It can be a confounding thing to encore a summer of excellent health with a sudden, headlong dive into a new season of medical office visits. They become those kinds of places you’d rather avoid where everybody knows your name. And while it’s rough enough trying to determine the roots of any ailment, one might also fall further down the rabbit hole of navigating a money hungry health industry in search of reasonable rates sans standard healthcare. The entire endeavor grows tiring and time consuming, yet the phrase “be your own advocate” perhaps never rings more true.
While the stories, of course, play out differently, medical misadventures seem recently rampant in sections of my circle. From the obnoxious sinus issue or stomach bug to full-blown hospital stays, health concerns are an unfortunately, if unsurprisingly, common topic. Through it all, the fragility of our physical nature and the frailty of life itself can cross the mind. But this also brings to mind the promise of a cure even beyond any we might hope for now.
It’s in the Easter story this hope is found, but in the most unimaginable way possible. It’s there we see the injury of God’s own Son, Jesus, leading to His death. Somehow, we’re told, He had to be hurt so we could be healed. But since illness and injury abound, and the death rate clearly still stands at one per person, healed how? And in what way?
Looking ahead to what Jesus would do, Isaiah writes, “...he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” And looking back, Peter puts it like this, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Beyond physical healing, these words speak to our relationship with our Creator. We all neglect to live and love God and each other perfectly (a.k.a. “sin”), and we experience all sorts of struggles in our world because of this, including the physical. We owe a debt to the Lord we can’t even pay, and often the more we try to fix things, the more things go wrong. It can all seem utterly hopeless.
Thankfully, Jesus’ death was followed by His return to life. He did live perfectly, and He was willing to be our guarantor, taking the debt we owe on Himself so our relationship with God can be healed. No need to be our own advocates: Jesus stands in that place, even praying for His people. Plus, His physical healing points to the possibility of total healing and resurrection for us too.
Perhaps you’re familiar with the miracles of Jesus, several of which were physical healings. From the blind to the lame, the anemic to the leprous, people’s bodies were restored. In some cases, even people whose hearts had stopped beating altogether. These rare and temporary healings provide glimpses of that greater, eternal healing to come through this particularly Great Physician.
Just before calling his friend, Lazarus, back to life, Jesus says to the man’s sister, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” It’s a great question for us, too.
Undeserved advocacy. Comprehensive healing. Payment in full. All this for those who simply believe and trust Him. And, so, I pray for you the very best of health found only in Jesus Christ.
It’s in the Easter story this hope is found, but in the most unimaginable way possible. It’s there we see the injury of God’s own Son, Jesus, leading to His death. Somehow, we’re told, He had to be hurt so we could be healed. But since illness and injury abound, and the death rate clearly still stands at one per person, healed how? And in what way?
Looking ahead to what Jesus would do, Isaiah writes, “...he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” And looking back, Peter puts it like this, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Beyond physical healing, these words speak to our relationship with our Creator. We all neglect to live and love God and each other perfectly (a.k.a. “sin”), and we experience all sorts of struggles in our world because of this, including the physical. We owe a debt to the Lord we can’t even pay, and often the more we try to fix things, the more things go wrong. It can all seem utterly hopeless.
Thankfully, Jesus’ death was followed by His return to life. He did live perfectly, and He was willing to be our guarantor, taking the debt we owe on Himself so our relationship with God can be healed. No need to be our own advocates: Jesus stands in that place, even praying for His people. Plus, His physical healing points to the possibility of total healing and resurrection for us too.
Perhaps you’re familiar with the miracles of Jesus, several of which were physical healings. From the blind to the lame, the anemic to the leprous, people’s bodies were restored. In some cases, even people whose hearts had stopped beating altogether. These rare and temporary healings provide glimpses of that greater, eternal healing to come through this particularly Great Physician.
Just before calling his friend, Lazarus, back to life, Jesus says to the man’s sister, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” It’s a great question for us, too.
Undeserved advocacy. Comprehensive healing. Payment in full. All this for those who simply believe and trust Him. And, so, I pray for you the very best of health found only in Jesus Christ.
Scripture: Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, John 11:25-26 (ESV.org)
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Art: unsplash.com
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