2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of sharing Norm Ackert’s story with you, and I promised to have more to say about that. It is never easy to deal with a family divided in their approach to spiritual matters. It is also never easy to be raised traditionally Jewish and then to deal with the reaction of some of your family when God reveals to you the truth that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. There is always some relative who is disappointed and/or initial confusion as to how to handle the huge impact that this revelation has on one’s life. You all know that this is a problem to which I can relate from personal experience. My interactions with Norm have shown me that he is a faithful man, obedient to God, who sets a good example for me. From the story of his reaction to his near-death experience, we can see that he has the courage and trust in God to look at the events of his own life stretching toward God’s perspective in evaluating them. That is a wise thing for all of us to do in looking at our own lives. I also cited 1 PET 4: 12-13 which tells us to not be surprised at the “painful test you are suffering” and “be glad that you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when His glory is revealed.” I believe Norm is setting an example which I feel we should all follow in doing that.
Today, we continue our view of Jehovah Rapha, the God Who heals, by turning our attention to His Son Who we are reminded is the second person of the Trinity, and thus, One with the Father. We will see how Jehovah uses Christ to carry out healing. It makes sense to look at the example of Christ’s own suffering first to see why it is so important to what God’s will for us is. 1 PET 2: 20b-21, “But if you endure suffering even when you have done right, God will bless you for it. It was to this that God called you, for Christ Himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in His steps.” Now, that’s a powerful message. It puts a very different slant on the suffering good Christians must often do for adhering to God’s teachings in a humanistic society. There a lots of different ways this suffering manifests itself in modern life. It might anything from being branding a “religious freak” by a family member to discrimination in the work place to being ostracized in the school yard to whatever. Obviously, it has meant even worse things over history. Physical attacks and even martyrdom sometimes result because a person held fast in the face of threats to his faith in Christ. Yet, when we look at the example that Christ set for us, we also know that God is just. He equips us to handle whatever suffering comes our way by giving us faith to endure it. Once again, look at Christ’s example. 1 PET 2: 23-25, “When He was insulted, He did not answer back with an insult; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but placed His hopes in God, the righteous Judge. Christ Himself carried our sins in His body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by His wounds that you have been healed.”
Despite the fact that traditional Jews reject that Christ is the Messiah for Whom they have been waiting, Christians and Jewish believers like Norm and me recognize that God did reveal Christ in the OT. IS 53, “The Suffering Servant,” is an entire chapter about Him, for example. (It is by far not the only mention of Him in the OT). IS 53: 4-5 gives us the same message that 1 PET 2: 23-25 does. “But He endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that His suffering was punishment sent by God. But because of our sins He was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received.” This same concept is spoken of by Matthew in MT 8: 16-17. “When evening came, people brought to Jesus many who had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, ‘He Himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases.’” Two more citations elaborate further and give the same message. IS 61: 1-2, “The Sovereign Lord has filled me with His spirit. He has chosen me and sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to announced release to captives and freedom to those in prison. He has sent me to proclaim that the time has come when the Lord will save His people and defeat their enemies.” These same words are repeated in LK 4: 18-19. I find it quite ironic that they are in the same section of Luke which discusses Christ’s rejection in His own village of Nazareth (see verses 23-30).
It may seem that I am belaboring this idea by repeating it so much. Yet, we must take our lead from the Lord Who inspires the prophets and writers of the Bible. Consider that many of them, certainly Isaiah and the apostles, never met each other. However, the Lord inspired them to write the same concept over and over again. When the Lord repeats something, it’s because He wants us to really get the message. In this case the message that our suffering is not in vain, any more than Christ’s was. Jehovah Rapha’s love for us is constant and profound. It is great enough that He wants to offer us healing and wants us to seek Him out for it in humble obedience and trust.
PRAYER: O Lord, one of the ways You show us Your love is to send people who are examples to us, not the least of which is Your only Son. His dignity, courage of faith, obedience, and trust of You in enduring pain, rejection, insults, and physical torture as He went to the cross gives us an ideal to understand and follow. We are not perfect as He is, but through His death we have been given the ability to listen for Your commands, endure the suffering we must, and remain faithful when challenged. As our Jehovah Rapha, You give us a different way of looking at the suffering we must endure and offer us Your healing hand. By the faith we have that He was resurrected as the “first among many brothers,” You encourage us to stand firm knowing that we will be rewarded with eternal life in the end [RO 8: 29]. We who have been allowed to know that Jesus is our true Messiah carry with us the balancing responsibility to take this message to as many as will listen using the gifts to do this that You have given us. One way You have made the healing that is so crucial to mankind’s salvation is by the sacrifice of Your only Son and the messages He has given us. You are a loving, compassionate, and just God. We humbly offer You our adoration, love, worship, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and utmost thanks for being the Presence in our lives that You are. In Christ’s name, amen.
There are many ways that Jehovah Rapha has communicated His will to us regarding healing. We will look at more of them tomorrow. Let there be no confusion about the love He has for each of us. Regardless of what culture or denomination in which we were raised, the love and healing offered us by Him for just being faithful is the same. His love breaks down barriers and should cause us to join in prayer daily for those who have not yet come to know Who their Messiah is and who have not yet accepted the healing love He offers. It is my belief that the need for His love and thus faith in Christ is profound in this world. We are each called to lives of holiness and service, so that others can understand there is Jehovah Rapha Who wants them to be healed and loved as we are. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn