The Exclusivity of Christianity

People from other religions are offended by the truth claim of Christians that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. They say that we are being narrow minded, unloving, intolerant, and politically incorrect. But the reason we make this claim is because Christ made it of Himsef, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). We simply state what He said.

In one sense we are being narrow minded because Christ taught us that the enterance to the way which leads to life is a narrow gate (Matt. 7:13, 14). And this life is found only in the Son, “And this is the testimony; that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11, 12).

Many claim to have God. Judaism and Islam both even claim to worship the same God as Christians but if they don’t have the Son then they don’t have the Father, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23).

Right before His death, Jesus prayed, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt. 26:42). Christ was acknowledging that there was no other way to save sinful mankind than for Him to go to the cross. If there had been some other way then God wouldn’t have needed to send His Son, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Christians aren’t being unloving in their exclusivity. On the contrary, the most loving thing we can do is share the truth to our own hurt. We are willing to suffer and even die for our faith in order to bring others to Christ. The unloving but easy way is to be tolerant of other religions and have harmony with them. But we must stand for the truth and be exclusive, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

How do we know for a fact that Christ is the only way to God? We know because of His resurrection from the dead. Only God has power over death and Jesus Christ proved His divinity by doing what no man has ever done; gaining the victory over it. The empty tomb and eyewitness appearances are enough evidence to establish it as an historical event. It’s not just a story or legend it’s the grandest chapter in world history. By His resurrection we know He is the only way to God.

Why Do Christians Suffer?

We suffer because we live in a fallen, cursed world

Because of Adam’s sin, the earth was cursed by God (Gen. 3:17; Rom. 8:20). The simple fact is that suffering comes upon everyone—sinner and saint alike—because we all live in the same fallen world. Many times there just is no reasonable explanation why we are suffering.

Sometimes God allows the devil to bring suffering upon us (Job 2:6; Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38). The devil, Peter told us “walks about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). John said, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 Jo. 5:19). But Christ prayed on our behalf, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15). We must remember that we live in a world in which the devil has much influence (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:12).

We suffer because of our own foolishness

It’s a true saying that we generally reap what we sow. If we are kind to people then they will usually treat us the same in return. Likewise if we are harsh with them we will end up suffering what comes back around. Suffering in relationships many times comes from our own sinful actions (Jam. 4:1).

The Bible has much to say about poverty coming upon the lazy (Prov. 10:4, 19:15, 24, 21:25; Eccl. 10:18). Sometimes we suffer lack of provision because of our own slacking off from hard work or discipline in our spending habits. Paul reiterated the blessing of working with our hands (Acts 20:34; Eph. 4: 28; 1 Thes. 4:11, 12).

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters” (1 Pet. 4:15). Peter taught that we must suffer the consequences for our actions. If we foolishly drive over the speed limit then we shouldn’t expect God to keep us from getting a ticket or worse yet being involved in an accident. The thief crucified next to Christ was saved yet still had to pay the penalty for his crime which was death. Most certainly God forgave him of his sin but still held him responsible under the law for his crime. We all must suffer for our own wrong doing.

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” (Prov. 13:20). Who we associate with and where we go has much to do with our well being or lack thereof. Of course the argument can be made that Christ ate with publicans and sinners (Matt. 9:10; Mark 2:15). But this was in order to reach them with the gospel. Paul instructed the Corinthians not to company with any brother who was living in sin yet made the provision that they still needed to be around the world to reach them (1 Cor. 5:9-11). The point is that we must have a certain amount of association with the ungodly in the world but we are not to be their companions.

We suffer because it is God’s way of disciplining us

“For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:30-32). There are many who deny that God uses sickness and disease to teach His children but they are speaking in conflict with Scripture. Paul made it clear in this passage that sickness comes to us sometimes as God’s discipline. Not only does He use disease but also even death, “and many sleep.” When we are stubborn and unwilling to judge the sin in our own lives God will chasten us not because He wants us to suffer but because He doesn’t want us to be condemned with the world. He uses suffering to lead us to repentance.

