Thursday 20 July 2017

What about healing?


Matthew 4:23 summarizes Jesus ministry as 'teaching and healing': 

'And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people' (ESV).

In Matthew 5-7 we get a great summary of His teaching, and in  Matthew 8-9 there is a record of His healing works.

As I write this, I am recovering from a cold and I can't wait to be back to full health again. I want to get as much healing as I can.

There is what might be called NATURAL healing, which is built into creation and discovered by wisdom and medical science.

We can detect hints of this in various Scriptures where natural, medical remedies are mentioned. In 2 Kings 20:1-7, King Hezekiah's healing involved the application of "a cake of figs" (v7). In 1 Timothy 5:23, the Apostle Paul advises Timothy to "use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments".

Natural wisdom also hints at health through prevention. Scripture says no to greed (Pr. 23:2; 25:16; 1 Cor. 5:11; Phil. 3:19), no to worry (Mt. 6:25-34) and yes to "some" bodily exercise (1 Tim. 4:8).In other words, don't abuse your body and mind and hope God will just miraculously keep you well. Live in line with health.

The laws of the Old Testament include health though hygiene and the prevention of infection.

Dr D.T. Atkinson notes in Magic, Myth and Medicine: "In the Bible, greater stress was placed upon prevention of disease than was given to the treatment of bodily ailments, and in this no race of people, before or since, has left us such a wealth of laws relative to hygiene and sanitation as the Hebrews. These important laws, coming down through the ages, are still used to a marked degree in every country in the world sufficiently enlightened to observe them. One has but to read the book of Leviticus carefully and thoughtfully to conclude that the admonitions of Moses contained therein are, in fact, the groundwork of most of today's sanitary laws. As one closes the book, he must, regardless of his spiritual leanings, feel that the wisdom therein expressed regarding the rules to protect health is superior to any which then existed in the world and that to this day they have been little improved upon."


Sadly there's a limit to the health and healing available in fallen nature, healthy living and what medical science can do.

Thankfully there is also SUPERNATURAL healing  by Jesus, by His Spirit and through His Church. It's all over the Gospels and Acts.


(I will look at the supernatural dimension of healing in a later post.)