Lesson
#4
The Old Testament: And you shall serve the LORD your God, and
he shall bless your bread, and your water; and I will take sickness away from
the midst of you. And said, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the
LORD your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear
to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these
diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the
LORD that heals you. (Exo 23:25-6)
And the LORD said unto Satan,
Hast you considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth,
a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and avoids evil? and still he
holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him
without cause. And Satan answered the
LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his
life. But put forth your hand now, and
touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he
[is] in your hand; but save his life.
So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote
Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself
withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
Then said his wife unto him, Dost you still retain your integrity? curse
God, and die. But he said unto her, You speak as one of the foolish women. What? shall we receive good at the hand of
God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his
lips. (Job 2:3-10)
He [Jesus/Messiah] is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But 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. (Isa 53:3-5)
The Gospel:
When the evening was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with [his] word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare [our] sicknesses. (Mat 8:16-17)
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great [is] your faith: be it unto you even as you will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. (Mat 15:23-28)
And he came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man unto him, and sought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put [his] hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. (Mark 8:22-25)
After these things the Lord
appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face
into every city and place, where he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest
truly [is] great, but the laborers [are] few: pray therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as
lambs among wolves. Carry neither
purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house you enter, first
say, Peace [be] to this house. And if
the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn
to you again. And in the same house
remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy
of his hire. Go not from house to house.
And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things
as are set before you: And heal the
sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh
unto you. (Luke 10:1-9)
Now there is at Jerusalem by the
sheep [market] a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having
five porches. In these lay a great
multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of
the water. For an angel went down at a
certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever
disease he had. And a certain man was
there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time
[in that case], he said unto him, Will you be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have
no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am
coming, another steps down before me.
Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and
took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. (John 5:3-9)
The Epistles
Who his own self bare our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1Pe 2:24
)
Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. (3John 2)
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2Cor 12:7-10)
Is any sick among you? 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: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (Jas 5:14-15)
Description of the Healing Window
· Top Icon: IHS – the first three Greek letters of Jesus’ name – similar to the top icon on the shepherd window.
· Main Window: Jesus is healing blind man in green circle similar to Jesus’ later emerald throne. This could perhaps be the pool of Bethesda (Jn 5:2). The boy in yellow is lame. The woman in blue is the mother or the woman with the issue of blood (Mat 9:20). The woman in purple and white has a sick child. The man in white helping a friend reminiscent of the friends who tore through a roof to get a sick person to Jesus (Mark 2:4).
· Bottom Icon: Cross of four crosses represents the commission to spread the gospel to all the world, i.e. the four corners of the world.
Honestly, I have looked forward and been apprehensive about writing this lesson. In discussing healing, there are some rather hard questions that have to be answered such as why did this great Christian saint die of cancer or why is that obvious sinner still healthy and alive? Even within the body of Christ, there are those who seem to receive healing while others languish in the throes of some disease. There is a spectrum of expectations that defy explanation. When these expectations are mismanaged, I’ve seen some of the worst cases of shipwrecked faiths.
In college, I was active for some time in a church that promoted healing. A young convert bought it hook, line and sinker. Even though her life was obviously changed and a genuine Christian was born again out of the experience, she never received healing for some ailment. Unfortunately the church had no good answer except to tell her a range of things dealing with hidden sin, lack of faith, lack of commitment, etc. The result was a badly shipwrecked faith.
The scripture has a lot to say about healing as referenced in the above quotes. Personally, I believe that God does desire good health for humanity. The reasons that it may not/doesn’t happen are complicated and vast. To simply suggest, as my college church, that healing is available if you just do the right things is oversimplifying a complicated issue. I wish it were that simple.
The subject of stripes came up in two of the above scriptures and was even referenced by a third. This refers to the lashing that Jesus received before he was crucified. Normally, the law called for 40 stripes or lashes (Dt 25:3). In a strange case of mercy, the count was reduced by one fearing that 40 would kill those so punished (2Cor 11:24).
