The Theology of sickness and disease: What about the man born blind?

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

Dear Friend, I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament 

 God is a Good God. He is always good. This is the truth that believers in Christ should never compromise on. Traditional religion, however, seeks to dilute this truth due to their own experience or when they observe someone else's situation or circumstance.

 We have an account in the Gospels that seems to indicate God isn't always so good. In John's Gospel, we see the man who was born blind. The disciples seek to answer a theological question using this man's experience. Jesus sought something else entirely.

 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  John 9:1-5 NKJV

 This event in the life of Jesus has birthed a tradition that many holdfasts to. It has become a stronghold if you will in the minds of the religious. Because of the punctuation of the original King James, some believe that God made this man blind from birth just so that later in his life Jesus could come and give him sight and get the glory and also prove He is the Messiah.

 The way this passage translates into English coupled with this tradition has caused many modern Bible translations to also word it this way. Because of this, this tradition is kept alive and well. This tradition cuts through denominational barriers so much so that even Spirit-filled churches that believe in divine healing have even propagated it.  

 Let's examine this passage in light of Jesus Himself. Jesus is the express image of God. Jesus is the will of God in demonstration. Jesus is God manifest in flesh. If we want to see God's attitude about something we can look at Jesus. Jesus never brought destruction, on the contrary, He rebuked the storm. Jesus never brought sickness or disease, He healed the multitudes rebuking sickness. Jesus went about doing good not bad. He represented God perfectly and Jesus was always Good.

 So do we really accept the notion that God would cause a man to be born blind just so later in life Jesus would heal him? Would a loving Father deprive a mother of having her baby being able to physically see her? Would a loving Father deprive an infant of the ability to see their own surroundings? Would a loving Father deprive a child of the ability to see the sunrise and sunset and all the wonders of creation? 

 This tradition is teaching us yes. God deprived this man the ability to earn a living, to find a mate, to be able to care for himself. God did all this just to get some glory. This disturbing tradition turns God into a weak god who must first afflict someone just to show others he can heal. 

 What Jesus went about doing is good. He came to give life and life more and more abundantly till it overflows. He came to reveal the Love of a Loving Father. He demonstrated this great goodness by healing all who came to Him, by providing for the multitudes, by taking authority over demonic forces, and setting the captives free. With this witness, how can anyone accept the notion that God dares afflict anyone with sickness, disease, distress, or ordain disaster?

 Jesus is the person of Grace. He is Grace revealed. The disciples at the moment focused on their theological traditions. Who sinned to cause this? At this time, some believed a child could sin in the womb. They still saw God as the "afflictor" the one bringing punishment. Jesus in His Grace sought to bring help, hope, and healing in this situation and never fully revealed the why of this man's blindness.

 The disciples asked a question that could only garner one of three responses. Look at the question, who did sin that this man was born blind, his parents or him? There are only three possible answers. The man himself, his parents, or neither. Jesus answered the basic question by saying neither. That was the end of the discussion, Jesus didn't answer the why, He only revealed He is the answer.

 In this passage, the punctuation isn't what's given by inspiration of the Spirit, only the words. The Lamsa translation, the Bible from the Aramaic gets the punctuation correct in light of Jesus' character.

 AND as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his mother’s womb. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Teacher, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus said to them, Neither did he sin nor his parents. But that the works of God might be seen in him, 4 I must do the works of him who sent me, while it is day; the night comes when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. John 9:1-5 Lamsa 

 

With this translation and punctuation, we see an end to this terrible tradition. Jesus answered the disciples to get their attention back onto their purpose. To bring life and light to a fallen world. Jesus is clearly showing us the truth, and not tradition.

 Jesus reveals this blindness isn't the result of anyone's sin. This isn't God punishing this man. This, therefore, isn't the works of God in any way shape, or form. Then Jesus reveals to us what is the true works of God as He, through a recreative miracle, brings complete sight to this man. He brought life and wholeness, not blindness.

 Let this disturbing tradition fall away as the truth is clearly seen in Jesus' actions and the true understanding of the Word. God isn't afflicting anyone to just get glory out of it at a later time. God isn't ordaining ailments, disabilities, and affliction to later lift off of people to show us His power. That only proves weakness, not real strength and power.

 In summation, relinquish the traditional view of this passage. God is always Good. He isn't so weak that He has to form a problem just so He could provide the solution. This is as nonsensical and disingenuous as a law enforcement officer bringing an unauthorized item to a restricted area and a short time later retrieving it, then telling their superiors they found contraband. God is not dishonest and disingenuous. He is a Good Father who we can fully trust in. He isn't the source of our problems, He is the solution to our problems. 

