Through His death and resurrection 2,000 years ago, Yeshua provided physical healing and emotional healing, spiritual salvation and financial provision, for all human beings who will believe in Him. All these blessings are included in the atonement. Yet, we don’t always see the fullness of those blessings realized in this lifetime.
Evangelistic Healing
Concerning healing, there seem to be two general “modes” recorded in the New Covenant: one more “evangelistic,” the other more “pastoral.” The first kind is a confrontation of the powers of light and darkness when the gospel is shared publicly for all to see.
Mark 16:15, 18 – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation… They will lay hands on the sick and they will be healed.
To a certain degree, when an unbeliever sincerely listens to the gospel, he is beginning to repent, in the sense that he is turning toward the Lord and away from whatever else he was doing at the time. There is an immediate opening for the power of God to be released. When the gospel is spread into new countries in a wave of evangelistic revival, supernatural healings are regularly experienced.
Pastoral Healing
When ministering healing to members of the congregation who are already believers, the Scriptures mention a second “mode” of healing, one with several more requirements.
James 5:14-16 – If there is any sick among you, call for the elders of the congregation and pray for him with the anointing of oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick… And if he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Confess your sins to one another and pray one for another in order that you will be healed.
In this brief passage we see several factors which may hinder healing.
- Broken relationships with others
- Unconfessed sin
- Unforgiveness
- Lack of faith
- Lack of submission to authority.
There are other factors as well: some having to do with the person receiving prayer, and some with those doing the prayer. In many cases it is not the fault of anyone involved, and often the reasons are just unknown (John 9:1-3). Most of the time, the causes are indirect and circumstantial. Let’s not allow for cases in which people are not healed to discourage us. Doctors continue to work in the medical field even though not all are healed.
God is good, loving and holy. He wants the best for us. The development of character is more important than the outward healing (Matthew 6:25), although God desires for all to be healed as well (Matthew 14:36).
Asher serves as president of Tikkun Global family of ministries and congregations, dedicated to the dual restoration of Israel and the Church. He is founder of the Revive Israel five-fold ministry team, and oversees both Ahavat Yeshua and Tiferet Yeshua congregations in Israel.
He and his wife Betty share a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew, and unity of the Body of believers worldwide.
Asher was raised in a conservative Jewish home and holds degrees from Harvard University, Baltimore Hebrew College and Messiah Biblical Institute. He has authored numerous books, tracts and articles.