By His Wounds
What are some things we have in common? What’s something we have all gone through at one time or another? Have you ever had a headache? Have you ever been bitten by a mosquito? Ever gotten cut by something? Ever broken a bone? Ever had a sunburn? Ever been bruised? That “have you ever” list could go on & on, but it is leading to one big question. If you have ever had a headache, been bitten by a mosquito, gotten cut, or any of those other things, have you ever been HEALED of them? It looks like you were. And Who was the source of that healing? That’s what we are going to talk about today.
Isaiah 53:5 tells us: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by his wounds we are healed.”
When we want to learn about something or find out the truth about something where can we look? Where do we find truth?
The best place to go is always the Word of God. In this session, we are going to turn through passages in the Bible to find the truth about the healing powers of Jesus.
Our world is often clouded by uncertainty & despair. Within the pages of the Bible, we have stories of healing that have great promise. The Word of God, the ultimate TRUTH, tells us that healing & restoration is available today!
What are the limits to Jesus’ healing powers? What disease or injury is beyond His ability to restore?
From physical ailments to spiritual wounds, these sacred stories are more than just narratives; they serve as powerful testimonies, reminders, & sources of hope of divine intervention.
One of the most well-known stories of Jesus’ healing is when He gives sight to a man who was blind from birth. In the beginning of John chapter 9, we see Jesus & His disciples passing through a community where they see a beggar who was born blind. John 9:1 reads, “As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The Bible teaches that one reason for curses, injury, & disease is sin. Deuteronomy 28:15 says, “But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all his commands and statutes, I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you.”
The curses caused by disobedience were as certain to happen as the blessings of being obedient to the Lord’s commands. When one person saw another with an illness, injury, or disease, they believed it was the result of sin.
Jesus' answer was not what they were expecting. He said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned... This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3)
He wasn't saying that this man or his parents were sinless, only that the blindness itself was not the result of sin. He didn't say why the man was born blind, just that it was for God's glory. Once He told this to His disciples, He healed the blind man by spitting on the ground & rubbing the mud on the man's eyes. He then told the blind man to go wash it off in the pool of Siloam (si-low-um). The man did that & came back able to see.
Healed by Jesus!
Imagine having lots of itchy spots all over your skin that never go away, & those spots make people try to avoid being near you. That's what leprosy was like back in Jesus' time. Those with leprosy had to declare to the public that they had this disease. Leviticus 13:45 says, “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’”.
Imagine how humiliating that had to be. A man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged for help. Once again Jesus did something that was against the rules of culture. He didn’t try to avoid the man but reached out to him! The first 3 verses in Matthew chapter 8 read, “ 1 When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. 2 Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”3 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be made clean.’ Immediately, his leprosy was cleansed.”
He touched the man & just like magic, the spots were gone & the man was healthy again! It was like Jesus took the leprosy-eraser & wiped his skin clean.
As He often did Jesus ignored the ways of culture & the world & showed God’s love, mercy, & compassion to those in need. Imagine how this man felt after all of the spots vanished from his body. He was probably jumping up & down shouting HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! I am CLEAN!!!
Healed by Jesus!
Now we’re going to review the story of Jesus healing the paralytic. This happens in Matthew 9:1-8. Those verses read, “And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven… He then said to the paralytic “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”
The story of the healing of the paralytic in the Bible showcases not only physical healing but also a profound spiritual restoration.
When Jesus saw the paralyzed man with his friends, he didn’t just heal him physically, but first forgave his sins. This act demonstrates that true healing goes beyond just our physical bodies; it encompasses our hearts & souls as well. By addressing the man’s spiritual condition first, Jesus highlights the importance of inner healing for complete restoration.
Healed by Jesus!
This event challenges us to examine our own attitudes toward healing & forgiveness. The friends of the paralyzed man showed unwavering faith & determination in bringing their friend to Jesus for healing. Their actions remind us of the power of community & intercession in the healing processes, both physically & spiritually.
This story serves as a powerful reminder that true healing often requires not just individual effort, but also communal support & faith in something greater than ourselves. Christians praying for one another.
Ultimately, the healing of the paralytic is a beautiful illustration of God’s transformative power in bringing wholeness to brokenness. It teaches us that true healing involves not only physical restoration but also spiritual renewal & redemption. Through this story, we are inspired to approach our own struggles with faith & perseverance, trusting in God’s ability to bring about miraculous transformations in our lives.
Let’s look at one more example of healing in the Bible. It’s an example where a royal official goes to Jesus to ask Him to heal his son who is dying. This story is from the Book of John. John 4:46-47 says, “46 He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.”
What do we see in these verses?
The royal official was desperate to take action for his son. His need was so great he was willing to overlook the barriers of culture & society & go to Jesus for help. We can read his desperation as he “pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.”
