Day 5: The Lord who heals
Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2).
Our Father, the psalmist encourages us, Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases… (Psalm 103:2-3).
As we wrestle with the troubles and afflictions of our mortal bodies, we are grateful for the reminders in Scripture that You are the God who heals—You told Your people, "I am the Lord, who heals you" (Exodus 15:26).
In the prophecies of Your Messiah who was to come, You gave the promise of healing: Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering…by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:4,5). And when the Lord Jesus came, the gospel writer Matthew tied His healing work directly to Isaiah's prophecy:
[Jesus} drove out [demonic] spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Matthew 8:16-17, Isaiah 53:4).
Yet, Messiah's plan was not just to heal our physical infirmities, which are merely the symptoms of sin. While You made it clear that we should not try to directly connect personal sin with sickness or physical infirmity (John 9:1-3), You show us that sickness, disease, death, and destruction are the result of the sin condition introduced into Your perfect world by human disobedience (Genesis 3).
And the ultimate mission of Your promised Redeemer was to heal our spiritual infirmities— to deliver us from the spiritual death that separated us from a holy God: He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him… (Isaiah 53:5).
The Lord Jesus Himself showed us His priorities and perspective on healing when some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. Before addressing his physical condition, Jesus immediately dealt with matters of the the soul, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2).
It wasn't that our Lord didn't care about physical suffering—in time, He spoke words that would bring the desired physical healing: “Get up, take your mat and go home.” But His foremost concern was that all should "know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6).
Father, thank You for the healing mercy You show us—through doctors, through technological aids or through Your supernatural intervention. Today, we bring to You on our mats of faith those who need healing, help, intervention. Help us to trust Your sufficient grace even when You allow "thorns" to remain (2 Corinthians 12:7,9).
For we know that no matter how many times our physical bodies are healed, they inevitably wear out (2 Corinthians 5:1). Souls, though, are eternal. And You desire to heal, to forgive, and to call sinners to repentance (Mark 2:17 - NKJV).
So even as we bring bodies before You and cry out for physical healing, we even more earnestly seek Your mercy for wounded, hurt, maimed, paralyzed, desperate, and hopeless souls. Thank You for physical healing and for spiritual deliverance.
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