God is the Great Physician. He is the omnipotent God, the Creator, and His knowledge of the human body, mind, and soul is absolute. He alone is able to make us whole, and He has made provision for our complete healing.

Divine healing is demonstrated throughout Scripture. We see it in the Old Testament where God protected His covenant people, the Israelites, from the plagues of Egypt. We also find other Old Testament examples of healing and references to it, including David’s prayers in the Psalms for entire healing. In the New Testament, the Gospels portray Jesus as the revelation of God—the incarnate God—and the Healer of those with physical infirmities. Then, we see divine healing in the instructions given to the Early Church and in how God worked among those saints.    

Looking into these four areas of Scripture reveals God’s power to heal and gives insight into how healing is provided in our day through the atoning Blood of Jesus.

Healing for God’s covenant people

Healing is first noted in the Old Testament as a benefit of the covenant relationship between God and His chosen people, the descendants of Abraham. In Exodus, chapter 15, we read that the Israelites had just escaped Egypt and walked for three days without finding water. Then they came to Marah where there was only bitter water. God cured the bitterness and gave the people a conditional promise of healing. Speaking through Moses, He said, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee” (verse 26). If the Israelites would honor the established covenant through their loyalty and obedience to God, He would fulfill His part of the agreement, which included not bringing upon them the plagues of Egypt.

This promise of healing as part of God’s covenant with His chosen people is reiterated in Deuteronomy, chapter 7. There, we read, “Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers. . . . And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee” (verses 12, 15).

The phrase, “If ye hearken . . .” indicates that access to divine healing was conditional. One of the conditions is hinted at in a song that Moses taught to the Children of Israel shortly before his death. Speaking to the generation of Israelites preparing to enter the Promised Land, Moses gave them this stanza: “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39). This verse highlights a unique characteristic of God’s divine nature: His sovereignty. Praying for healing should be done in the context of God’s will. Psalm 34:19 states, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivereth him out of them all,” and we believe this! However, deliverance does not always come in the way expected. God may heal outright, give grace to endure, or call the afflicted individual to the ultimate healing of eternity in Heaven.

Other Old Testament examples of healing

Throughout the Old Testament, there are examples of and references to God’s healing power. King Hezekiah had a terminal illness, but when he cried out to God, fifteen years were added to his life. Naaman was healed of leprosy when he obeyed the instruction to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Also, the Shunammite woman’s son died from some type of brain injury and was restored to life.  

The prophet Jeremiah proclaimed God’s power to heal as a matter of fact, stating, “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise” (Jeremiah 17:14). In the Psalms, we see references to God’s ability to heal in David’s petitions of Him. For example, in Psalm 6:2 David prayed, “Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.” Another example is Psalm 41:4, “LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.” And a third example is Psalm 147:3, which states, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” We see in these texts the need for not only physical and emotional healing, but for spiritual healing as well. God has provided for all three. Especially in the psalms, we often find that healing is spoken of within the larger concept of the atonement, or God’s mercy, grace, and redemption.

Complete healing provided through the atonement is a recurring theme in the New Testament as well. We see it in the three Greek words that “healing” is most often translated from. The first is therapeuo, which has a primary meaning of “to cure or heal.” The second is iaomai, which also means “to cure or heal” but applies more broadly to the spiritual as well as the physical and emotional. The third, sozo, means “to make whole” and most commonly refers to salvation.

The idea that Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross paid for our complete healing—body, mind, and soul—is not a new doctrine, nor are we unfamiliar with it. In 1961, the leader of our organization at that time, Raymond Crawford, preached that “in the atonement, healing is included for the body as well as the soul.” These things are intertwined. We have a clear picture of this in Psalm 103:2-3 where David said, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” Healing and salvation come from the same pool of grace, the same fountain of atonement and redemption. When God saved our souls, He healed the brokenness of our spirits, and that healing extends to our bodies and minds as well.

The prophet Isaiah foretold this. In speaking of Jesus’ death on the Cross, he said, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). Isaiah’s words were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He was wounded and bruised for our committed sins and for our inherited sinful natures. He took our punishment so we could obtain peace, and He was beaten with stripes for the healing of our bodies.

Jesus, the revelation of God and Healer

The Gospel of Matthew confirms Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah would be a Healer. We read in Matthew 8:16-17, “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

This power to heal, demonstrated by Jesus, was one of the indicators that He was the Son of God. This is seen in Jesus’ response to messengers sent by John the Baptist asking if He was indeed the Messiah. Jesus said, “. . . tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached” (Luke 7:22).

Healing was an integral part of Jesus’ earthly ministry. This is summarized well in Matthew 4:23-24. This passage reads, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.” It is notable in these two verses that as Jesus walked among the people teaching and preaching, He healed all manner of sickness and disease. There was nothing that He could not or would not heal.

The Gospel of Mark records many of Christ’s healings, highlighting His compassion and His revelation as the divine Son of God. In the first chapters alone, we read that Jesus healed demoniacs, Peter’s mother-in-law, a leper, a paralytic man, the man with the withered hand, the woman with the issue of blood, and Jairus’ daughter. These accounts assure us that there is no physical, emotional, or spiritual problem that He cannot heal. Jesus—the One who said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18)—is able to deliver from every affliction.