The whips in question were strips of leather imbedded with rocks, slivers of metal and pieces of glass. In one of those vague sources, I seem to remember a cat of nine tails and/or a cat of 13 tails [whips]. With a cat of 13 tails, one could strike a person three times to get to the count of 39. With a cat of 9, it would take some 4.3 whips. At any rate, these scourgings, as they were called, often took the lives of those so punished. Apparently it was a part of what was supposed to happen to Jesus (20:18-19).
I remember once in the Synagogue in Anniston, Alabama, a Jewish member asked for prayer for health. I remember the Rabbi calling the person up to the dais and praying for her quoting the verse above from Isaiah saying “by his stripes you are healed”. What a conundrum! Obviously this scripture refers to the Messiah and they were praying for the health of Jewish patrons based on something that – to them – was yet to happen to the Messiah. It should be noted that Jesus did the same thing when he healed the multitudes after the Sermon on the Mount whereby Matthew points out that it is a fulfillment of this same Isaiah passage. How could it be a fulfillment of a passage that was referring to something that had not happened yet!? The answer is that apparently God can work that way.
I paid special attention to this Jewish lady and sure enough, she got better. I forget what she had, but it seemed quite a bit more serious than the common cold. So who healed her? Isn’t it a fascinating thought that Jesus healed her in answer to the Rabbi’s prayer? Sounds just like something Jesus would do.
Speaking of things that Jesus did that surprise me is the story above about the woman from Canaan. This woman had a sick daughter and came asking Jesus for deliverance. Blowing her off, she started harassing the disciples who finally had enough of it. Then Jesus said, it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs. No matter how you slice it, Jesus just called this woman a dog! Mild, sweet, meek Jesus called a woman a dog. This still surprises me even as I type it. I can just imagine the next board of stewards meeting if Pastor Reid called some woman who was seeking spiritual help a dog.
Some have argued that all Jews called all Gentiles dogs. This is basically true from what I can tell. However, the rest of the story indicates that Jesus had more of a purpose in mind than the simple vernacular of the day. Others think he was trying to shock her into faith. After all, her response is one of the classic rebuttals to this day. It was so impressive that Jesus commended her for her great faith. Can you just imagine the disciples witnessing this!?
The important point of this story is that although healing is for the Children of God, it is apparently available to non-believers.
Another fascinating healing story quoted above regards the blind man that required two attempts from Jesus before it worked. Wouldn’t you think that it would have worked the first time completely – especially if Jesus himself were the one doing it!? In fact, according to the scripture, Jesus’ first attempt only allowed the man to see men as trees walking. To this, Jesus said, let’s do this again. The second attempt fully restored the man’s sight.
I’ve brought this up a number of times to my friends who are strongly in the theology of healing. To them, it is a problem scripture since it is so incomprehensible. One of the best retorts I’ve heard is one friend who pointed out that Jesus only laid hands on the man twice. Thus, he technically didn’t pray for the man twice. This sounds like a stretch to me.
Another possibility may have been a lesson to the disciples whom he had just sent out two by two to heal all in the land. There were many times when the disciples failed to heal. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:28-29).
I was speaking with a pastor once who was complaining about members of his congregation who had the gall to come to church with a cold or the flu. He was especially irritated that they wanted to shake his hand. Unfortunately, he asked me what I thought of it. I quoted the verse above from James, which invites sick people to seek out the elders [mature ones] of the church to anoint them with oil. ‘Why wouldn’t you hope for a whole church of sick people?’, I asked. The conversation didn’t go much further.
Our job, according to Mark’s great commission, is to lay hands on the sick expecting them to recover (Mark 16:18). Our job is to simply do it. It is God’s job to raise them up. If it took Jesus two attempts to get health into a person, it will likely take at least two attempts from us.
