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Today we explore another tricky question. Does sickness come because a person sinned? Is it a punishment?
No.
Remember The Body you are traveling around in belongs to God. He will not make His Own Body sick.
Jesus made it very clear what He and His Father thought about sickness. He healed people of sickness.
Besides the specific ones we know about, Jesus healed multiple people we do not know about.
A vast crowd brought to Him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and He healed them all.
Matthew 15:30
When John’s disciples came to see what message they should relay from Jesus to him, they found Jesus busy healing people.
At that very hour Jesus healed many people of their diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and He gave sight to many who were blind. So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor!”
Luke 7:21-22
Jesus even carried diseases upon Himself to the cross.
“By His stripes, we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
So it is not God’s Will for us to be sick.
What about those times it appeared God caused illness? God’s desire is always for the one He created to do His Will and receive all the good things He planned for them.
Remember our bodies are Temples of The Holy Spirit. Sometimes The Temple needs to be cleansed for God’s Will to be accomplished.
Sometimes external illness is a revelation of an inner spiritual infection. But God’s Goal is to cleanse and refine, not punish the person for sinning.
The plague brought against the Pharaoh was to bring the evil inside him to the surface and to get him to do God’s Will, which was let the children of Israel go.
The blindness brought upon Paul was to stop him, get his attention and get him on the right path to carrying out God’s Will.
However, we cannot just assume the presence of illness means some evil within a person is being exposed. Sadly that was the thinking in Jesus’ day.
Lepers had to call out, “Unclean” wherever they went.
No one wanted to be near the woman with the issue of blood.
Jesus was questioned about whether the man born blind had sinned or whether it was his parents.
Jesus cleared that up easily. No one had sinned. God had done what He did for a greater purpose than was immediately apparent.
So we should never think sickness is always a manifestation of inner sins.
Sometimes before He brought about healing, Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven.” How do we make sense out of Jesus linking forgiveness of sins with healing?
He was giving a message both to the one being healed and to those around him. To those around, Jesus was saying, “Do not judge this person. His sin slate is clear.” He might have added, “How about yours?”
To the one being healed, He was saying, “No one is going to punish you for your sins. God has not punished you. I will not punish you. I am clearing the line so you can receive the healing I want to give you.”
So when illness strikes, just remember God has a Purpose in everything. He works all things together for good, even if every part does not look good.
When asked about why the man was born blind from birth, Jesus answered,
“This happened so that The Works of God might be displayed in him.”
John 9:3
God loves us and His Purpose is always the same for us. He wants His Works to be displayed in us. Be patient while He works. It’s all for His Glory!
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12