The priority of Jesus’ healing ministry was the spiritual well-being of the people who flocked to Him. In Mark chapter 5, we read about the woman who had been suffering with an issue of blood for twelve years. Though physically weak, she pushed through the crowd that thronged Jesus and touched His clothing. Then, when He turned around and asked who had touched Him, she fell trembling at His feet. He told her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague” (verse 34). Jesus’ first emphasis was on her faith, which brought spiritual well-being. Then He acknowledged her physical need. The most important healing is that of our souls, and then God is interested in making us whole in body and mind as well.   

We might note here that this woman had spent all her money on physicians to no avail. It is still the case that modern medicine can only do so much. We know God gives wisdom in the medical field and heals using the skills of people in that profession. However, we also know that God is sovereign, and ultimately all healing comes from Him. No matter what path we pursue when ill, our trust must always be in Him.

Healing in the Early Church

Jesus included His disciples in His ministry. We read in Mark 6:12-13 that He commissioned them and then “. . . they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.” In this text, we see that the disciples proclaimed repentance first. That is our priority as well; before anything else, we preach repentance and salvation from sin. Then, in addition to preaching, the disciples cast out demonic influence and healed the sick. All of these things were done at Jesus’ instruction and by His empowering. We are also commissioned and empowered to pray for the healing of the sick and afflicted. However, we must be careful to carry it out in the right way—everything we do must be done in accordance with God’s Word and for His glory.

After Jesus’ ascension, healing continued as a ministry among the Early Church. Shortly after the power of the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost, Peter and John went to the Temple to pray and encountered a beggar. Peter told the man, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Then he took the man by “the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength” (Acts 3:6-7). The next verse says the man entered the Temple with Peter and John, “walking, and leaping, and praising God.” Jesus showed up in this man’s life on this day, but it was in the persons of Peter and John. The crowd began to marvel at what they had done, but Peter corrected them, saying, “Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus . . . And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong” (Acts 3:12-13, 16). Like Peter, we believe in Jesus’ power to heal. We are the conduits, but it is by His power, so we lift up His name and give Him all the glory for it.

As a result of this healing, Peter and John were arrested and ordered to stop teaching in Jesus’ name. Instead, they gathered with the brethren and prayed, “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.” When they finished praying, “the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29-31). We would like to experience that here—maybe not the building shaking, but certainly some demons quaking! We would rejoice to see demonic influences cast out of our communities. But again, it is by the Spirit of God and in the name of Jesus that we want to see these things happen.

With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts were given to individuals for the nurturing of the Church. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth concerning these gifts of the Spirit, and included healing among them. He told the congregation, “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:8-9).

Paul’s purpose in writing on this subject was to correct the church in their use of the gifts, and there is a caution here for us as well. This congregation was one of extremes and drawn to the spectacular. They regarded those with the more visible gifts as being more important and spiritual than other believers. Paul admonished them to work in unity as different but equal parts of one body, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. That is our goal as well. We want our focus to be on yielding to God’s Spirit for the edification of the body of believers, and not on the manifestation of gifts.  

Healing in our day

When Jesus gave Himself on the Cross, His sacrifice not only paid the penalty for our sin, but also provided for our healing. Under this new dispensation, we have access to divine healing for our bodies and minds as well as our souls.    

A simple formula for those needing healing was given by James in his Epistle to the Early Church at Jerusalem. He instructed, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15). This formula is a double promise offering healing for the body and salvation for the soul through three key ingredients: obedience, prayer, and faith.

“Let him call.” Many who sought healing in Biblical times were given an instruction to obey such as, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8). Whether the purpose of this was to increase the seeker’s faith, be a declaration of it, or evoke humility, obedience brought results. We too can expect results when we act according to God’s Word.

“Let them pray.” In nearly every Biblical account, those who received healing had expressed a desire for it, whether by pushing unnoticed through a crowd or crying out to Jesus from a roadside. We are instructed to do the same in James 4:2, which admonishes, “Ye have not because ye ask not.” Though God is aware of our needs, we must acknowledge our need for His help and make our requests known to Him.

“The prayer of faith shall save the sick.” We are told in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Since the founding of our organization, we have held faith as a key prerequisite for receiving divine healing. The first Azusa Street paper stated, “Seeking healing, you must believe God is able to heal.” We do believe, and we have witnessed God’s healing power on numerous occasions. My wife tells of a time when she was a teenager and witnessed a healing that left an impression on her. A young woman came to the Portland tabernacle and went onto the platform, requesting to be prayed over. She had not been able to speak for a year. The ministers gathered around her, anointed her forehead with oil, and prayed. The Lord restored her voice and she went running the length of the tabernacle crying out with joy and looking for her parents to tell them she had been healed!

The ultimate healing

There is coming a day when we will no longer need emergency rooms, hospitals, or operating rooms, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). As God’s people, we appreciate the provisions He has made for us now, and we look forward to that ultimate healing in Heaven.