“For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:5-8), “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19). God disciplines us because He loves us. What human father who says he loves his children would not discipline their disobedience? We should rejoice when we are chastened of God because it lends assurance that we are one of His.

Eliphaz the Temanite attributed Job’s suffering to God’s chastening, “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole” (Job. 5:17, 18). Now some might argue that this statement was probably not correct because Job’s friends were supposedly not speaking very accurately. But I would simply point out that even the apostle Paul quoted a verse just shortly before this, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness” (Job 5:13; 1 Cor. 3:19). He apparently had confindence in at least some of the things Eliphaz said.

We suffer because of our faith

Christ and His apostles declared that Christians will suffer for their faith (Matt. 5:11, 13:21; Phil. 1:29; Jam. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7). Peter taught us to not think of trials as being out of the ordinary, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you” (1 Pet. 4:12). Christian suffering is normal. If we are believers we should think it’s unusual to not have suffering in our lives.

Paul suffered far more compared to any of us yet he always lived with a good conscience (Acts 24:16; 2 Cor. 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:3). In other words, he hadn’t done anything worthy of what he endured yet it still came upon him anyway. If we are living uprightly, we are going to suffer, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Evidences for the Resurrection of Christ

The entire Christian faith either stands or falls based on the historical event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Cor. 15:14). His resurrection proves several facts about Christianity: Christ truly is the Son of God; His word is truth; His death paid in full for our sins; His resurrection guarantees ours.

Either prove or disprove the historical event of the resurrection and you have proven or disproven everything about the Christian faith. This writing consists of a simple list of evidences for Christ’s resurrection with a hope that it will stimulate your own personal faith. According to Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon:

Indeed, other religions in the world are believed in despite the lack of genuine evidence for their truth claims; only Christianity can claim credibility because of such evidence. Regrettably, what is often overlooked in the field of comparative religion today is that no genuinely historical/objective evidence exists for the foundational religious claims of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, or any religion other than Christianity.2 As scientist, Christian apologist and biblical commentator Dr. Henry Morris observes, "As a matter of fact, the entire subject of evidences is almost exclusively the domain of Christian evidences. Other religions depend on subjective experience and blind faith, tradition and opinion. Christianity stands or falls upon the objective reality of gigantic supernatural events in history and the evidences therefore. This fact in itself is an evidence of its truth."3

http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/ATRJ/truth/ATRJ1203-EV-1.htm


The empty tomb

The first and still unanswerable evidence for the resurrection is that of the empty tomb. Those who question the resurrection cannot deny the fact that the tomb is empty. In fact, so formidable is this proof that because of it many false theories have been proposed to explain it away. An empty tomb, of course, means that no body has ever been produced.

The grave clothes

The tomb, actually, was not quite empty; the body was gone but the graveclothes remained behind. What is so remarkable about these linen wrappings is that they had not been distirbed as if someone had unwrapped the body (John 20:5-7). Not only this, the napkin that had covered His face was folded neatly and placed by itself. It goes without saying that grave robbers never would have taken the time to unwrap the body and then neatly fold some of the cloths. The clothes were left behind in such a way that it caused John to believe the Lord had risen (John 20:8).

The stone

The great stone that was moved from the opening of the tomb is a testimony of the resurrection. Not only was the stone in place but it was sealed and guarded (Matt. 27:66). Unwittingly, by securing the tomb to this degree the Romans lent even more evidence to the resurrection once it happened. The Pharisees understood that Christ said He would rise from the dead on the third day (Matt. 27:63). Therefore, they convinced the Roman leadership to take every precaution to prevent His disciples from stealing the body and staging a hoax (v. 64).

The seal over the stone is very important because it declares the full power and force of the Roman Empire. Anyone disturbing those seals would be put to death. Is it likely that the fearful disciples would risk such a feat as stealing the body, knowing the consequences for doing so?

