“Behold, I will bring it health and cure and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.” Jeremiah 33:6
In David’s great Psalm 103, he writes concerning the “benefits” of God, or His blessings, and the necessity of not forgetting them. Specifically concerning diseases, he writes that the Lord is the one who, not only “…forgiveth all thine iniquities,” but who, “…healeth all thy diseases.” (v. 3) Why does David group the two matters of sins forgiven, and the healing of diseases, together? First of all, it is because God alone can truly, and effectively deal with both. And secondly, the blessing of having one’s sins forgiven, their complete existance and the guilt associated with them, completely removed forever, is a miracle that God has a perfect solution for, a perfect remedy in the precious blood of Christ. As to diseases, these unwanted fruits of the fall of man and sin, God also alone can curb their power and effects. Does He use medicines to do this? Yes, and for this He has provided wisdom and knoweldge to men to discover His remedies. But it must be said that God does not need medicines to heal, only HIs spoken word. Both the forgiveness and eradication of sins, and the healing of disease are primarily the results of Christ speaking. As was the case at the creation, and God’s dealings with men ever since, the issue is Him speaking. He speaks, or commands, and it is done.
Specifically, with regard to healing, in Matthew’s gospel, and also in the gospel according to Luke, we discover the Lord’s dealing with a Roman Centurion concerning one of his servants for whom he cared a great deal, who was very ill, suffering greatly from paralysis and pain, being near death. It was by the specific meeting with the centurion, or those who were sent to Jesus by him, that the plea came for Jesus to come and heal his servant. Upon hearing of this need, Jesus responded by saying, “I will come and heal him.” (Matt. 8:7) It is at this point that something very unusual, and yet profoundly important, occurs. The centurion is overwhelmed by his unworthiness before the Lord, so much so that he tells Jesus that he was unworthy that He should come under his roof. This act of humility in the face of the fact that the man was a centurion, reveals that his knowledge of Christ was such that he recognized who He was. Much like Peter who at one point fell at Jesus’ feet declaring to him, “…Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,” so the centurion saw himself in the light of who Jesus was. Then, there occured another unusual thing. It was expressed by the centurion’s words to Jesus. He said, “…but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” (Matt. 8:8) How could this man, this soldier of Rome, whose king was Ceasar, understand the ways and power of God to the extent that he was sure that all that was necessary was Jesus just speaking a word of healing for his servant? The answer lies first of all in his sincere faith in God, the Jews who knew him, having testified of this. But there was another reason. His vision of Christ was crystal clear, for he believed that He was who He declared Himself to be. This is revealed by the words of the centurion to Jesus concerning authority, spiritual authority. He said, “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.” (v.9) The centurion had realized that Jesus was under the authority of His Father, the Almighty God. He also realized that in being so, the issue was the will and purpose of God, which would always be realized according to the spoken word of God.
Through Isaiah, the Lord confirmed this, saying: “So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper.” (55:11)
Dear Father, Speak Thy power today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.