It is the lot of being a human being that accompanies frailty, sickness, infirmity, disease and finally, death; so why is it that our LORD and Savior Jesus [Yeshua] cured people of the very ailments and conditions which represents the allotment and inheritance of mortal existence within a weak and corrupt body of flesh? To wit, were His actions merely a temporary reversal of the scourge and curse of man’s inherited fallen nature, just to ultimately succumb to the inevitable victory of death and the grave who hasten our eventual fall into their dark embrace? The reason that Jesus healed those who were afflicted with divers health issues was more than just a demonstration of divine power or compassion, which is certainly true in itself, but there is another reason as well.
Matthew 4: 23, 24b
And Jesus [Yeshua] went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people. And they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and [as well as] those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
Matthew 8: 16
And when evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and He healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He Himself took our infirmities [pains] and bore [in His body] our sicknesses (Cp. Isaiah 53: 4).
NOTE: The aforementioned passage only gives partial sketch and should be read along with the following selected verses from Isaiah, as in below.
Isaiah 53: 2b-3a
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him. He was despised and rejected-a man of sorrows acquainted with the deepest grief. NLT
Acts 10: 38
Now God anointed Jesus [Yeshua] of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with [in] Him.
Luke 13: 11-14a, 15-16a
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus [Yeshua] saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus [Yeshua] had healed on the Sabbath. The LORD answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? “So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bondage on the Sabbath?”
1 John 3: 8b
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
NOTE: The context of the passage was specifically dealing with “sin” but it would also seem applicable to any of Satan’s works, including ‘death’ (Cp. Hebrews 2: 14).
John 10: 10b
I have come that they [you] might have life, and that they [you] might have it more abundantly.
COMMENTARY: This last Biblical reference sums it up well and encapsulates what the mission of our LORD was all about. Jesus [Yeshua] became one of us [humanity] and bore in His body all of the things that we endure in the flesh and so when He beholds someone suffering He sees a mirror image of Himself in the person (Cp. Matthew 25: 35-36, 42-45). As the Son of God He bore the image of the Eternal Father, and as the Son of Man, He bore the image of Humanity in a life filled with limitation, deprivation, sorrow, sickness, hunger, cold, pain, and ultimately, even experiencing death. The LORD offers a life rich in meaning and value in the here-and-now and not just reserved for the one to come. We are not slaves and powerless to the whims of our fleshly human nature when it pertains to sickness and suffering, because it is through His power to heal us we can enjoy a life that doesn’t condemn us to always experience the pangs of disease and infirmity which Satan afflicts us with.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
November 2, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
