The Healer

The Healer

I am the LORD who heals you.

Exodus 15:26

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.

Matthew 9:35

A man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Matthew 8:2-3

Most doctors take a formal, public promise when they begin to practice medicine. This promise is called the Hippocratic oath. Doctors affirm that they will always use the practice of medicine to help and to heal, and not to hurt.

God has no need to take an oath to heal. Healing is not just an activity God may choose to do or not to do. Healing is who he is; it is his very nature, reflected in his name. One of the names he called himself is Yahweh-Rophi, which means “the Lord who heals you.” God is our Healer. He heals our bodies from disease and heals our minds from twisted thinking. He heals our emotions from hurtful disappointments and heals our affections from harmful desires. He heals our relationships and restores our hope for the future.

Resting in this truth about who God is, we can be confident that even when pain comes into our lives, God has a purpose of greater healing. It’s kind of like when we feel the sting of antiseptic on an open wound. It may hurt, but it’s an agent of cleansing and healing.

Jesus is moved by the pain in our lives. We can come to him and ask him to touch us with his hand of healing, and because he is our Healer, we can be confident he will do it.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What are some things a doctor does that sometimes hurt before they heal?

What are some similarities and differences between how a human doctor helps us heal and how God heals us?

What has God promised to you and the people you love in regard to healing?