The stone, seal, and guards made it nearly impossible for anyone to tamper with the tomb. Consequently, the only explanation for the stone being moved is the power of God displayed in raising Christ from the dead. It has been said that the stone was moved not so Christ could get out but so that the people could get in and see that He was not there.

Appearances of Christ

Around ten different appearances of the resurrected Lord are recorded in the New Testament. There can be no greater proof that He is alive than to have many witnesses to this fact. Even if there had been only two or three witnesses it still would have been established as an historical event. But actuallly there were more than 500 witnesses on just one occasion (1 Cor. 15:6).

Thomas often gets a bad rap because he doubted that the other disciples had seen the Lord (John 20:24-29). But on the contrary, he is one of the strongest witnesses we have. Here was a man who was anything but gullible because for over a week the other ten disciples could not convince him of what they had seen. He would have been the last one of the bunch to hallucinate and be deceived. He demanded proof and he got it.

The boldness of the disciples

During Christ’s trial, Peter denied that he even knew Him and after His death the disciples cowered in fear of the Jews (John 20:19). These men were anything but bold after the loss of their Lord. The only explanation for their changed behavior throughout the book of Acts is that they knew He was alive. They boldly proclaimed the resurrection and testified as His witnesses on several occasions (Acts 2:32, 3:15, 4:33, 5:32, 10:41). They risked their lives and many of them were martyred because of it.

But, you might ask, is there any difference between the apostles giving their lives and Muslims today who have done the same thing? There is a big difference. Muslims and people from other religions give their lives for something they believe to be true but are actually deceived. The apostles and other Christians in the early church such as Stephen (Acts 7), gave their lives for what they knew to be true. They were eye-witnesses of the resurrected Lord. They didn’t just believe what someone had told them they saw Him with their own eyes and were willing to stake their lives on it.

Old Testament prophecies

The Old Testament includes several prophecies concerning Christ’s resurrection (Psalm 2:7, 16:8-11, 68:18, 110:1). Besides direct prophecies predicting the resurrection there are also legitimate types in the Old Testament such as the offering up of Isaac (Gen. 22:3-14), and Jonah in the belly of the fish (Jon. 1:17; Matt. 12:40).

The prophecies of Christ Himself

On several occasions Christ predicted He would rise again (Matt. 12:40, 17:23, 20:19, 26:32; Mark 9:31, 10:34; Luke 18:33; John 2:19). But His disciples simply did not understand what He was saying (Mark 9:32). This indicates that they were not expecting a resurrection so they certainly would not have been plotting a hoax to fool the world.

The event of Pentecost

We shouldn’t neglect the day of Pentecost as further evidence for Christ’s resurrection. He had to be alive in order to send the Holy Spirit down from Heaven as He had said He would (John 16:7). This monumental event happened in public and was accompanied by the sign of speaking with tongues. The point is that these miraculous events would never have taken place had Christ still been in the grave.

The conversion of Paul

Saul of Tarsus was certainly not trying to become a Christian. In fact, he was doing everything he could to eliminate Christianity and establish Judaism. When Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus, he was not on his way to church but headed to persecute Christians. There can be no other explanation for his miraculous conversion than a genuine appearance of the resurrected Christ.

Miracles by the apostles

The first miracle of the apostles recorded was the healing of the impotent man at the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:1-11). It is notable that the Jewish leaders could do nothing but threaten them not to preach any more (Acts 4:14-18). Certainly they would have destroyed the entire Christian faith right then and there if they had only produced Christ’s body for all to see. The fact that they had to resort to violence showed their own impotence.

Miracles throughout the book of Acts attest to the resurrection of Christ. Because why would God keep sending signs, miracles, and wonders to confirm the eye-witness testimony of the apostles’ preaching if no resurrection had ever happened? They kept declaring that they were witnesses of Him and the signs following proved it.

The existence of the church

The very fact that the church even exists is tremendous testimony to the resurrection because Christ said that He would build His church (Matt. 16:18). How could He build anything if He is still dead? As we said at the beginning, the Christian faith either stands or falls based on the resurrection. Therefore, the continuation of the church unto today testifies to it.

