Becoming Whole

KEY VERSE: “Jesus salth unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately, the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.” —John 5:8,9

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: John 5:1-15

NO ONE who believes the Bible will deny that Jesus actually healed the sick, and that he did so by divine power and in keeping with the will of his God. However, those whom Jesus healed subsequently died, and those whom he raised from the dead ultimately went into death again. So the question arises as to why even his cures were not permanent.

Perhaps the most direct scriptural answer to this question, as it relates to the miracles Jesus performed, is found in the statement recorded by John concerning the miracle of turning water into wine. “This beginning of miracles,” said John, “did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory.” (John 2:11) The thought of this text is that by his miracles Jesus displayed his glory to the people of his day, in advance of the time when it would be revealed to the whole world by a health program that would bring, not temporary life, but everlasting life to all mankind.

This was, then, a necessary part of his ministry in order that his teachings and the fact of his Messiahship might be established. The public mind in ancient times expected some outstanding demonstration of divine authority and power on the part of those whom they accepted as having been sent by God.

Israel’s God had fought for them in battle and destroyed their enemies. Some of his prophets had raised their dead. Could they be expected to accept Jesus as the greatest of all their prophets, the one, indeed, who all their prophets said would come, if he could do less than those who had promised his coming?

This is one reason that Jesus’ ministry was accompanied by miracles—the healing of the sick, and the raising of the dead. And in doing this he was also giving object lessons of what he, as the promised Messiah, would do for the whole world, upon a permanent basis, when God’s due time would come for this feature of the divine plan to be inaugurated.

It is God’s will that ultimately all who accept Christ and obey the laws of his kingdom will be restored to health and live forever as human beings. Each of the holy prophets, in one way or another, foretold a worldwide program of health and life. Jesus referred to it as a time of “regeneration.” (Matt. 19:28) The Apostle Peter described it as the “times of restitution of all things.”—Acts 3:19-21

But Jesus did not initiate this program at his First Advent, nor did he promise any of his disciples that they could expect to be divinely cured of their physical ailments because of their faith in him. During the short period of Jesus’ First Advent ministry, he preached the hope of the kingdom, and in connection with his message he gave many practical demonstrations of what kingdom blessings would mean for the people.

There is no denying the fact that the Bible has much to say about divine healing. God is represented as a Great Physician who heals all the diseases of his people. (Ps. 103:3) The Prophet Isaiah foretold a time when “the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.” (Isa. 33:24) The same sacred writer prophesied that all the blind eyes would be opened, and all the deaf ears unstopped. He also promised that the lame would leap, and the dumb sing.—Isa. 35:5,6

Diseases of all kinds are simply an evidence that the human race is dying. They are the concomitants of death, and the Apostle Paul informs us that Christ must reign until he has destroyed death. (I Cor. 15:25,26) The destruction of death will include the destruction of disease which leads to death.

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