It should be noted that not all got healed in Jesus’ ministry. My healing friends have major problems with this, too. However, consider the fact that there were many ill and sick people around this pool. Not only were they sick, but they were also selfish preventing this man from having his turn. Notice that Jesus didn’t heal everyone there at the pool. As far as we know, they weren’t even interested. Rather they had their eyes fixed on the water looking for the mystical angel to move the water.
There are also the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus. If you remember, only one returned and thanked Jesus (Luke 17:12-17). This begs the question as to whether or not the other nine kept their healing.
A great debate in Christendom involves the question as to where does sickness come from. Some say God. Others say Satan and still others say it is a natural result of sin or consequence.
An easy case can be made for Satan from the book of Job. Some even think that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a sickness. To be sure, whatever it was, it was a messenger of Satan. In both cases, Satan is allowed by God to do his dirty work to Job and Paul. This allowance has caused some to blame God as the true source of sickness arguing that he could have stopped it. This is kind of like the American logic of suing a bartender for the life taken by a patron who had a bit too much to drink.
In the case of Job, God was proud of him as a man of integrity. The conversation Satan has with God sounds kind of like some Auburn/Alabama rivalry about who has the best quarterback. It should be noted that even with the loss of his family and property, Job sinned not (Job 1:22). It should then be added that even with the loss of his health, Job still sinned not even though his wife encouraged him to jump ship (Job 2:9-10). It should be further noticed that after this was all over, Job had more than ever given back to him (Job 42:10).
In the case of Paul, this thorn could have been a sickness. Some have thought it to be poor eyesight based on cryptic statements about writing large letter editions of the epistles (Gal 6:11). Others have taught that it might have been the result of one of times he was scourged (2Cor 11:23). Still others point out that linguistically, the thorn was likely an external force such as people sent to hinder. But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which you let remain of them [shall be] pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein you dwell (Num 33:55). Whatever it was, Paul only received a verbal answer – My grace is sufficient for you. To some, this means God will give a person the stamina to put up with sickness or hardship. Others contend that it means that contained in grace is the ability to receive healing and/or deliverance from detractors. After all, Paul’s last statement about no man forbidding him (Acts 28:31) indicates to some that Paul got rid of that thorn through God’s grace.
Another obvious source of sickness is our own such as smoking, poor eating habits, living next to a nuclear reactor, having a parent(s) who did drugs, etc. These are hardly attributable to God or Satan. However, if you wanted physical relief, one would hardly pray to Satan for deliverance. God, on the other hand is full of mercy and grace.
One final point about sickness and its purpose involves those who see sickness as some sort of divine spiritual educational lesson. I seem to remember reading that the early Puritan Cotton Matther got a toothache and attributed it to God warning him not to eat sweets. Perhaps… However, it seems logical to me that if a person really believed that sickness were part of some divine educational scheme, then why would anyone take any medicine or seek a doctor’s help. After all, the blessing is in the sickness – not the recovery – right? Why wouldn’t we pray to get sicker?
Many see in the scriptures a connection to salvation and healing. The problem is that no one can see whether or not a person is saved. They can, however, make a value judgment based on someone’s health. Thus, our theology almost always bends to reality on this – even with those strongly attracted to the notion that God wills good health for all. Certainly we can believe that God wills all to get saved (2 Pet 3:9) and understand that all don’t (Mat 25:41). It is harder to believe that God wills good health for all realizing there is so much sickness and disease in the world. It is exponentially harder if you have a loved one who is dying or has died due to an illness.
To be sure, some do not believe that God wills all to be saved or healed. I, personally, believe that he does will and hope for salvation and health for all. I, however, temper this with the Methodist notion of salvation being a life experience. At any rate, our best example should be that of Job who maintained his integrity throughout his ordeal. He even said once, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him (Job 13:15) believing that God was the author of his problems. No wonder that Job got it all back times two in the end.
In memory of Verna Simmons Duncan, wife, Carroll Duncan
