One of the things I run into frequently when teaching people about healing the sick (but which also applies to raising the dead, casting out demons, and more) is the issue of “Jesus didn’t heal everyone he saw.” So how did Jesus choose who He should heal? I have found 5 criteria he used, and which we can also use, to help make that determination in our own lives.
Before answering that question, I think we need to take a step back and look at the motivations behind the question/statement surrounding the idea that Jesus didn’t heal everyone. It is usually one of two things:
1) Someone is legitimately trying to understand when and for whom to release divine healing
2) Someone is trying to avoid being obedient toward doing the things Jesus commanded us to do
The second group is all about shirking responsibility. While one can make the argument “There isn’t enough time in the day to heal everyone so I have to pick and choose”, the ones pushing that line of reasoning are rarely so busy healing the sick that it’s even a relevant question to ask. For them, the question is a method of avoidance, not an honest attempt to understand how to walk out what Jesus commanded. The only solution for that group is to repent—change their way of thinking and doing things. Anything else is a waste of time and energy, and I don’t tend to give much time to this group of individuals for that reason—I want people who want to grow.
The first group is typically already active in some way in healing ministry, or if not, usually desires to learn and grow to be effective in healing the sick and injured through divine healing prayer. For this group, I will gladly take the time to identify the 5 criteria Jesus used to know when to heal the sick, which are as follows:
1. Does He Love Them?
In order to know whether or not to heal someone, we first need to know “Does God love that person?” The answer is obviously “Yes!“. Why is this relevant? Because healing is a manifestation of God’s love. It is His mercy, goodness, and great kindness that causes Him to heal us. Thus, if God loves someone, it is His desire to see them healed.
2. Did He Die For Them?
If we want to know if we even *can* heal someone, we need to know if Jesus died for them. Why does this matter? Because Isaiah 53:4-6 lays out a list of things Jesus accomplished when He died on the cross and rose again. The passage is as follows:
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Jesus took all of our emotional problems, physical maladies, and our sin. In their place, we get to be healed. If Jesus died for someone, then He already purchased their healing on the cross over 2,000 years ago, and thus we can always pray for the sick and know with 100% assurance that it is God’s will to heal them. In fact, God can’t even say “no” to something He already paid for . . . not to mention that all the promises of God are “yes” and “amen” in Christ (2 Cor 1:20)!
3. Did God tell Him to Do It?
The most obvious times we should heal someone are the times where God tells or shows us to. Jesus said “I only do what I see my Father doing (John 5:19-20).” While in context Jesus was responding to people getting angry at him healing someone, and Jesus was explaining that He was doing it through God’s power and not on his own, the underlying concept remains—that we should partner with God and do what He is doing when He is doing it. When God is trying to heal someone, it’s time for us to step up and step out!
4. Have They Asked For Help?
While it is true that Jesus didn’t necessarily pray for and/or heal every person he came across who had a malady, He *did* touch everyone who asked. In fact, Jesus even preached this very thing when He said “Give to those who ask . . . (Matthew 5:42a)” Any time in the Bible that someone came up to Jesus and asked Him for help, He helped them. That is the example that Jesus modeled for us, and we as the Body should walk out that same example. While one may not stop for every person, we *should* make every effort to help those who ask us to help them.
5. Does He Care?
The last criteria I see Jesus using to know when to heal the sick is where the Bible says “He was moved with compassion.” When Jesus saw a need and His heart was moved with a desire to touch them, He did. We don’t always have to have some special directive from God in order to heal the sick. Sometimes all we need is the desire to touch people with love and compassion, and the Bible says that God gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). In fact, if you will recall above that in John 5:19-20 Jesus said He did what He saw the Father doing, in verse 21 Jesus said, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” Yes, Jesus literally explained that if He felt like healing or resurrecting someone, then He would go ahead and do it—and we should do the same!
These are the five criteria I have identified that Jesus used when deciding when to heal the sick. I believe the same applies to raising the dead as well as to many other situations, but regardless of why one steps out to heal, the truth is that people don’t generally get healed unless we decide to step out in faith. So whatever you do, don’t get rigid in the way you do things, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and don’t be afraid to take a risk and go be His hands of healing!
