Is it God’s will to heal? Ask so many Christians, and you get so many opinions. It is a hard question, of course, because so much is at stake. For that reason we must be honest in our search for answers, and look for accurate information in the right places. Even so we may not find all the answers we need, but exactly because there is so much at stake we cannot allow the question to hang in the air without an effort to look for a solution.
We look for answers to this burning question with a humble heart and the greatest empathy while we delve into the deep wells of God’s heart — and that of the suffering. There comes a point when we understand that man, with all the technology and knowledge available today, can only help up to a certain point, from where we begin to look up to the One for whom nothing is impossible.
It is natural to ask our hard questions to people we think might know the answers, either because they are knowledgeable, or have much experience of the faith walk. There is nothing wrong with it, as long as we understand that the final answer lies with the Lord. We cannot base our faith on what people say.
The only infallible source of truth we have is the Word of God, and that is where we will look for answers. This topic is the subject of enough books to fill a library, but in this article we will focus on a few critical points that might give us a broader understanding into the matter.
The first — and maybe the most important — point to consider is Jesus, and what He accomplished at the cross. Isaiah spoke very clearly about what he saw in his vision of the cross:
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows (literally pains) and acquainted with grief (literally sicknesses). And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs (literally sicknesses) and carried our sorrows (pains); 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 53:3-5
There can be no doubt that Isaiah included both salvation and healing in the quote above. Our sin was placed on Him who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (See 2 Corinthians 5:21), and our ailments so that we may be healed. We have no record that Jesus was ever sick, but He endured the griefs and sorrows of our sicknesses on the cross. The apostle Peter looks back at the cross, and speaks like this — in the past tense:
…(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
Peter confirms exactly what Isaiah said, namely that both salvation and healing were accomplished for us when Jesus died on the cross. Consider also that it is too late to ask if it is the will of God to heal the sick, because Jesus already paid the price for it. Furthermore, Peter puts healing in the past tense. Looking at Jesus in the New Testament, we see Him healing every sick person who came to Him for His healing touch. He even healed Gentiles, although the purpose of His earthly ministry was to reach Jews only:
But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Matthew 15:24-28
The conversation above took place when a Canaanite woman sought help from Him for her demon possessed daughter. Jesus also healed a Samaritan leper in Luke 17:15, and a centurion’s servant Matthew 8:5-10. He never sent any sick person away!
Jesus often healed on the Sabbath at great risk to Himself, indicating how important healing was to Him:
Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. Matthew 12:9-14
Jesus often healed large numbers of sick people in the crowds that came to listen to Him:
Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epilep-tics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Matthew 4:24
Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Matthew 12:14,15
When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. Luke 4:40
And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. Luke 6:17-19
So important was healing to Jesus that He passed the ministry of healing the sick on to us who believe in Him:
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:12-14
And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17,18
There is an argument these days that these spiritual manifestations ceased with the first apostles, but there is no solid Scriptural foundation for it. It is an assumption based on people’s experiences, not the Word of God. The heart of God did not change from New Testament times to today. Instead, the Bible confirms the exact opposite of that view:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8
If it is true that these supernatural manifestations ceased with the death of the first apostles, quite a few portions of the New Testament are redundant, such as 1 Corinthians chapter 14, the assignment that Jesus gave us in John 14 mentioned above, and others. No, as Balaam once testified, God is not like a man:
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Numbers 23:19
Do we have all the answers? No, but looking at Jesus, His earthly ministry and His death on the cross, we find no reason to believe that it is not always His will to heal. The price that He paid is simply too high — whether it was the persecution He endured during His earthly ministry, or the horrors of the cross. We find no evidence in Scripture for such an opinion.
We would do well to view all the hard questions we have in the light of God’s character: He is love, compassionate, longsuffering, gracious and merciful.
But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15
We access all benefits accomplished at the cross by faith — and faith alone, whether it be salvation, healing or anything else. No works by self or anyone else can earn us anything, and that faith must be only in what Jesus brought about at the cross.
Faith, as we learn about it in the Bible, is not always exactly what most Christians understand it to be, and must be discussed in a separate article.
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