“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” (Psalm 103:2-3)
These words from the psalmist struck a deep chord within me recently as I recovered from surgery. Confined to rest, I found myself meditating on the nature of the God we worship – a God who is both all-powerful and intensely personal. The God revealed in Scripture cares intimately about our struggles, diseases, and need for forgiveness.
In the early chapters of Mark’s gospel, we see Jesus displaying his divine power and authority in astonishing ways. In the first chapter, he casts out an evil spirit from a man in the synagogue (Mark 1:21-28). His words carry an extraordinary force that leaves the crowds “amazed at his teaching—because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law” (Mark 1:22).
Immediately after this exorcism, we see Jesus healing “many who had various diseases” and driving out many demons (Mark 1:34). The gospel writer wants us to understand that Jesus has dominion over the spiritual and physical realms. No sickness or evil power can resist his sovereign command.
This display of Jesus’ authority continues into the narrative. A man with leprosy – a horrific, outcast disease in that culture – approaches Jesus and pleads, “If you are willing, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Moved with compassion, Jesus touches the untouchable and heals him completely. Then, in a notable act, Jesus tells the former leper to offer the sacrifices required by the law for one who has been cleansed of leprosy – “as a testimony to them” (Mark 1:44).
The testimony here is profound – that the Messiah has come to fulfill God’s law and promises. He who can heal the most destructive of diseases has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). This is the culmination of this powerful series of pericopes, as Jesus declares to the paralytic man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5).
As my friend Joe pointed out in a recent Bible study, while Jesus healed many, he did not heal every disease or cast out every demon during his earthly ministry. His miracles were a preview of the greater healing he came to offer—the forgiveness of sins for all who would believe in him.
The connection between physical healing and spiritual restoration goes back to the psalmist’s words. The God who “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:3) is the same God made flesh in Jesus Christ. My OT professor, Joshua Stewart, was right – one can develop an entire Christology from the Psalms as they anticipate and prophesy the coming of the Messiah.
In Christ, we are not encountering a remote, impassible deity, but Immanuel – God with us (Matthew 1:23). He has entered our broken humanity to heal us from the inside out. While he retained the sovereign power to work miracles, Jesus did not come simply as a supernatural vending machine to dispense healing and prosperity to all comers. His miracles authenticated his divine authority and foreshadowed the restoration he would eventually bring through his death and resurrection.
Jesus was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). He knew suffering intimately, not just through healing others but by taking on human pain and brokenness. At the cross, he would endure the ultimate affliction—being forsaken by the Father as he bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). The eternal healing we so desperately need could only be secured through his atoning sacrifice.
As I have wrestled with my own physical limitations during recovery, I have found comfort not primarily in hoping for healing of temporary pain. My worship flows from meditating on the complete healing Christ has already secured for me—the forgiveness of sins and the promise of resurrection life. While he graciously heals some in this life according to his wisdom, all who call upon his name receive the greater blessing of spiritual rebirth and renewal (Revelation 21:5).
Like the psalmist, I want to enter more fully into blessing the Lord for his redemptive work across all generations. He is the faithful God who delivered Israel through the Red Sea, the God who forgives and heals according to his steadfast love (Psalm 103:8, 17). My perspective changes when I prioritize worshipping the Lord for who he is and what he has done. I am not just bringing him my needs or desires. I am joining the everlasting chorus that blesses the name above all names.
Whether in healing or suffering, abundance or want, Jesus remains the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is the Great Physician who forgives our sins and will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4). Until that culminating day, may we bless the Lord and not forget all his benefits! For in Christ, we have received the healing we desperately need.
Josh Cehulik 