Jesus is Sent to Heal
Matthew 11:1-6
Why is it important for Jesus to be sent to the sick? The image of our King healing the sick and the broken, giving them new life physically, seems inescapable when we consider Jesus’s broader reputation in the world. The helpless find their healer in the most important man in the universe, and it was so because He came to us first.
Health issues, whether it be barrenness, chronic sickness, seizures, physical disabilities, etc., are a result of the fall. Not only are our hearts tainted by sin internally and spiritually, but the curse is also felt externally in the physical world. Stepping first into the Old Testament, we consider the second test of Job. After Satan had completely stripped Job of everything under his care and responsibility, Satan attacked his flesh, causing him pain and discomfort, citing this strategy as particularly effective in breaking the will of man (Job 2:4-5). All over the bible, we see the sick carry a certain connotation and burden; for most, certain hopelessness; for people like the Pharisees, a definite sign of unholiness. Nonetheless, the inescapable darkness of this world can be characterized in part by the sicknesses throughout history.
Continuing throughout the Old Testament, the picture of our Savior coming to redeem God’s people is often associated with physical healing. From the Psalms, we read of songs such as 103:2-3, “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” In the prophets alike, the theme continues to greater depths:
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4-6).
Isaiah observes spiritual and physical ailment to be interconnected in the human experience, and furthermore, promotes physical healing as the sign to look for in the Messiah when He comes.
Jesus’ ministry was largely defined by spending time with the refuse, forgotten, overlooked, and typically neglected of the earth, the sick and disabled being among such. In Matthew 11, John’s doubts of Jesus being the Messiah are silenced by this trait of Jesus’s ministry specifically, thus fulfilling the prophecies about Him. How much more does this speak to the character of our God as part of His mission on earth was to restore those who were in the muck and mire of humanity, bringing those in darkness into the light? By this, Jesus’s ministry affected the community in ancient Israel with both word (the message of the kingdom of God coming near) and deed (the physical healings and time spent with those in darkness).
As followers of Jesus, this work is carried out now by us, who are His hands and feet. If we were to be honest about our communities, there are people stuck in broken and dark places. It might be gross, ugly, and heartbreaking at times, but as ambassadors of the Kingdom, we have a responsibility not to shrug it off and keep walking but to honestly consider and move towards these people as Christ does.
Prayerfully consider the following:
When you think about your culture and community where you live, how can you be a light and lived ‘sent’ to those around you? What are some practical next steps?
What does fostering your faith so much as to see healing in our midst look like?