The observance of the first day of the week

What accounts for the fact that the day of worship changed from the last day to the first day of the week (Acts 20:7)? No church council met to decide this. Only an event so miraculous as the resurrection on that day can explain it (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

The silence of critics

The silence of history in opposition to the resurrection speaks almost as loudly as all of the evidences. If there ever was an opportunity to disprove this event it would have been near the time when it took place. Not only was no history written otherwise but also false theories were developed to explain it away. This further indicates the helplessness of the critics.

False theories

The fact that false theories about His resurrection have been proposed through the years is indirect proof of the actual event. We won’t go into detail about each theory but simply list the most prominent ones: the swoon theory; the Hallucination theory; the impersonation theory; the spiritual resurrection theory; the wrong tomb theory; the legend theory; the stolen body theory. Of all these, the one that is even halfway plausible is the stolen body theory. Since this theory was even proposed by the Jewish leaders shortly after the event (Matt. 28:13) indicates this was the best idea they could come up with at the time. It seems to be the most reasonable of the theories but still has its share of problems. One major question that arises is how could His disciples preach and die for a gospel they knew was not true if in fact they had stolen the body.

Conclusion

As we quoted at the beginning, “Indeed, other religions in the world are believed in despite the lack of genuine evidence for their truth claims; only Christianity can claim credibility because of such evidence.” Truly, other religions are not grounded in miraculous events that are proven historically. They expect “blind faith” from their followers. Only Christianity has been proven once and for all by the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Are We Redeemed From Sickness?

"When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses." Matthew 8:16, 17

"Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." 1 Peter 2:24

These two passages of Scripture are foundational for the Charismatic’s doctrine of divine healing today. They believe that Jesus Christ, on the Cross, not only bore our sins but that He also bore our sicknesses at the same time. Their reasoning is that since Matthew and Peter both speak about healing and also quote from the same passage of Isaiah—who prophesied of the atoning death of Jesus Christ for our sins—therefore healing, as well as forgiveness of sins, was included in the atoning death of Christ.

But we should make it clear from the onset that the real issue is not about whether or not God still heals today. God is Sovereign and can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. He always has healed throughout history and all of us should maintain that He does still heal today when He chooses to do so. The real issue is about whether or not Jesus bore our sicknesses as our Substitute and if we can actually have faith in Him as our Healer in the same way that we have faith in Him as our Savior.

Just what was the intended meaning of Isaiah’s prophecy? We will see that Matthew and Peter clarified that he was prophesying about the healing ministry of Christ on earth and not about Him supposedly bearing our sicknesses on the Cross.


What did Isaiah really mean?

We will start first with a phrase from Matthew; “bore our sicknesses” (8:17b). The Greek word used for “bore” is “bastazo” and it means to “carry in the hands,” “bear what is burdensome,” “sustain, uphold, support.” It appears 29 times in the New Testament but never once in the context of bearing in a substitutionary manner.

It is used frequently to portray the carrying or picking up of something tangible, “Carry [bastazo] neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals” (Luke 10:4a), “Then the Jews took up [bastazo] stones again to stone Him” (John 10:31).

It is also used for the way Christians are to bear the intangible burdens of fellow brothers and sisters, “We then who are strong ought to bear [bastazo] with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Rom.15:1), “Bear [bastazo] one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal.6:2a).

Based on how this word is used in these and other passages, it is plausible that Christ took and bore the sicknesses of individual people in His healing ministry in the role of a Servant and not as our Substitute actually bearing the sicknesses of mankind on the Cross.

Matthew could not have stated more plainly that Isaiah’s prophecy was about Christ’s healing ministry. His casting out of spirits and healing of all who were sick was the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa.53:4). But it is only because Isaiah immediately begins to speak of Christ’s substitution on the Cross for our sins that some want to believe that He also substituted for our sicknesses. But what did Isaiah really mean?

