills do result from spiritual problems. Some commentators feel that the physical sickness and death were a direct result of the Corinthians' sins in profaning the Lord's supper, or were a judgment from God. There is a variation on this theme, however, which could equally apply. This would involve healing—or, more precisely, the absence of it.    
to the top
 

During Jesus' ministry no one except Jesus Himself had God's Holy Spirit; consequently, no one else was empowered with godly faith. Jesus' healings, therefore, served the important purpose of being the overt physical evidence absolutely essential to stimulate His disciples' own human faith; His healings were necessary for even His closest friends to believe in Him as Savior, and it is unlikely that He would have gained any following at all without these miracles. (The fact that His healings were performed to inspire faith in His disciples is seen by the numerous instances when such miracles were accompanied by comments by Christ on the topic of faith, Matthew 9:22, 17:18-20; Mark 9:23; Luke 8:48-50,)     
to the top
 

To understand the Practical application of healing today, several complex interrelationships (such as between faith and healing, and faith and medical procedures) need to be considered. The following points help project the proper perspective:    
to the top
 

Physical life is intrinsically temporal.

A human lifespan is only temporary and was so intended from the time of Adam. Whether it be 969 years, seven decades, three months or one day, each physical life will eventually come to an end. The human body was designed to die. It may come by accident; it may be by disease; or perhaps the body will just wear out. But the statistics for it have never dropped below 100 percent.

God could, of course, preserve physical existence to eternity, but He has not chosen to do so. We know of no case where He has maintained physical life indefinitely, even for the patriarchs and prophets. Yet God has many times chosen to extend physical life temporarily by healing a disease or repairing an injury.

God has healed; He does heal; He will continue to heal as long as there is physical life extant. But the reasons for doing so are always temporal.
to the top
 

Spiritual life is the hope of the Christian.

Once this physical life ends, healing ceases to be a concern, since the body of the resurrection shall be a spiritual one. Healing, therefore, pertains to this life alone and is a short-term, although important concern. One should never forget that the real hope of all true Christians—both for the healthy and for the sick—is eternal spiritual life through the resurrection and not prolonged physical life through healing.

Furthermore, one's ultimate reward is neither determined nor affected by whether he was or was not healed during his physical lifetime.

The fact that we can know by the written record of God's Word that Jesus Christ performed the most amazing and incredible healings during His ministry, and that those healings manifested God's power through Him, should give us great confidence. It is through our faith in the reality of Jesus' healings that we can be assured that, through this same power, God has promised to forgive us of our sins, cleanse our minds and, ultimately, to resurrect our bodies from the dead.    
to the top
 

Even the most righteous and most spiritual eventually die of something physical. Healing is an example of God's mercy, a product of God's wisdom. When He chooses to intervene and heal, we should be grateful. When He does not, we should not necessarily assume lack of faith, unrighteousness, and/or insufficient spirituality. And when we die, "blessed are the dead who die in the Lord" (Rev. 14:13). Therefore, neither healing nor the lack of it are an indication of one's level of faith or spirituality. In Acts 3:1-8, God healed, through Peter and John, a man who had no idea that he was about to be healed; he desired money, and was totally shocked at being healed. Surely the healing of this man was not at all indicative of his righteousness or spirituality.

God sometimes heals the new convert and the spiritually immature, while he may withhold it from the mature Christian. And we shall all, no matter how spiritual, eventually die of some physical state which God does not correct and heal. Another situation where healing was not an indicator of righteousness or a test of spirituality was the example of the apostle Paul mentioned earlier. If his thorn in the flesh was physical, he was not healed of this serious affliction.    
to the top
 

4. Faith is not the sole criterion for determining whether a person shall be healed.

One main prerequisite God requires for healing is the total confidence and faith that God does indeed exist and can heal us of our illnesses (Matthew 9:28-29). One must not forget that the people whom Jesus healed during His earthly ministry had,