One thing we see is that Jesus responded to the royal official’s plea in spite of him being a Gentile & not a Jew. Gentiles were viewed as being undeserving of blessings or other divine assistance, even in the most dire circumstances. That is what the culture would expect. Yet here we see that Jesus responds to the man’s desperate plea in spite of that. He showed that anyone can bring their needs to Him, no matter their background, nationality, race, or social status. Jesus’ grace & healing is for all people!
We must also ask the question if Jesus can heal someone who isn’t in His immediate presence.
What do you think? Can He?
Here, Jesus would demonstrate His power over sickness without being in the person’s presence. This would require a power that those around Him had not seen before. In the Old Testament are similar situations but the healing would later be confirmed by other people’s accounts. The people had only heard about things like this happening; not seen it for themselves.
Now we can look at the faith of the official. Was Jesus going to accept the faith of a Gentile the same as He would a Jew? Up to this point, people performed religious ceremonies to demonstrate their faith in God. Here we see a person who is putting their faith entirely in the Person of Jesus Christ! As it should be.
Let’s look at the next verses in this passage. Verses 48-50 say, “48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” 49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.” 50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.”
What do we see happening here?
One thing is that Jesus’ response challenges the official’s beliefs. Did he believe Jesus was able to bring healing to his son even though He wasn’t near him? The official heard what he needed to hear & he believed; he displayed total faith in the words & works of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. He took Jesus at His word & immediately left showing his total faith in what Jesus said.
Scrolling on down through the Scripture we read verses 51-53 which tell us, “51 While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. 52 He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered. 53 The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So, he himself believed, along with his whole household.”
What jumps out at you in this passage?
We read here that the miracle of healing of the official’s son was performed & the boy would live. The miracle happened exactly as Jesus said it would. While the royal official’s faith in Jesus & the healing of his son began the moment of being present with Jesus, his faith grew stronger by the news that the power of God was working in the life of his son to restore his health.
Let’s look at one more thing in this passage. When did the healing of the official’s son happen? Verse 53 tells us, “The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.”
After he asked when the healing occurred, the royal official realized that it happened right when Jesus said that his son would live. This truth further strengthened the official’s faith, as it confirmed how Jesus is in control of everything, including the healing of his beloved son. This further shows us how Jesus does everything according to His timeline. He’s not limited in any way in how He demonstrates His healing, grace, power, & love to all who come to Him.
Many, many of the miracles that Jesus performed throughout His ministry on the Earth were physical healings. It’s overwhelming to see how much Jesus cared about healing. Every single person who came to Jesus seeking healing received it. Every person who would allow Him to minister to them was made well. Even a child could understand that Jesus hated sickness & wanted to see people well. Healing was a major part of His ministry.
When we see someone who was healed who had been dealing with a chronic health issue, we often want to know the details of how he was healed. We look for a medical explanation instead of opening our eyes to the true reason the healing occurred. We then have more questions rather than giving God the credit He deserves. It’s our skepticism that can lead us to become paralyzed in our faith. Jesus isn’t concerned about our paralysis; He wants us to live in His power & purpose that He provides for us each & every day!
Now let’s take a look at a couple more recent examples of healing from Jesus. After I decided, we could come see you again this month I knew I would have to find a topic to preach. Several things ran through my mind on what I could talk about but nothing jumped out at me. It didn’t seem like the best time to talk about that thing; like it wasn’t what the Lord wanted me to be preaching this time. Then God revealed what He wanted. Every day I watch the Christian Broadcasting Network’s show The 700 Club.
On Thursday, March 6 one of their reports was about a man named Jim who was in the fight of his life. He had knots popping up all over his skin & he knew something was not right. The knots were from stage 4 malignant melanoma that had spread to his lungs & brain! His wife’s first thought was that she was going to lose him soon because it was all over his body. A lot of cancer treatments are unable to penetrate to the brain so treatment options were limited. Because the cancer was covering so many places over his body doctors told him there was just too much to surgically cut it all off. Then his doctor told him that chemo wouldn’t help either. What treatment would work? He was running out of options. What could he do to be healed of this disease? He was desperate.
The only treatment doctors believed that had a chance of curing him was immunotherapy. Because this process would be hard on Jim’s body, he & his wife prayed & trusted God with the results. On his next visit with the doctor, he told her that he had turned it over to the Lord & to just do what she had to do to eliminate the disease. As he began the very aggressive therapy Jim’s friends surrounded him with prayer. Whenever a friend would visit, he’d ask them to pray for him. He said he was talking with God in prayer almost constantly.
He had to have radiation on the brain first then he had dual immunotherapy. He had a lot of toxicity from the immunotherapy. But Jim stood firm & had faith in the Word of God despite being weak, tired, & worn out. Jim was so tired of the fight he was in that he was about to give up. His mind was telling him he wasn’t going to make it through this one. He got to the point that he told the Lord to give him a sign showing that He was hearing all these prayers he was sending up. He told God that he didn’t want to die but he would accept it if it was his time.
