Healing The Broken (James 5:13-20)

Today we are going to talk about the promise that God would heal us. This may seem like an odd promise for us to focus on. We have looked into mercy, joy, and peace, but why would we look into healing? This is probably one of the most misunderstood promises God has made. On the one hand, people tend to think that God will heal anything and everything if we have enough faith. On the other hand, people think that God doesn't heal because he does not care. These are the two extremes of the spectrum. I imagine that most of us would fall somewhere in between the two. But what does God actually promise? We know that God always delivers on his promises. How does he deliver on this one? To launch us into this discussion, consider the most promising text in the New Testament, James 5:13-20.

Powerful Prayer

James 5:13--20 (ESV) --- 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Let's begin by looking at what God has promised in this text. James tells us that when we pray, God will hear our prayer and raise up the one who is sick with forgiveness. Raising them up sounds ambiguous. Is God going to let them die and raise them from the dead? Well, that is true, but that's not what he appears to be talking about. Some might assume that this is only spiritual sickness and spiritual healing, but I think the oil and laying on hands indicate a physical sickness or infirmity. There is simply no way around the truth of this text. James tells us that the fervent prayer of a righteous man has great power in its working. God will heal those who are brought before his throne in prayer.

Why does he say this? What does this mean for us? Are James' words universally true for everyone everywhere? Remember we are reading other people's mail. I believe these words are true to some extent. But the letter of James is all about having a genuine faith that is steadfast in the Lord. He has been trying to convince these Christians to actually put their trust in the Lord instead of being doubleminded.

The Promises of God

Where does God promise to heal anyone? The promises are spread out throughout the Old Testament, but a few places stand out to me.

Malachi 4:2--3 (ESV) --- 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

This is the last prophet of the Old Testament promising the Israelites that the "sun of righteousness with rise with healing in its wings." Then, those who receive that healing will leap and tread down the wicked. This is an image of healing and restoration for those who are lame. They will be made whole and able to do what they have never been able to do before. Now, this sounds very interesting, but we need more details about this. What kind of healing will be available?

Isaiah 35:1--10 (ESV) --- 1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The text tells us that when Christ comes, he will bring healing and restoration for all of the world's infirmities. God will give the anxious and fearful strength (emotional healing). God will heal the blind, deaf, and mute. Then he again says that the lame will leap (physical healing). In the end, we see that people will walk down a highway of holiness. He says that even those who are fools can walk on the way of holiness. They will not go astray. This points to spiritual healing, and it sounds fantastic. Just imagine being given the spiritual healing needed to be genuinely holy before God. There is no angry beast about to pounce on you for your sin. You are completely protected from the judgment you deserve.

Isaiah 61:1--4 (ESV) --- 1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion--- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

Here we see God planning to restore the poor, brokenhearted, captive, and imprisoned. He will bring liberty and healing to all in every circumstance. Isn't this a fantastic promise? It almost sounds too good to be true. Is God really saying he will do all of this for all of his people?

Physical Healing Fulfillment

The truth is that Jesus was given the power to heal completely. He came bringing all of these things in the New Testament. This is primarily what he wanted to show everyone.

Matthew 8:17 (ESV) --- 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

Notice how Jesus did this to fulfill what Isaiah said in Isaiah 35.

Matthew 11:4--6 (ESV) --- 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Notice how this was intended to help John believe that Jesus was the Christ even though John was in prison and not being set free. This should make us pause and wonder. If Jesus has come to set the captive free, why not save John? In the last fulfillment text we will look at, we will see that Jesus planned to set the captive free.

Luke 4:18 (ESV) --- 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Here Jesus quotes Isaiah 61, saying that he has come to fulfill this purpose. Yet, John died in prison. If we fast forward to the rest of the New Testament, we see Peter being set free from prison in Acts 12. An angel caused his chains to fall off of his hands, and he walked right out of prison. But Paul stays in prison until his likely death. So we get a mixed fulfillment. It seems that Jesus has the power to set people free, but he doesn't always choose to do that.

Application

How does this help us? Will God heal us of physical, emotional sickness? The answer is, "Yes." God can and will heal all of our diseases. But when we stop to think about the fulfillment of these prophesies, we could easily convince ourselves that Jesus fulfilled them, but only for a brief time. So these promises don't help us at all. However, the same power used to heal and set free is toward us who believe.

