He Still Heals
 
A friend tells a story of a Christian praying for a person of another faith. The Christian cared about the persistent back pain of the friend and believed that Jesus could touch and heal her. When she told her friend that she wanted to pray in Jesus’ name for healing, the friend asked, “He’s still alive? I’ve read about Him healing people, but that was when He was on the Earth.”
 
The question was innocent and amusing, but is it that much different from how we view Jesus as healer? Do we think He’s still alive and capable of touching people physically and curing their ailments?Or, was that just something He did during His brief time on our planet?
 
Matthew 8 tells the story of Peter’s mother-in-law being touched by Christ and “the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.” (v. 14) Later that day, He continued to meet needs, driving out demons from some people and healing “all the sick.” What makes this fairly straightforward, albeit remarkable passage profound is the quotation at the end of it: “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and bore our disease.’” (Matthew 8:17)
 
When we read that verse in Isaiah 53, we can easily conclude that it refers to our spiritual infirmities as Christ’s work on the cross is predicted. But, Matthew, the Gospel writer who connected to Old Testament prophecies more than any of the other three chroniclers of Christ’s life, writes that the passage is referring to physical illness as well.
 
Have you ever asked Jesus, in faith, to touch you? Have you ever asked Jesus to touch someone else, especially in the context of making sure all is right spiritually through confession of sin? (See James 5:16)
 
To put it simply: have you ever believed that Jesus was the healer, and asked Him to heal? If not, why not?
 
“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” This fact does not apply only to spiritual problems or simply to Jesus’ life on Earth. He’s still alive and often wanting to bear our diseases today. He is still looking for people of faith to believe in Him as healer, as many of the characters referenced on Sunday did.
 
Prayer: Lord, I don’t understand healing. I’m not even sure that I believe in it, but I want to have the faith that those who were healed had. I acknowledge that You are alive and powerful and capable of healing me and others today. Teach me about Your concern for our bodies.