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'Winging It

    by Stan Smith

Why did Jesus Heal?
Date Posted: December 7, 2022

Read through the Gospels and you'll find story after story of Jesus healing people. It seems as if He healed people wherever He went. Why did He do that?

You might say, "It's because He loved them." Not in the way you are thinking. "It was because He wanted their best." Again, not in the way you are thinking. "It's what a good God does." Not ... at all. (Think about it. God is good ... and lots of people, even people of faith, are not healed.) Despite the claim by many "health and wealth" teachers, He didn't do it because people are supposed to be healed. No, we tend to miss the real reason for why Jesus healed people.

We aren't left to indulge in conjecture. We are given the reason for Jesus's healings. In Mark 2, a paralytic is dropped into the house where Jesus was teaching. His first reaction was not to heal the man. His first reaction was to take care of his real problem. "Son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5). This, of course, stirred a reaction among His listeners and Jesus knew it. So He gave them proof that He could forgive sins. He healed the man (Mark 2:8-12).

The answer to why Jesus healed is the same as the answer to why Jesus came. "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). That was why He came. He didn't come to be nice. He didn't come to heal. He didn't even come to persuade. He came to save. The purpose of His healings, of all His miracles, was to demonstrate that He had the capacity to save. John, in fact, refers to Jesus's miracles as "signs" (John 2:11,23; 3:2; 6:2; 9:16, etc.).

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He needed to prove that there was fundamentally something different about Him. He did that with abundant miracles. In other words, because He loved us and because He wanted our best -- our salvation -- He healed to demonstrate the really important part: "That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Mark 2:10).

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Biography Information:
Born and raised in a Christian home, I've been treated to immersion in the Word and squandered it. 'But God ...' I love the phrase. God has been faithful when I was unfaithful. At every turn He has crowded me to Him.

I'm married with four grown children and (currently) four grandchildren. My wife and I live in sunny Phoenix by choice. I hope to encourage people with my words and to share with others what God has shared with me.

For more writings you can see my blog at birdsoftheair.blogspot.com.