True compassion is an intense mixture of love and hate. Jesus had that kind of compassion. He loved people with an incomparable love and at the same time He hated the circumstances in which they were trapped.
Hunter, Joan. Healing the Whole Person
If you truly love people, you will really hate disease. If you truly hate sickness as Jesus did, you will believe in God's healing power.
God really loves you. So how does He feel about you when you are sick?
People have different theories about it.
(The love of God) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Cor 13:7 (NKJV)
How are we to understand this?
``The love of God endures and tolerates illness.
or
``The love of God believes in healing because God loves us and therefore hates our sickness.``
Jesus is our role model. What do we learn from Jesus in his ministry before the cross?
Jesus did not tell any sick person: ``I do not want to heal you because you have to learn holy patience in your illness.``
Jesus never said: ``God has chosen only some sick people to get healed and you are not one of the chosen ones.``
When we study the ministry of Jesus, we see that Jesus never rejected a sick or handicapped person seeking healing.
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
This was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases." Mt 8:16 (NIV)
Jesus took our weaknesses upon Himself by renouncing His eternal divine omnipotence for a while. He became a weak baby and took our human limitations upon himself.
He took our illnesses upon himself by feeling such painful compassion.
But Mt 8:17 is a quotation from the Old Testament.
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NIV)
These verses in Isaiah prophetically point to the cross, where Jesus took our sins upon Himself and suffered our punishment in our place.
If we look closely at the text, we see that Jesus took on not only our sins but also our sicknesses on the cross.
Why did Jesus take away not only our sins but also our sicknesses on the cross?
Because sickness came into the world through sin.
Therefore, Jesus wanted to abolish not only sin, but everything that is connected with sin: shame, guilt, inferiority, blindness, all kinds of handicaps and all kinds of diseases.
When Peter first proclaimed the non-Jew, he summarised Jesus' ministry with these words:
And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 (NLT2)
Here we see that God not only hates disease. Disease here is equated with oppression by the devil.
If you are depressed, mentally disturbed or ill, God himself feels your pain.
God sent his son into the world to give you a new life.
He carried your sin, your shame, your guilt, your pain and your sickness on the cross.
Hunter, Joan. Healing the Whole Person
If you truly love people, you will really hate disease. If you truly hate sickness as Jesus did, you will believe in God's healing power.
God really loves you. So how does He feel about you when you are sick?
People have different theories about it.
(The love of God) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Cor 13:7 (NKJV)
How are we to understand this?
``The love of God endures and tolerates illness.
or
``The love of God believes in healing because God loves us and therefore hates our sickness.``
Jesus is our role model. What do we learn from Jesus in his ministry before the cross?
Jesus did not tell any sick person: ``I do not want to heal you because you have to learn holy patience in your illness.``
Jesus never said: ``God has chosen only some sick people to get healed and you are not one of the chosen ones.``
When we study the ministry of Jesus, we see that Jesus never rejected a sick or handicapped person seeking healing.
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
This was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases." Mt 8:16 (NIV)
Jesus took our weaknesses upon Himself by renouncing His eternal divine omnipotence for a while. He became a weak baby and took our human limitations upon himself.
He took our illnesses upon himself by feeling such painful compassion.
But Mt 8:17 is a quotation from the Old Testament.
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NIV)
These verses in Isaiah prophetically point to the cross, where Jesus took our sins upon Himself and suffered our punishment in our place.
If we look closely at the text, we see that Jesus took on not only our sins but also our sicknesses on the cross.
Why did Jesus take away not only our sins but also our sicknesses on the cross?
Because sickness came into the world through sin.
Therefore, Jesus wanted to abolish not only sin, but everything that is connected with sin: shame, guilt, inferiority, blindness, all kinds of handicaps and all kinds of diseases.
When Peter first proclaimed the non-Jew, he summarised Jesus' ministry with these words:
And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 (NLT2)
Here we see that God not only hates disease. Disease here is equated with oppression by the devil.
If you are depressed, mentally disturbed or ill, God himself feels your pain.
God sent his son into the world to give you a new life.
He carried your sin, your shame, your guilt, your pain and your sickness on the cross.
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