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? John 12:37, 38

John quoted from the first verse of Isaiah 53, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (v. 1), revealing that Isaiah was speaking of the signs and miracles performed by Christ in His ministry. It was His healings, signs, and miracles that proved who He was—the anticipated Messiah of the Jews. But they did not believe in Him.

The next verse in Isaiah, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (v. 2). The next verse in Isaiah is speaking about Christ’s growth to adulthood and common appearance among the Jews. They did not see in Him what they were looking for in the Messiah. In their eyes, there was nothing about Him that stood out.

In the next verse, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (v. 3), Isaiah depicts the Jews’ rejection of Him. They did not esteem who He really was but, instead, despised Him.

Now Isaiah finally says, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted” (v. 4). He was saying that although in His ministry, Christ surely bore the sicknesses of hurting people to authenticate who He was, yet when He went to the Cross, the Jews only saw Him as a man being stricken, smitten and punished by God. Surely, without denial, He miraculously healed the multitudes before their very eyes, yet they still did not accept Him as their Messiah but crucified Him instead.

Matthew began other passages (4:12-16; 12:14-21) with the same statement, “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying” which clearly refer to life events in the earthly ministry of Jesus that fulfilled the quoted prophecy. Pentecostals and Charismatics hardly would argue that these prophecies were actually fulfilled on the Cross rather than during His ministry. Therefore, why do they insist that
Matthew’s quote from Isaiah in chapter eight was a substitutionary healing on the Cross?


We are still waiting

When Matthew said, “He Himself took our infirmities” (8:17a), he used the words “lambano” for “took” and “astheneia” for “infirmities.” The word “lambano” is used over 200 times in the New Testament and is accurately translated as “took” to describe Jesus actually taking infirmities away from individual people in His earthly ministry.

The word “astheneia” appears 24 times in the New Testament and is primarily used for bodily sickness and disease, weakness, feebleness, and frailty. A few of the most notable occurrences are: Jesus healed the multitudes (Luke 5:15); the evil spirits Jesus cast out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2); the impotent man Jesus healed at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:5); the sickness that Lazarus died from (John 11:4); Paul healing the barbaric people on the Island of Malta (Acts 28:9); Paul’s own weaknesses and infirmities (1Cor.2:3; 2Cor.11:30,12:5-10; Gal.4:13); Timothy’s recurring stomach problems (1Tim.5:23).

The significance of this is what Paul revealed in Romans chapter eight about the curse God pronounced upon the earth on account of Adam’s sin (Gen.3:16-19). He reveals that we, along with the whole created world, are groaning in pain together under this curse (v. 22). But in the meantime, we “have the firstfruits of the Spirit” (v. 23), and are eagerly waiting for “the revealing of the sons of God” (v. 19), which is the “adoption, the redemption of our body” (v. 23). We are the sons of God right now because of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, but that fact will not be revealed and made obvious to the world until the redemption of our bodies.

Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses [astheneia]. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26

Paul now explains that the indwelling Spirit of Christ “helps in our weaknesses [astheneia].” And this help is in present tense. In other words, we are still eagerly waiting for the redemption of our bodies which includes our weaknesses, “astheneia.” We have yet to be redeemed from the sicknesses and infirmities that Jesus and the apostles healed when they were here on the earth. We are groaning together with the Spirit as we cope with these bodily infirmities.

Paul gives us further confirmation as to our future redemption from bodily infirmities, “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness [astheneia], it is raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:43). The simple truth revealed from Scripture is that our bodies will go to the grave in sickness, disease, weakness, and frailty. We will not be redeemed from the curse that came upon the whole creation until our bodies are resurrected.

Are we healed by the stripes of Jesus?

Now we will look at Peter’s statement “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24). Those who say that Christ bore our sicknesses in a substitutionary manner on the Cross also say that our physical bodies were healed by the flogging and beating that Christ endured prior to His crucifixion.