Ephesians 3:14--21 (ESV) --- 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith---that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:6--7 (ESV) --- 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

If we give our lives to him, he promises to heal us. He promises us that he cares for us and wants to take care of us. Do not doubt that when you approach his throne in prayer. He wants to heal you and your relative, and he is able. But, before you come up here expecting me to hit you on the forehead, you should know that the physical and emotional healing may not happen as fast as we want it to. God may choose to heal us of physical or emotional sickness through ordinary means (medicine, doctors, surgery, etc.). He may choose to heal us through extraordinary means (things that doctors cannot explain, James 5:13-18). Or God may choose not to heal us in this life. He doesn't promise to give us eternal life on this earth. Many of us have had instances where we did not get what we asked for in prayer. We have lost loved ones, and we know the pain of death is coming for us unless the Lord returns. We remember how Paul had to deal with unresolved prayer in 2 Corinthians 12.

2 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV) --- 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

Paul has seen a grand vision, but he also had to endure tremendous suffering. We might feel like suffering is unjust and get angry about having to go through it. It may be unjust as we see the wicked around us prospering without any suffering, but it is essential always to remember that we serve a God who cares. He wants to heal us.

However, even more than removing our physical and emotional suffering, God also wants to heal our hearts and reward us for having faith in him. Why would God let Paul suffer if he loves him? The text tells us that it is because God didn't want Paul to become conceited. God is looking out for Paul's spiritual health more than Paul's physical health.

So when we pray to God for healing, we might get frustrated at the lack of response. When God doesn't heal us in that instant, we have no clue why he didn't. That might be frustrating to us. We want to know why. I heard an illustration that stuck with me by a man who knows a lot about suffering. The preacher said that suffering in this life is like taking a beautiful masterpiece painting and covering up all of it but one square inch in the corner. If someone were to look at that small revealed part of the painting, they would be confused about what they are looking at. They would have no clue why this section looks so dark and ominous. But when everything is uncovered, there is a masterpiece that makes total sense. We can't tell why these dark trials have fallen on us. We have no idea what our creator had in mind when he allowed that suffering to enter our life.

Healing Hearts (Spiritual healing)

If a father has to tell the doctor to cut out an abscess to save his child's life, he might be willing to hold his child down and let her go through pain for a few minutes. God is that loving Father. He will listen to our tears and pain, and he will feel it himself. We can be sure that Jesus felt what we feel. As he allows his friend Lazarus to die, he saw Mary and Martha struggle, and he wept with them twice. He knows, and he cares a lot!

We have to realize that our spiritual sickness is far worse than we can imagine. We have a disorder when we love idols more than God. We have a disease when we give in to sexual immorality. Our hearts are corrupted when we are full of anger, malice, and vengeance. This needs to be healed for our relationship with God to be where it should be. God is trying to heal us from that, but sometimes the treatment is painful. Sin affects us on a much deeper level than we understand. Once we submit our lives to God, we are submitting ourselves to the great physician who will start working to sanctify us to fulfill our purpose. We will never be to the praise of his glory until he has healed us from the corruption of the world.

God provides the ultimate spiritual healing we need through the blood of Christ. We want to take advantage of that healing and grow out of the sinful life we are living. We want to be transformed so that the world and the spiritual rulers in the heavenly places know how amazing our God is. Transformation is painful but worth it.

Greater Rewards

The other thing God wants to do for us is bless us with an eternal reward. He wants to give us an opportunity to glorify him and praise his name in our suffering. 1 Peter is full of this kind of encouragement. If we suffer unjustly, there is a great reward waiting for us that we can enjoy for all eternity. This is a fantastic promise that I look forward to studying more about with you later.

When we deal with suffering or the pain of losing someone we love, we must strive to glorify God with faith that he knows what is best for us, he hears our prayers, and he cares about what we are going through. I want to close with one more passage. That should give us comfort in every trial we face in this life.

Revelation 22:1--2 (ESV) --- 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

This tells us that all of the power Jesus used on earth was a foretaste of what is to come. There will be no more pain or suffering in the place we are going. If our faith and trust are in Christ, he will provide access to the tree of life, healing all of our sickness and diseases. We can have eternal life free from pain and full of rewards if we will put our trust in him.

Conclusion

We don't want sickness or death. It seems like we should live life without experiencing physical or emotional suffering, but the reality is that this life is full of suffering and pain. There is no escaping it. God did not create it this way, and he doesn't want it to stay this way. So when we go to God in prayer, we should feel fully assured that he is a good Father who wants what is best for us. He has the power to heal and the desire to heal. We can pray, believing that God wants to heal us instantly at that moment. But we also submit to his greater understanding and his will.