Healing!

HEALING! Let me tell you… this winter has been a challenge. Two weeks straight, someone in our family was unwell. Head pounding… coughing like you wouldn’t believe. Another one with a sore stomach. Flu, fever, you name it… we’ve had it. I’ve stopped being a pastor and become a full-time nurse! But we got past it. Yet, I know some of you in this church are walking through incredibly impossible things right now. Just trying to get done with it. Today, I want to explain, remind, and renew your faith for healing. Maybe your back is burning… your elbow clicking. Your blood is clotting, your head is thumping, your vision is blurred, and your hearing is fading. But I believe… you can walk out of here different. Listen to this incredible verse I found in Psalms. It describes the miracle of the Israelites walking out of Egypt. Psalm 105:37 says, “He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes.” Two to three million people left Egypt, and not one of them was feeble! The original word here is "kashal," meaning to stumble, totter, or waver from weak legs or sickness. Not one of them was sick. Not a torn toenail, no joint soreness, no bad backs, no limping, no snotty noses… no cancer. Nothing! Now, let’s rewind to the night before. On that night, as God prepared to send one final plague, the Egyptians were in grief. They had buried someone in every single house. But on the other side of town… the very next day, people who had been starved, beaten, malnourished, worked to the bone, didn’t limp their way to freedom. No! They walked into it. I can’t even do leg day without hobbling! Yet these Israelites walked out… everyone! No stumble… no totter… no waver… no weak legs. No sickness! What made the difference? To avoid sickness and walk into freedom, God made one agreement with them. Have the Passover. The lamb, its blood on the doorposts. Eat the bread, drink the wine. It was only those who didn’t accept the lamb who didn’t get healed. We love telling this story as a salvation story. Slavery to freedom… bondage to sonship… Egypt to the promised land. But we skip the part right next to it. The same God who set them free from slavery also set them free from sickness. Same night, same promise. Everyone strong enough for the journey. This is the nature of God… and we see it foreshadowed all the way through the Old Testament. In Psalm 103, it says, “He heals all of your diseases.” In Psalm 147, it says, “He heals the brokenhearted.” In Jeremiah 33, He promises, “I will bring health and healing; I will heal my people.” Over and over, this is the rhythm of who God is. He is our healer. Let me pull one out for you… Jeremiah 30:17, “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,” declares the Lord, “because you are called an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.” This verse doesn’t stand alone. In verse 12, God says, “Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.” In verse 13, “There is no one to plead your cause; no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.” In verse 14, “All your allies have forgotten you.” Two Hebrew words worth knowing: "Restore to health" = "arukah." This isn’t just everyday healing. It means to lengthen or prolong, like new flesh growing back over a wound. It’s restoration. "Heal your wounds" = "rapha" — the name we see for Jesus, applied to a wound or blow, specifically in judgment or battle. When you think no one cares… when it feels beyond healing… when there’s no remedy… when you feel forgotten… when the blows have come… when the wounds are open… He will restore you to health and heal your wounds. All of this was just a preview for Jesus. As you follow the ministry of Jesus, there’s one thing that stands out. Wherever He went… He healed! He didn’t always multiply bread, just twice. He didn’t always walk on water, just once. He didn’t always stop the storm. But healing… healing happened everywhere Jesus went. Outcasts, forgotten… diagnoses with no remedy? He had it. Healing happened in every town, in every person, everywhere He went. Healing was the rule. In fact, the only time He didn’t perform many miracles was in His own town, where they didn’t accept the lamb. Wherever sickness had settled, He healed. Wherever oppression took over, He cast it out. Where people were afflicted, He evicted. Where people were cast out, He searched them out. He never once turned away someone broken. He never once scratched His head and said, “That’s too much…” Eyes that had never opened? He opened them. Skin eaten by disease? He made it white as snow. Legs that couldn’t stand? He gave them strength. A hand that was withered? He restored it. Ears that had never heard a sound? He opened them up. Blood that couldn’t stop flowing? Suddenly ceased. A fever affecting a mother-in-law? Released. A mind torn apart? He brought instant calm and sanity. A body seizing with epilepsy? He healed it for all to see. A servant dying in a house He wasn’t even in? Instant recovery. When sickness did its worst and death had already won, Jesus reversed it and they rose… even after four days in the tomb. Body. Mind. Spirit. Whatever was broken, sick, diseased, afflicted… Jesus saw it, touched it, spoke to it, and healed it. After Jesus touched you, there was none feeble among you. Then we reach a point where people stopped waiting for the invitation. In Luke 6:19, it says, “Everyone tried to touch Him, because healing power went out from Him, and He healed everyone.” They didn’t wait for Him to touch them. They ran to the front to touch Him. Luke, a physician, wrote this. People weren’t watching from the back. They were pressing in. You didn’t need an appointment; you just needed proximity. That’s the woman with the issue of blood. She just had to touch the hem of His garment. That’s why later they would lay people in the marketplace, begging Him to touch them. His body overflowed with healing. Jesus came for our salvation. But right next to that, the part we mistakenly focus on less, is that He came for our healing. He re-did one of the greatest miracles in history. He re-did what He did in Exodus for us. He, the Lamb of God, says, “If you will just accept Me… and take the bread and the wine.” Not only will you be reminded of your salvation, paid for by His blood on those doorposts… but this bread represents My body, overflowing with healing. So now, as Jesus is in us, and all authority given to Him is also handed to us, as heirs with Christ, as Peter tells us… we walk in this hope. In Luke 10:19, He says, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and overcome all power of the enemy.” In Mark 16, it says, “Lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” James 5 challenges us: “Are any of you sick? Call the elders, pray over them, anoint them with oil, and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.” This didn’t end when Jesus ascended. The early church picked up where He left off, laying hands, seeing the same miracles happen. So, this later-day church must do the same. When you come in one way today… I believe you can walk out with none feeble among His people. Not a stumble, totter, or waver from weak legs or sickness. We don’t fix our eyes on the sickness. We fix our eyes on the Healer. You don’t measure where you are right now by what you’re hoping for. You measure it against what He’s promised. And what He has promised is: by His stripes, you are healed. By His stripes… we are healed. In Isaiah 53:5, it says, “By His stripes we are healed.” What a powerful truth! And in Psalm 103:3, we hear this promise: “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.” Do you hear that? He forgives… He heals. All of it. Then we look to Matthew 8:17, where it tells us, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.” He bore them… He lifted them off our shoulders. And in Mark 16:18, we are reminded, “They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” Friends, this is the Gospel at work! Healing is not just physical… it’s spiritual, emotional, and relational. So, I ask you… What do you need healing from today? Bring it forward. Lay it at His feet. As we hold communion, let’s declare these truths together. He forgives… He heals… He is here with us. Let’s receive this gift. Let’s believe in His power. Let’s step into His promises. Now is the time to respond. Come forward… pray with someone… receive His healing. Let’s not leave this place unchanged. Let’s hold communion… and declare… we are healed!