1 Peter 2:24: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Christendom espouses a range of views regarding healing – from “name it and claim it” to a dispensational view that healing, as a manifestation of God, was for a prior age. Does God heal today? If so, why? If not, why not? Does it have to do with the spiritual purity of an individual? Was healing primarily a sign of God and, secondarily, a blessing for the individual? For the Biblical answer, we turn to:
- Historical Context: 1 Peter 1:1 identifies the author of the Book of 1 Peter as the Apostle Peter, written between 60 and 65 A.D. Peter understood persecution. He was beaten, threatened, punished and jailed for preaching the Word of God. He knew what it took to stand strong. This knowledge of living hope in Jesus was the message and Christ’s example was the one to follow. Peter handed down rules for wives, husbands, slaves, elders and just all people in general. This time of persecution is despairing, but Peter reveals that this is actually a time to rejoice. He says to count it a privilege to suffer for the sake of Christ as their Savior suffered for them as well as having made provision for salvation from this world of turbulence. This letter of Peter’s makes reference to his personal experiences with Jesus and his sermons from the book of Acts. Peter confirms Satan as the great enemy of every Christian but the assurance of Christ’s future return gives the incentive of hope. The assurance of eternal life is given to all Christians. One way to identify with Christ is to share in His suffering.
- Grammatical Usage: “Healed” in he Greek is “iaomai” meaning “to be healed…made whole.” While the term is used with respect to physical healing 22 times, it is used figuratively, of spiritual healing, 4 times in the New Testament including 1 Peter 2:24.
- Literal Application: “Who Himself bore our sins in His body upon the tree, in order (and with the result) that now that we are rescued from the domination of our sins, we may live because of righteousness, by means of the bloody wounds of Whom you have been healed.””
- Contextual Interpretation: Our verse is often misunderstood as a reference to physical healing. Besides the grammatical evidence, context is critical in that the very next verse unmistakably refers to spiritual healing: “Because you were always like sheep being led astray but you have been returned not to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” – 1 Peter 2:25. V. 24 is actually found in Isaiah 53:5 where, again, the reference is to spiritual healing.
- Scriptural Comparison: In the Old Testament the word “rapa” appears 67 times, with variations another 19 times. Essentially “rapa” means “to heal” or “to make healthy.” In many passages, such as Genesis 20:17, the word refers to physical healing of a sickness or disease. But the image of sickness is also used to represent the ravages of sin. In these instances, as in Isaiah 1:50-6; 18, healing speaks of forgiveness and of the restoration of a harmonious relationship with God as well as the blessings that follow such a relationship (2 Chronicles 7:14-16; Hosea 6:1). While the prophets insisted upon God’s firm intention to heal his sinning people spiritually, God Himself declares in Exodus 15:26 where He states, “I am the Lord who heals you” is a reference to both spiritual and physical healing. To gain more insight, the role of medicine in Judaism following the Old Testament period was viewed with great suspicion – an historical attitude which has been wrongly attributed to Biblical days. In fact, Genesis 50 mentions the physicians of Egypt and 2 Chronicles 16:12 mentions that King Asa sought out physicians for physical healing. Asa was criticized in Scripture not for seeking physical help, but failing to include God in his search. The Old Testament also mentions practices such as cleansing and binding wounds and the use of soothing oil (Isaiah 1:6). There are references to healing balms (2 Chronicles 28:15; Isaiah 38:21). It is true that although common remedies were in use during Old Testament times, no medical science or practice as such was developed.
In the New Testament, 5 Greek words are used to refer to healing. Oddly, of the 82 times these words are used in the New Testament, 73 of the occurrences are restricted to the 4 Gospels and the book of Acts. In large part, this is where dispensationalists base their position that healing is not a present day reality. The argument is that the reason these Greek words are so clustered has to do with the fact that healing was a significant part of Jesus’ ministry before His ascension as well as that of the early church apostles in order to confirm Jesus’ identity as the Messiah as well as to authenticate His apostle’s relationship to and authority from God (Mt. 10:1, 8; Mk. 6:13; Lk 9:1, 6). However, James calls upon the physically ill to prayer and anointment of oil to heal infirmities (James 5:14-16) and Paul includes the gift of healing in his list of spiritual gifts given to believers (I Cor. 12:9, 28, 30). Therefore, healing is definitely a present day reality.
The question now becomes, is healing “by right” taught in the New Testament. No. In the Gospels and Acts, healings are often associated with the faith of the person who was healed (Mt. 9:21, 22; 15:28; Acts 14:9). But the New Testament also reports other miracles of healing without reference to the conversion of the person healed (Mt. 9:23-26; Mk. 6:5; Acts 3:1-10; 5:16; 8:7; 28:8). With so little prescription in the New Testament regarding how to deal with illness, we must turn to examples for insight: 1) Paul suffered from a serious disease that affected his appearance and probably eyesight and, while he pleaded with God to take it away, he was only given grace to live with the infirmities (2 Cor. 12:8); 2) Timothy suffered from chronic stomach trouble and Paul advised a therapy (1 Tim. 5:23); 3) Epaphroditus came to Paul with a gift, became sick and nearly died. Yet, God healed him (Phil. 2;27). In none of these cases do we see a believer “claiming” a “right” to healing. What we do find is God acting in His sovereign capacity by either granting or denying healing according to His purpose. Often people are physically healed when they place their faith in Christ – but this is not always the case. Sometimes it is God’s will to heal, sometimes it is not. The Apostle John gives us the proper perspective: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15). God still performs miracles. God still heals people. However, sickness, disease, pain, and death are still realities in this world. Unless the Lord returns in the next 50 years or so, almost everyone who is alive today will die, and the vast majority of them (Christians included) will die as the result of a physical problem (disease, sickness, injury). It is not always God’s will to heal us physically. In fact, it would appear based upon the Biblical evidence and practical example that more often than not, God chooses not to heal. But the fact to be underscored is that, indeed, God chooses. It is His right, a reality, a legitimate Biblical option for believers which God grants or denies based upon His purpose and outworking for the individual, the body of Christ and the unsaved as a witness.
- Conclusion: Ultimately, our full physical healing awaits us in Heaven. In Heaven, there will be no more pain, sickness, disease, suffering, or death (Revelation 21). We all need to be less preoccupied with our physical condition in this world, and be a little more preoccupied with our spiritual condition (Romans 12:1-2). Then, we can focus our hearts on heaven and when we will no longer have to deal with physical problems, Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”