Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

When it was evening, many demon-possessed people were brought to him. He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick.
Matthew 8:16 (emphasis added)

This verse is proof of two very important things. First, Adonai is concerned about ALL of us. Not just the spiritual. Not just the natural. ALL of us. Second, Jesus healed everyone who came to Him. There is no record of Jesus going out of His way to heal people. But He healed EVERYONE who came to Him. Without exception. Every time. Combine those two and this verse becomes VERY interesting.

If you continue reading this is what you get: “In this way what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: “He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases”” (Matthew 8:17). Now the verse in Isaiah (Isaiah 53:4) is talking about spiritual matters in context. Jesus is our redeemer. The one who can make us whole. The one who can wash us clean. The one by which we get a righteous spirit. It is EVERYTHING to our spiritual state and salvation. It is hugely important. It is a CLEAR prophecy of Messiah and it CLEARLY marks Jesus (Yeshua) as THE Messiah. For this verse to be fulfilled in this way shakes EVERYTHING up.

First of all, it makes healing something that is clearly Yahweh’s will and clearly NOT only for believers. You see, none of those who came to be healed believed in Jesus as the One and Only Son of Yahweh here to die for our sins. Some of them believed He was Messiah, but only the Messiah that would establish a kingdom and kick out the Romans. When that wasn’t the path He took they all fell away. It’s easy to believe in something you think is going to swoop in and change your life. Take away everything you don’t like. It’s harder to believe in something that – no matter how life-changing – is going to take some time. Especially if you don’t know how much time. They believed in the one vision of Messiah, but didn’t think to look for the other. When Jesus rose from the dead, they were not in line to accept Him as Lord.

Almost none of the people Jesus healed while He was around believed in Him as Saviour. But they believed He could do what He said. The centurion, the woman with the issue of blood, the gentile woman with a sick child, Jairus, the list goes on. They approached Him. They believed He could. And they didn’t let go until He did. How many believed He was Messiah and kept to that faith? How many got healing, talked about it, but that was as far as it went? Very few names show up again… but there ARE some that do.

By that we know that believers in Him as Lord and believers in Him as someone through whom Yahweh healed were equally healed. BELIEF had more to do with it than current heart condition. One reason is that healing is a beacon guiding people to Him. If you’re there to be healed or you were healed, you will probably listen to things that are said. If you hear, it will unlock the faith to believe in Jesus that the Father put into your heart ( Ephesians 2:8–9). If we are all looking to Jesus because He heals (and that DOES get our attention doesn’t it?), then we will be witnesses of His sacrifice for our sake. THAT is what we ultimately are meant to look on. With faith. To see it for what it is. Our salvation. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”” (John 12:32).

The second major thing from today’s verse is that it is clear the healing was physical. They were physically healed and that counted as the prophesy from Isaiah being fulfilled. That is HUGE because Jesus was ALIVE and not yet resurrected. People were being healed BEFORE the cross. The cross was how healing got released. Isaiah continued His prophesy in verse 5: “He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.” If healing was released on the cross, through His wounds, then HOW did they get healed? Faith. They got healed by FAITH.

“and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed” (Revelation 13:8). Jesus was slain in the SPIRIT REALM before the foundation of the world. But He hadn’t walked it out YET. That means that every healing in this world was accomplished through the sacrifice He had made spiritually but not yet physically. Mark 11:22 tells us that we need to have God’s kind of faith (if you want the study on the exact words used this is a great blog: https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/word-of-faith/the-faith-of-god-god-kind-of-faith-smythe/). Yahweh used FAITH that Jesus once He became a human man would follow through with it. THAT was Jesus’ great struggle. Do what His spirit was JOYFUL to do (Hebrews 12:2-3), or not do what His flesh was resisting with all its might (Matthew 26:38). In the end, Jesus resisted His flesh and obeyed His spirit (Luke 22:42). Yahweh’s FAITH was justified, and healing went out for ALL time (past, present, future) during Jesus’ sacrifice.

We use the SAME FAITH today. We are given God’s faith (Mark 11:22). We are given the SAME amount of faith (Romans 12:3). We all strengthen it by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17). We CAN choose to walk in it and believe in it. We can use the Word to quench unbelief. Because the evidences that accompany the preaching of the Word show us that it can be TRUSTED. We are shown physical things so that we know that the unseen are ALSO true. That is why healing accompanies preaching and teaching. We learn about what is VISIBLY possible in order to trust in what is INVISIBLY possible.

This is a VERY exciting verse. Healing is for EVERYONE. Healing comes by FAITH. Healing is evidence that EVERYTHING in the Word is true. Healing is for YOU and healing is for ME. Now. Today. Always. It is Yahweh’s will to heal us. EVERY TIME. Amen and amen.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 2:7

“The king says, “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ‘You are my son. This very day I have become your father.” Messiah will be the beloved son of Yahweh Most High. Messiah will be declared that son. So that declared son IS Messiah. “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight.”” (Matthew 3:17). “This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh, who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:2-4). Clearly, this same Jesus is that Beloved Son. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b