Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to our series on spiritual transformation following a break of a couple or so weeks for the autumn festivals. We are on Part #15 today having considered the subject of transformation in relation to the spirit, mind and the emotions, as we now turn our attention to the transformation of the physical body. And we must do so with the obvious question: does the life of Elohim (God) within the invisible part of our beings affect the physical to any great degree? And if so, how, and to what degree?

I, who suffer from chronic illness myself, cannot pretend to speak with any very great authority on today's subject, but there are brethren out there who know far more about this than I do. It is, after all, a controversial subject, given all the physical suffering and health issues both inside and outside the Messianic Community (Church). So I can only make general observations as a scientist and pastor and to share with you what I know the Scriptures say about this subject as a teacher of the Davar (Word).

The answer to the question as to whether the life of Yahweh affects our bodies or not is, of course, that it does. As a basic principle, I believe it is true to say that in the overall, general sense, our Heavenly Father wills health and healing. In its broadest scriptural application, salvation or deliverance is wholeness. He wants us to be whole.

That does not mean that Yahweh does not use physical illness and affliction to advance His purposes where otherwise those purposes could not be achieved, but He must never be looked upon as the author of illness. Here the consequential Calvinists and other fatalists will, of course, disagree with us because they do not believe in the free agency of man and his ability to choose a lifestyle adversarial to good health or not because they believe everything is predestined. Without getting into speicific details or mentioning apparent exceptions, the whole tenor of Scripture proclaims that Elohim (God) is interested in the physical as well as the spiritual health of His children.

Having said this, I must say right away, and underline it with several thick black markers, that Christianity is not a healing cult [1]. And the reason it's not is because its primary purpose is not to keep our bodies in repair, but to develop our spiritual relationship with our Father in Heaven, and to prepare us for eternity in the worlds to come after this life. I cannot stress enough the importance of this statement. The ultimate aim of the Christian/Messianic faith is not merely to make us happy or healthy - but qadosh, holy, or set-apart. Let me repeat that the purpose of the Gospel is not just to make us happy or healthy but holy. Everything else is secondary to that heavenly 'prime directive', if I can borrow that expression for I know a lot of you are familiar with it. And here is the great truth: lasting health and happiness are by-products of holiness.

If we seek health first, it will evade us. If we seek happiness first, we will never find it, not in the long-term, at any rate. But - and this is the promise of our Messiah - we should seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness (the righteousness of Elohim/God), then all these things (including health and happiness) will be added unto us. But let's first get the scriptural background to this statement, which is a pretty big and important one, before we go any further, so let's turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, beginning at verse 31:

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (i.e. basic needs) For after all these things the Gentiles (pagans, unbelievers) seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of Elohim (God) and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt.6:31-34, NKJV).

This is a very simple yet profound truth that the fleshy nature does not wish to hear because it always prioretises 'Number One' (self). So let us make absolutely certain, before we investigate this subject in any sort of depth, that we place the emphasis where Elohim (God) Himself places it - on Him and not on health, wealth or happiness as a great many of the popular pseudo-Christian cults do.

So today we're asking ourselves the question: What was the attitude of the Master Yah'shua the Massiah (Lord Jesus Christ) toward sickness and disease during His ministry on the earth because that's very much the attitude we are supposed to have, is it not, as we are called to imitate Christ? Now, inevitably, I am going to tread on a number of toes today, and especially on those of the 'cessationists' who, for the most part, and to differeng degrees, think that certain kinds of miracle and gifts ceased after the apostles died. The opposite view, which we as 'continuationists' hold, is that these original gifts are still supposed to be present among believers. But more about that later.

When we examine the record of the Gospels we discover that one of the reasons why the Messiah came to this world was to show us what Yahweh is really like, and He accomplished this by healing men, women and children of their sicknesses and diseases. At the beginning of His ministry He declared an all-out offensive against sin (that is, what happens when you break the Torah of mitzvot or commandments), disease and death:

"The Ruach of Yahweh (Spirit of the Lord) is on me (the Messiah),
because He (Yahweh) has anointed Me
to preach good news (gospel) to the poor.
['He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted' - KJV, NKJV] [2].
He has sent me to proclaim freedom (liberty;) for the prisoners ('preach deliverance to the captives' - KJV)
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year (æon, age, era) of Yahweh's favour [3]"
(Luke 4:18-19, NIV; cp.Is.61:1-2).

