
Emmanuel, Jesus The Healer
Matthew 8:13-17; John 5:5-9, 14.
“And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.” (Matthew 8:13). The result of the contact of the centurion with Christ is that his servant was healed. The centurion humbled himself and came to Christ and believed in the final authority and efficacy of the word of Christ the healer. Before the healing, there must be humility and faith that asserts, affirms, and confirms the authority of Christ the healer. “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:16-17). Christ had perfect understanding and knew that the sickness of some of the people who were brought to Him was caused by evil spirits, so He cast out the spirits and healed others. There is no other means or weapon for healing but by the word of the Lord. The healing of the Lord comes as a result of fulfilling the prophecy that had gone forth about Christ. Christ heals, not because of our feelings or passion but in fulfilment of the prophecy that had been declared before about Him.
1. THE BEGINNING OF DIVINE HEALING: BEFORE EMMANUEL’S ARRIVAL
Psalm 103:1-3; 107:20.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;” (Psalms 103:1-3). In the Old Testament, they had the benefits of forgiveness, salvation, holy heart, sanctification, walking with the Lord, and healing and deliverance from the Lord. Healing was not just a doctrine but an experience for them. In both the Old and New Testaments, there was no distinction between diseases as to whether they were great or small, or hereditary or long-standing.
- The Covenant Promise of the Almighty – Exodus 15:26; 23:25-26; Deuteronomy 7:12, 15; Jeremiah 33:3, 6, 9. “And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26). If we want a relationship with God, He demands that we diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord our God and keep all His statutes. God’s healing is not cheap, but we don’t pay with money we get it with a humble heart, a listening ear, and a life that wants to do the commandments of the Lord. “And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.” (Exodus 23:25-26). We serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. When we receive the grace to serve the Lord acceptably, He will take sickness away from the midst of us. God is challenging us to put Him first in serving Him and seeking His kingdom, after that He will bless us and take sickness away from the midst of us. Challenges, sickness, difficulty, sadness, or unhappiness should not take away our commitment to God because it is in serving the Lord that He will bless us and take sickness away from the midst of us.
- The Compassionate Performance for the Afflicted – 2 Kings 20:1-6; Job 42:2,6,10,16; 2 Kings 5:1, 10, 14; Psalm 105:37. “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.” (2 Kings 20:1-6). You must have a life that God is pleased with, and that will ‘merit’ the goodness and healing power of the Lord. If you are living carelessly and have no time for God or His work hoping to claim His healing in your time of distress, you may not find God at that time. We must be holy, humble, and submissive to the Lord to the point that we will do whatever the Lord has said. Holiness will make us humble, not rigid. If you are sick and the pastor is not there to pray for you, pray and the Lord will heal you. God never asks permission from anyone; He is the final authority. God still adds years to our lives and adds life to years. In adding years to our lives, He gives us more chronological years, but in adding life to years, He gives us a long life and a health span that makes us healthy to spend a long life. With divine healing, God heals you when you are sick, and with divine health, He preserves you from sickness.
- The Conditional Penitence Before Alleviation – Genesis 20:7, 14, 17-18; Numbers 21:5-9; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Isaiah 57:15, 18-19. “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.” (Genesis 20:7). Sin brings sickness and disease. The condition for healing for Abimelech’s family was repentance and restitution. If he had chosen instead to pray and fast, he would not have received the healing and would be praying to a closed heaven. “And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.” (Genesis 20:14). God will answer your prayer when you do the right thing. God does not answer the prayer of the person who does evil deliberately and does not have the mind, courage, and humility to confess and repent. “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.” (Genesis 20:17). When Abimelech did the right thing, God healed him and his family. The word of the Lord and your response to the word of God will heal you in Jesus Name.
2. THE BOUNDLESSNESS OF DEFINITE HEALING WITH EMMANUEL’S ANOINTING
Luke 4:18-21; Acts 10:38.
- The Fulfilled Prophecy of Healing by Christ – Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:16-17; Luke 4:18-21, 32, 36, 40; Acts 10:38. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:18-21). The word of God will be fulfilled in your ears and your life in Jesus Name. “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.” (Luke 4:32, 36, 40). In the healings of Christ, sometimes He speaks the word, and sometimes he lays hands on the people, and they are healed. Sometimes, he does not even do similar healings in similar ways. Don’t be wedded to a particular method for healing; different methods can be used but all must be in the same name of Jesus. I pray the healing of the Lord will be definite in every life in Jesus Name. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38). The healing of Christ was boundless in that He went everywhere and healed everyone. When you recognise the anointing of Christ, your faith in that anointing will set you free. Christ is still doing good today and He will do good in your life and heal all that are oppressed by the devil. If you are oppressed by God, Jesus cannot come and take that oppression away because that would mean He disagreed with the Father; the Father and the Son are always in agreement, and they work together. The anointing of Christ will bring total healing in your life in Jesus Name.
- The Free Provision of Healing by Christ – Matthew 8:1-3; 10:7-8; Mark 5:25-30, 34; John 4:46-53. “So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.” (John 4:46-53). Whatever the stage of the sickness, when you come to Emmanuel and call unto Him, He will hear you. Those who teach that the era of miracles and healings has passed contradict the word of Christ that there are people who will not believe unless they see signs and wonders. Whatever Jesus says will bring healing to your body. Healing brings more faith in the Lord as Saviour.
- The Fullest Power of Healing in Christ – Mark 2:11-12; Matthew 9:6-8; Luke 7:19-23; Matthew 28:18-20.
3. THE BLESSING OF DESIRED HEALING AFTER EMMANUEL’S ASCENSION
Mark 16:15-20; Acts 2:33, 43.
“Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.” (Acts 2:33, 43). Healing continued even after Christ had gone up to heaven. The same power in the apostles was biblical and our church will be like that; there will be power in your life, in your mouth and your prayer in Jesus Name.
- Powerful Healing for the Sick in Acts – Acts 3:2-9,16; 5:12-16; 14:7-10; 19:1112. “And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.” (Acts 3:28). Peter and John had no silver and gold, but the church of today has silver and gold and we must reserve some of it for charity. God will heal you, deliver you, and set you free, and you will enjoy what heaven has for you in Jesus Name.
- Pronounced Healing of Sicknesses by the Apostles – Acts 4:29-30; 9:32-35; 28:8-9; 2:42-43, 47.
- Present Healing by His Servants and Ambassadors – Mark 16:15-20; Acts 8:58; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11,31; James 5:13-16. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” (Mark 16:15-20). As the disciples went everywhere and preached the gospel and the Lord worked with them confirming the word with signs following, He will work through you as well in Jesus Name.