Image by CCXpistiavos from Pixabay 

The theology of sickness and disease: How Good is God?

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

Dear Friend, I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament 

God is Good. God is Good all the time and in all circumstances and all situations. I will never compromise on this vital truth. This important truth is the very foundation of our Faith. 

 How could we dare place our trust in someone when we are unaware of their character? Who would follow someone not knowing anything about them? We know God because He has made Himself known. He has made Himself known by His Word and by the Word made flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Jesus is the revealed will of God. Jesus is perfect theology. What is the best theology? How about Jesus? He demonstrated the perfect Love of our Good Father. He revealed God to a lost world. 

 Now, we have the religious tradition of men clouding this clear view of God. We have traditional ideas conjured up by men making once clear waters murky. Experience and man's ideas replace what Jesus came to reveal about our Father.

 Men have exalted their experience over God's Word. They endeavor to bring God down to the level of their experience instead of trusting God to change their experience to line up with God's Word. As a result, we now have what I like to call a theology of sickness and disease. A theology that attempts to assign all suffering in this life as the will, the plan, and the purpose of God.

 This then in turn makes us ask the direct question, just how good is this God we proclaim? How good is God really? How do we then define goodness?

 The man-made theology of sovereignty and suffering makes God not truly good but assigns God as the One who chooses to afflict, to beset, to burden, to vex, to torment any and all He wills. They excuse these actions as a mysterious plan or purpose on God's part. That suffering with afflictions is somehow good. Let's really examine this closer.

 We live in a fallen fractured creation. Mankind has perpetrated great evil on one another. Yet because religion claims God is in control, does that mean God is behind it all? Is God the author of pain and tragedy?

 Many years ago in the town of Union South Carolina in the United States, a mother of two young boys strapped her kids into their car seats and plunged the car into a lake. At her trial, they recounted the time it would take for those precious children to actually drown. So I ask, in the seconds and minutes it took for these two innocent children to suffer and die was God in Heaven pleased with this incident? 

 As these two children were slowly being submerged in a watery grave, was God in Heaven declaring, this is good and right? Was He declaring I am in control of all things and this works for my glory? Was He saying this is my mysterious will at work?

 Those in tradition would cry foul, saying come now that was a sinful act of course God opposed this. Now we come to the mental gymnastics we must navigate. God is ordaining and controlling all things, but not sin? So He isn't in control of all things? Just somethings? Religion would say, no He is in control of all things but...

 See how confusing religious tradition is? Let's adopt a Jesus theology. What did Jesus do when He was on Earth? How did He express God our Father?

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 NKJV

 Jesus went about doing good. He didn't go around afflicting, or tormenting anyone. He didn't place an illness or disease on a single human. He never sent plagues or disasters on any nation or peoples.

 In the mouth of two or three witnesses will something be established, the Scripture tells us. We have zero witnesses of Jesus afflicting anyone. We really have no witness of God making people sick. Religion would point to the Old to prove otherwise. The issue is they aren't rightly dividing the Word. When we see affliction under the Old, that is the curse of the Law in action. Under Grace, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. God is not guilty! God isn't making anyone sick or afflicted, God is Good! 

  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. Luke 9:56 MEV

We must reject the traditions of men who wish to assign the suffering of humanity as the handiwork of God. Some call disasters and accidents the acts of God. If we want to see the acts of God then look at the Book of Acts. Look at the Gospels. We will see the true acts of God. Lives transformed for Good. Multitudes healed and provided for. Lost souls receiving salvation, and believers being touched by the power of the Spirit.

 Is God really Good? Unequivocally the answer is yes! God is not the author of any evil or suffering or sickness or disease. Any religious leader saying God allows or wills or has a plan or purpose for sickness or disease has been deceived by the enemy and blinded by the traditions of men. Jesus went about doing good and healing all. That's who Jesus is. He is our healer and our Good Father.

 

 In summation, know we can fully trust God. God is a Good Father who wills our best. He wants us well. He doesn't ever plan or purpose tragedy, suffering, or torment for our life. God is Love and light. There is no darkness with Him at all. He is Good. 

Image by Fathromi Ramdlon from Pixabay 

The Theology of sickness and disease

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

Dear Friend, I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament 

 Ever heard the word theology? This word can bring with it the connotation of boring book knowledge that only dull "egg-headed" scholarly types get enthusiastic about. The word can also bring with it the idea of deep spiritual knowledge that only a few can actually grasp.  Believe it or not, just as in the natural realm we hold to certain opinions or ideologies in our Christian life we all hold to some form of theology.