To give an example of physical healing, we need only look further down in the same chapter to verse 39:

"All the people were amazed and said to each other, 'What is this teaching? With authority and power He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!' And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

"Yah'shua (Jesus) left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Yah'shua (Jesus) to help her. So He bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them" (Luke 4:36-39, NIV).

Here we see Yah'shua (Jesus) rebuking a fever in the same way that He rebuked demons. He saw both sin and sickness in the same light - an evil force, and intruders in His Father's world. Someone once said that when we meet Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) in the Gospels, He is either healing someone, on His way to heal someone, or coming back from healing someone. So practically-speaking, Yah'shua's (Jesus') attitude toward sickness in the Gospels was that of any good doctor today - He fought it all the way. Nowhere in the Gospels do we ever discover a hint of retreat or compromise over His position concerning sickness and disease. He never refused to heal anyone who came to Him for help, and reproved any suggestion of His unwillingness or inability to heal (Lk.5:12-13; Mk.9:23). One third of His ministry was taken up with the healing of the sick, and not once did He ever pray concerning the matter, "If it be Your will.". We will probably take our greatest step forward toward physical health when we realise that Yah'shua (Jesus) is more interested in us being well than even the most dedicated family doctor.

So, let us be clear from the outset and let's ensure this registers strongly in our minds - it was Yah'shua's (Jesus') desire that the people of His day should be delivered from their sicknesses and afflictions. What, then, should we say to those Christians and Messianics who insist that this positive and affirmative miracle-doing, proven in multiple actions, was only to convince people that Yah'shua (Jesus) was the Messiah (Christ), and that once He had demonstrated this through all His miracles, that divine healing wasn't needed any more? You see the implication of this belief, which is widespread in Christendom (for reasons we'll go into in a minute), that Yah'shua (Jesus) - and therefore Yahweh our Heavenly Father - wasn't really interested in our health and well-being but rather used miracles as 'messianic bait', like 'dangling the carrot', as it were. Do you believe that? I don't - I think that is a very cynical, if not appalling, view of Elohim (God). These two views, then, paint very different pictures of who Elohim (God) is. They bespeak very different divine characters, so it's a most serious matter. It's a bit like saying that doctors only need to actually cure their patients of illness in order to convince them of the veracity of medicine, so that once we have been hooked to the idea of medicine, curing folks suddenly doesn't matter any more. The goal in this hypothetical scenario was only to win trust for something else. For those Christians who believe in this alleged heavenly stragegy, physical healing was offered merely to convince us to pursue forgiveness of sin and a place in the Kingdom instead of making divine healing fully a part of Kingdom life too.

Now maybe this is oversimplistic. Yah'shua (Jesus) isn't here any longer. Yet the apostles, while they lived, possessed the very same gift of healing. Once they had died off, supernatural healing didn't vanish altogether but it was certainly less frequent. And supernatural healing definitely has continued all the way through the centuries to our day, even if it is infrequent and rarely as dramatic as those miracles that took place in the first century, if you separate out - as we must - all the false healings of the 'healing cults'. Yet I have heard some very dramatic stories indeed! Some of you may have heard of Andrew White, the Anglican vicar of Baghdad, an atypical Anglican, with his flock of Arabs and a medical centre which regularly got bombed by terrorists and with many of his congregation being killed by them. The miracles he and his people experienced are pure New Testament material, and quite incredible, including raising the dead and healing the sick supernaturally [4]. So yes, incredible miracles still happen even if in unexpected places. Faith crosses all denominational barriers.

We have a lot to unpack when it comes to this subject so please be patient. Yah'shua (Jesus) never said - not once - that sickness was a blessing so I think it's fair to say...and this is surely common sense too...that disease and illness is a curse of sorts. It's here you have to use your brain and your heart. (See The Heart of Torah series).

