Physical Healing

In the first coming of the Son of God into the world, we receive foretastes of his healing power. The full healing of all his people and all their diseases and disabilities awaits the second coming of Christ. And the aim of these foretastes which we receive now is to call us to faith and holiness.
Healing Is the Exception, Not the Rule—For Now
Most people who suffer from disabilities in this life will have them to the day they die. And all of us, till Jesus comes again, will die of something. Here and there, some are healed. We believe in miracles. But even though Jesus had all the power to heal, he did not usher in the final day of perfect wholeness. His ministry points to that day. But while this age of groaning lasts (Romans 8:23), healing is the exception, not the rule. And that is not because we are weak in faith. To be sure, we might see more miracles if we expected more and believed more.

But Jesus left hundreds unhealed at the pool of Bethesda and told the one man he did heal, who had not even believed on him, to wake up. I am pursuing your holiness. The main issue in this age till Jesus comes back is that we meet him—meet him—in our brokenness, and receive the power of his forgiveness to pursue holiness. In this calling to faith and holiness, the disabled often run faster and farther than many of us who have our legs and arms.

And in the mentally disabled, we simply don’t know how far they are running. Perhaps farther than we think. Jesus knows. Jesus knows everything. And he is compassionate and sovereign.
No Days Off for God
We need to see that Jesus showed the Jews that God even works on the Sabbath. He takes no days off. And the reason is so that we might be whole and have rest. And when Jesus says that he works on the Sabbath because his Father works on the Sabbath, he sealed his doom. Now he is both a Sabbath-breaker and blasphemer—making himself equal with God. So as it turns out, Jesus does this on a Sabbath, not to discuss what’s right to do on the Sabbath, but what it means to be the Creator and Ruler of the universe.

May=2 0the Lord open our eyes to know Jesus personally, as one who knows us, and has compassion on us, who is sovereign over our body and soul, and the one who has come with saving and healing power first for the sake of our holiness, and then finally for the sake of our everlasting health.



- John Piper

Appendix- I do also firmly believe that every Christian ought to consistently be asking the Lord for healing anytime they are sick--in faith and with expectancy--from the smallest ailments to the largest ones. Why? Because He healed people all the time in Scripture, which is our warrant of faith, and He is as compassionate as ever. Every instance in the gospels when someone came to Him for healing, He never denied them or turned them away. He even healed some who did not ask.
So the gospels strongly encourage us to be asking for healing. His job is to heal if He sovereignly chooses and our job is to ask and to be content with what God does. We should never be sick without asking the Lord Jesus to have mercy on us and raise us up. We would see answers more if we did. Ours is to ask--His is to choose to heal or show His grace through our cir cumstances. But let us be always asking.

- Mack Tomlinson