Now, please remember, Matthew used the word “bastazo” for the word “bore” when he said that Jesus “bore our sicknesses.” It means to “carry in the hands,” “bear what is burdensome,” “sustain, uphold, support.” It is never once used in the context of Christ’s substitutionary atoning work on the Cross. Matthew stated that Christ was taking away and healing the sicknesses of the multitudes as a suffering Servant during His earthly ministry.

But Peter, on the other hand, used the word “anaphero” for “bore” when he said that Jesus “bore our sins.” It means “to carry up or bring up to a higher place,” “to put upon the altar,” “to take upon one’s self.” This word is in fact used elsewhere in the New Testament for Christ’s substitutionary work in bearing our sins as a sacrificial offering. It appears 12 times and most prominently in this verse, “so Christ was offered once to bear [anaphero] the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb. 9:28). This word plainly speaks of sacrificial and substitutionary work.

What all of this means is that Jesus bore “bastazo” the sicknesses of the multitudes of individuals when He healed in His ministry, and He bore “anaphero” the sins of the world when He hung on the Cross. In the one case He is the suffering Servant, in the other He is the substituting Savior.

But then what is meant by the phrase “by whose stripes you were healed” which Peter quoted from Isaiah? Please look again at Isaiah’s prophecy.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:5, 6

The entire context is the atoning work of Christ on the Cross for our sins and our reconciliation to God. When he said, “the chastisement of our peace was upon Him” he was referring to the punishment that came upon Jesus Christ necessary to bring us back into peace with God. The statement, “by His stripes we are healed” is speaking of the healing of our broken relationship. We were like lost sheep gone astray. We were not at peace with God but were His enemies and Christ reconciled us back to God as sheep returning to their shepherd. This, of course, is exactly what Peter went on to say, “For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1Pet.2:25).

Although this is not a reference to the healing of bodily sickness, the objection will be raised that the word used by Peter for “healed” is “iaomai” which is used in the New Testament for physical and bodily healing of sickness and disease. This is true that it is used this way many times, but it is not true that it is only used this way.

And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal [iaomai] them. Matthew 13:14, 15

And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.” Mark 4:11, 12

When reviewing Matthew and Mark’s parallel accounts of the parable of the sower we see that they both recorded Jesus as quoting the same prophecy of Isaiah. But the last part of the prophecy is phrased a little differently between the two. Matthew says “lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal [iaomai] them,” while Mark says, “lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.” Mark does not use the word “iaomai” at all but seems to give an equivalient meaning of what Isaiah said. Christ Himself said in another place, “For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?” (Matt. 9:5).

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal [iaomai] them.” John 12:37-40

We looked at this passage earlier when discussing Matthew’s writing. Please notice how all of it begins to fit together. Israel would not believe the report that Christ gave them even in spite of His divine arm being revealed through His healing ministry. Isaiah was speaking of the blindness and deafness of Israel’s heart that kept them from recognizing their Messiah. They did not know His voice and did not see His Light. They had gone astray like lost sheep. As Paul said, “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom.11:25).

Conclusion

The Charismatic doctrine of divine healing is founded almost entirely upon the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 53 and the passages that Matthew and Peter wrote. But these two apostles plainly clarified what Isaiah meant. Jesus Christ bore the sicknesses of the multitudes in His earthly ministry as a Servant when He healed them, and He bore the sins of the world on the Cross as our Savior when He redeemed us. His wounds healed our estranged relationship from God and also our spiritual blindness and deafness.

In the greater sense though, we actually were healed of physical sickness and disease on the Cross, but that redemption will come only at the resurrection of our bodies (Rom.8:23). Although all of our enemies, including physical death and sickness, were conquered and put under Christ’s feet at His resurrection, we do not yet see them under our feet (Heb.2:8). The curse that came upon the earth is still here (Gen.3:16-19). We are still bearing the image of Adam in our bodies in its cursed state until the day when we are glorified into the image of Christ (1Cor.15: 45-49). It will only be then that we are free from death, pain, and sickness (Rev.21:4).