Someone has pointed out (though please don't make too much of this) that whilst there is a Beatitude for those who suffer persecution, there is no Beatitude for those who suffer physical illness. What was Yah'shua's (Jesus') strategy for helping people be free of sickness? He said that emunah (faith) in His Father's willingness and ability to give His children good gifts, was the key. And that's where cessationists typically trip up but not only them for maybe we, as continuationists, lack the faith - not in divine healing as a theoretical possibility - but to understand the Father's heart. I am guilty of this sin, I freely and ashamedly confess it, because there have been too many times when I have doubted Yahweh wants me, or those I love, healed. And, no, the sceptical, rationalist (and ultimately atheistic) Western mindset, though a tremdous asset to the brain and to science, has all too easily become a damper on the heart and on spiritual matters, and has not helped us in this area, and paved the way for the incredible swing to, and emotional immaturity of, postmodernism.

So, to restate, I hope, the obvious, Yah'shua's (Jesus') motive in healing was not simply to produce proof of His divinity (though this is evident to some degree, and later the apostles would face the problem of pagans thinking they were gods when they healed the sick supernaturally) but rather because His great heart was moved to compassion at the sight of those who were sick and suffering. Yah'shua (Jesus) did not heal to prove He was Elohim (God), He healed people because He was Elohim (God). The word 'compassion' is used over and over again to describe His motivation for healing the sick. This was the main reason He went out of His way to heal those who had neither asked Him, nor thought of doing so. He rejoiced in straightening bent and broken limbs. He delighted in unstopping deaf ears, opening blind eyes, and making the lame leap with joy. Yah'shua (Jesus) healed because the love of Elohim (God), flowing irresistably through Him in a torrent of compassion, simply swept evil and ill-health away as the débris that it is. Make no mistake about it - this is still His attitude today! For it is written:

"Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb.13:8, NKJV).

Well, it's clear we will need at least another sabbath to do this subject proper justice so next week, in nine days' time, we will continue to deal with this very important matter of health and healing. I realise that lifestyle is an important part of the equation and that we suffer, peculiarly, in this age, unlike the ancients' world, from all sorts of air, water, food, and gene pollution, which is a very real burden for our bodies to carry, and that breaking the various eating vices we are trapped in (for example) can be challenging to say the least...and this in spite of all the very real advances in medicine without which I would almost certainly be dead by now. Next week we'll cover such issues as the atonement relative to health, the impact of suffering and sorrow on our bodies, and much more.

Let's take the opportunity, in closing, to pray as we have accustomed ourselves to doing while the subject matter is still fresh in our minds: "Father in Heaven, I so much want to be healthy, not only in spirit and in mind, but in body also. I want to be every whit whole. And You, who made the whole, desire health for the whole. So I come to be touched by Your almighty power, and ask the same of my loved ones and friends too. It is a great joy to me to realise that You want me well. The whole weight of Your Word is pushing me to my feet to say, 'Heal me, Master Yah'shua - as you healed people in Bible days'. Reach deep into every part of my personality right now - spirit, mind, emotions and body, and draw all parts of me toward perfect health. In the Name of the Great Physician, Yah'shua the Messiah. Amen."

Endnotes

[1] Some modern examples of healing cults would include the 'New Reformation' (that began in Denmark) and most of the charismatic groups - note the strong connection stressed between false tongues (gibberish) and occultic-type healing.

[2] The Greek Septuagint contains this extra line and as this was the Tanakh or Old Testament that was used by the first believers, and is extensively quoted in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament), many of the older English translations include it when quoted in the New Testament.

[3] The "year of Yahweh's favour" is the Messianic Age, which in Isaiah 61:1-2, of which this is a quotation, alludes to the the Yovel or the Year of Jubilee (Lev.25:8-55) when every 50 years slaves and indentured servants were freed, debts were canceled and ancestral property was returned to the original family. And although Isaiah was principally predicting the liberation of Israel from the future Babylonian captivity, Yah'shua (Jesus) explained the greater meaning which was that of liberation from sin and all its consequences.

[4] See Andrew White, The Vicar of Baghdad: Fighting for Peace in the Middle East (Monarch Books, Oxford: 2009), Faith Under Fire: What the Middle East Conflict Has Taught Me About God (2011) & Father Forgive: Reflections on Peacemaking (2013)

Acknowledgments

[1] Selwyn Hughes, Every Day With Jesus: The Transformed Life (Crusade for World Revival, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, UK: 1979)