 Theology isn't about some deep study that goes over everyone's head. Theology is merely the study of God. At the same time though, theology can also be a viewpoint about God we hold fast to. What is your theology?

 When it comes to theology, often the Church as a whole tends to build a theology around what can't happen or what didn't happen. Pertaining to Faith, is your theology centered on how Faith can't move mountains today? Is your theology about how Faith only works for the saving of our souls and forgiveness of sins but never anything else? 

 When it comes to healing what is your theology? Is it that God used to heal before the Scriptures were fully recorded but now that we have the Bible we don't need healing? Is it that God can heal but of course we could never believe God will heal? Or is it that we ceremonially offer prayers for the sick but in actuality never really expect them to actually receive that physical healing?

 Many well-meaning and sincere believers hold fast to a theology of unbelief. Unbelief rooted in negative experiences and years and years of indoctrination from the religious traditions of men. Unbelief that goes through the motions of prayer and faith but never actually expects any tangible change or miraculous intervention from the hand of God. Unbelief that is birthed from not knowing intimately the Goodness of a loving Father who longs to bless, provide, protect and pour out His healing power. 

 Many sincere Christians hold fast to a theology of sickness and disease rather than a theology of healing and wholeness. Through wrong teaching and wrong believing, many actually believe God is the author of affliction, infirmity, distress, disease, and death. Some actually affirm God sends sickness and disease to show us He loves us.

 Is God the author of sickness and disease? Does God dole out disease to His children to instruct them? To better them? To improve their character? To make His own some type of "testimony" to inspire others who are also going through their own turmoil to just keep smiling through their burdensome affliction? Is this the image of God Jesus demonstrated to all of humanity when He walked the sandy seashore of Galilee?

 Jesus is the express image of God our Father. Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the Father. Jesus never once placed disease on a single person He encountered. He never sent forth famine or pestilence or plague. Jesus never once made anyone sick, on the contrary He healed all who came to Him. Jesus went about doing good healing all. Jesus is the author of life and health, not disease and death, God is a Good God!

 What a cruel image religious tradition has conjured up. They preach the concept that the God who created the entire universe somehow takes pleasure in the affliction of humanity. That God shows His love and compassion for us by giving our loved ones cancer, multiple sclerosis, or alzheimers. This tradition of men is a lie and contrary to who God revealed Himself to be in Christ. God is a Good God, He isn't the destroyer of lives but the giver of life. 

When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. Luke 9:54-56 MEV

Jesus here affirms He comes to save men's lives not destroy them. Our theology is Jesus. As His Church we should passionately reject the notion or idea that God wills disease and death. What was Jesus' attitude about sickness and disease? He healed all who came to Him. Sickness and disease do not come from God, they are contrary to His perfect will.

in righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Isaiah 54:14-15 KJV

 This passage declares the Righteous will be far from oppression. It states fear and terror and oppression shall gather against you but God declared not by me. The opening text for our study is Acts 10:38. That passage declared Jesus went about healing all who were oppressed. According to Acts sickness and disease is a form of oppression. Isaiah declared oppression gathers but not by God. This is Biblical evidence God isn't the author of sickness and disease. Who is the oppressor? The enemy. Who is the healer? Jesus. 

 We as the Church need to have a Jesus theology about infirmity, illness, infection, malady, and malfunction. We shouldn't expect or tolerate or God forbid celebrate sickness and disease. We need to resist it and stand together and pray against it. I am not saying condemn or belittle those suffering affliction. I am not saying attack their dignity. Our hearts go out to all who are suffering. We stand with them. I am only saying we don't proclaim their suffering is the plan and purpose and work of God our Good Father. 

 God is our Good Father. He isn't our bad father. He isn't the godfather who takes and breaks. He is our Good Father who mends and heals. God is our Good Daddy who restores and covers us with His precious Love and mercy. 

 God isn't the author of your tragedy. God is the answer to your tragedy. God isn't the source of your trouble. God is the turnaround for your trouble. He's the one turning it around for your good. 

 In summation, we need to have a theology of life and healing and not a theology of suffering sickness and disease. We are not shaming or disapproving of those who have suffered or are still suffering from sickness and disease. We aren't maligning the dignity of anyone who has experienced sickness or disease. We are just affirming the Goodness of God. We are renewing our thinking about how Good our God is. We are reaffirming the truth that God is never the author or sender of any sickness or disease. 

 How can we trust God if He is the one afflicting us? God is our Good Daddy. Let's holdfast to a theology of healing and not of crippling illness and infirmity. Let's holdfast to who God has clearly revealed Himself to be in His Word and the redemptive work of Jesus. 

 

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay