Though the Jews used physicians, they believed healing came ultimately from God. He was Yahweh Ropheka, “the Lord Who Heals.” What’s more, their Divine Healer had given them a set of laws that included certain hygienic practices, which contributed to their health and staying power as a people. According to the Talmud, an authoritative collection of Jewish writings, every city had its own doctor whose practice was licensed by city officials. Even the temple in Jerusalem had its own physician, assigned to take care of the priests.
Jesus, the greatest of all physicians, performed more healings than any other kind of miracle. Nothing stumped him—not blindness, craziness, lameness, deafness, or even death. Every ailment yielded to his undeniable power, and every healing served as evidence that his kingdom was breaking into our fallen world. Scripture sees sickness and death as byproducts of sin. And it was to solve the sin problem that Jesus came into the world.
While Jesus emphasized the importance of faith in the healing process, the Gospels do not support the teaching that a lack of healing always indicates a lack of faith. And though the New Testament sometimes directly links individual sin with sickness, it does not presume that every sickness is caused by individual sin. Rather, human beings become ill as the result of living in a fallen world. The Greek word for “physician” is iatros.
Praying to Our Great Physician
Many people find it difficult to believe that Jesus continues to heal people today. Mindy Cavendish is not one of them. Born in South Korea, she was adopted by American parents who soon discovered that their little girl had a huge hole in her eardrum. Mindy’s doctor indicated that she would have to wait until she was eight years old for surgery to repair it. Meanwhile, she would need surgeries to remove painful cysts that were forming deep in her ear canal. Aware that their little girl was in pain most of the time, her parents kept praying for a better solution.
One night, Mindy awoke screaming in pain. Her mother carried her downstairs, where she happened to be watching the movie “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”
After watching the movie for a while, Mindy turned to her mother, who explains what happened next.
“Mommy, can Jesus still make people all better like He did in the movie?” I really didn’t know, and I said so. Mindy folded her hands and bowed her little head. She prayed out loud: “God and Jesus please fix my ear and make it better. I love you. Amen.”
The next morning, we went to see Dr. Rodriguez for the pre-surgery visit. He looked in one ear, then the other, shook his head and said, “There is a brand new baby eardrum in there!” Well, the nurse had to look. Then the doctor had to look again! Pretty soon, people were coming in and out, looking in Mindy’s ear. Dr. Rodriguez said, “I just don’t know how this happened. Two days ago, there was no eardrum in here.”
Mindy said, “I asked Jesus to fix my ear, and He did!”
I almost fell off my chair! Mindy smiled sweetly and told the doctor her ears didn’t hurt anymore. The doctor ran hearing tests on both ears. Both were perfect. Then a huge tear rolled down his cheek! The doctor was crying! We had been given a miracle!”[1]
Since then, Mindy’s ears have been perfect. Her speech improved gradually without further therapy. She graduated from college summa cum laude with a degree in Speech Language Pathology, becoming a healer herself.
Does Jesus still heal people? Ask Mindy Cavendish if you doubt it!
[1] Susan Cavendish, “The Gift of a Miracle,” Holt International, (Fall 2009, Vol. 51 No. 4), 13.