Feeling like there was no hope Jim was wheelchaired into his monthly scan. The day after the scan he got a call from his doctor. She was ecstatic, almost screaming she was so excited. She said, “It’s gone! It’s gone! It’s God’s work because it is gone!”
He didn’t say anything after getting the news. The doctor asked if he heard her because he didn’t say anything. He told her that he was just too weak to respond but he did hear her. She said, “It’s a miracle. If I hadn’t had the scans to look at, I wouldn’t know you had the cancer at all!”
The scan showed no signs of the very aggressive cancer. Like the disease never touched his body!
This part of the story will give you chills. After hearing this awesome report, he went to a room to pray. He felt a hand on his shoulder as he was walking to the room. Then he heard a voice in his head say, “That’s your sign.” Jim has been cancer-free for 7 years & gives all praise to God.
Healed by Jesus!
Isn’t it awesome that the Lord will not only wants to heal us but He wants us to be whole. That’s what we can be when we become part of His family. We will be healed & be whole!
We’ve talked about several people who experienced the healing hand of God. We only have one more to talk about. Would any of you care to guess whose healing experience we’ll talk about?
I could have just looked back at another message I’ve preached to tell you about this man. But since I know his story fairly well, I won’t do that. That’s right, we will look at what the miraculous healing God blessed me with.
Give the group my history & testimony of being HEALED by Jesus!
Points to share:
• Was good in school – graduated high school in 1993 at top of my class & went to Clemson to continue my education
• Graduated from Clemson with a bachelor’s degree in physics.
• After college, I got married to Kathy & had 2 daughters.
• Went to work for Milliken & Co. & was being promoted to higher levels in the company. Was a roll-wrapper when I started work & rose to the position of Product-Process Engineer in charge of fabric quality. Things were going great for me & my family. But that wasn’t what God wanted me to be doing.
• June 4, 2006 – Survived Traumatic Brain Injury
• Was unconscious when EMS got to me & most TBI survivors who are already in a coma when help comes do not live much longer. Yet here I am, almost 20 years later, preaching the Word of God!
• Went to the hospital in Anderson then Greenville first. Still in a coma.
• My grandfather was with me when I came out of the coma & said that seeing me conscious again was the best thing he had ever seen.
• Started rehab at Shepherd Center in Atlanta – This was very difficult because it was soon after the injury. I was still very confused, easily frustrated & unsure of my future. I had no idea how severe the injury was. I thought I would just finish rehab, get another car, move back home with Kathy & the girls, & start work at Milliken again.
• Therapy was hard because I was very weak, my balance was bad, & recovery was too slow. There were days I wanted to just go home.
• Had to do many exercises that I didn’t feel I could do.
• Therapists were patient with me & they helped me overcome these challenges.
• When I was in rehab, I realized it was the Lord who had saved me in that wreck & He was the only reason I was alive. I asked for Salvation!
• With Jesus in my life, my self-confidence in doing the rehab exercises was greater & my rate of recovery increased!
• I was also able to understand more about my injury & my future.
• Graduated from Shepherd Pathways on November 17, 2006 & moved back to Hampton to live with mom.
• I still had more rehab to do after returning to Hampton. My grandmother took me to those sessions. When I was in a session at the Fairfax rehab hospital, she told my therapist that I was her #1 grandson. My therapist was impressed & asked what I did to earn that title. She told her I was the first one to be born. Boy did she ever burst my bubble. LOL
• Started going to church at Hopewell when I was more settled here at home.
• Went to evening services because I was still uneasy being in large groups of people.
• When my condition was better, I started going to senior ministry dinners with my grandmother. We went to 3 or 4 senior dinners a month!
• One of those dinners was the Senior Citizen Ministry at Hopewell. After going to that dinner for many months, Mrs. Jane Harvey asked me if I would be the backup host of the meeting because our host at the time was getting weak & had several health concerns. I asked her to give me some time to think & pray about that. When I asked God if I should take that position, He replied, “Is there any reason you shouldn’t???” That’s how I got started in doing ministry with the seniors.
• Today, my strength & endurance are MUCH greater than it was when I asked Jesus into my life. I have less confusion & can successfully manage several tasks at once. For example, I’m keeping up with the work in the senior ministry at church, writing sermons to share with you in this ministry, sing in the choir (the community Easter Cantata), teach the adult Sunday School class, & setting things in place to have an exciting Easter EGG-Stravaganza with you at the end of April!
• Before I had Jesus in my life, I definitely would NOT be able to do all of those things.
Healed by Jesus! And not only that, I was healed by Jesus for a purpose – To do ministry with senior citizens & to come preach to you today! Hallelujah!
Before we close, would anyone here like to share stories of healing that Jesus has blessed you or a loved one with?
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we come before You with hearts full of gratitude for Your healing power. We rejoice in the restoration You bring to our bodies, minds, and spirits. May we always recognize Your hand in our healing journeys and share the joy of Your miracles with others. Strengthen our faith, Lord, as we celebrate the gift of health and wholeness. Amen.
