…and healed all who were sick
— Matthew 8:16

We continue our journey from Egypt to the promised land. After Joshua had circumcised the whole people of Israel, they stayed in the camp until they were healed. [Jos.5:8] This reveals a wonderful picture of Christ’s finished work. After Jesus was “circumcised” on the cross, He stayed three days and three nights in the grave until He was “healed” [rose again]. Healing in the wilderness, or under the law, differs from healing in the land of rest, or under grace.

When Moses and the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they came to Marah and could not drink the water, for it was bitter. [Exd.15:23] What did Moses do? At the Lord’s command Moses threw a tree into the water, and the water became sweet. In much the same way Jesus worked His first miracle when He turned water into wine. All this points to healing, because there at Marah the Lord revealed Himself to Moses as “the LORD who heals you.” [Exd.15:26] The tree that Moses threw into the water is a type of the cross, because it was there that Jesus bore our infirmities and sicknesses. These are the words of the prophet Isaiah that Matthew quotes in his Gospel when he tells how Jesus healed everyone [Mat.8:17]. I want to point out that these words of the prophet Isaiah applied to Jesus’ earthly life, when the Old Testament of the law had not yet ended, Jesus had not yet risen, and the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.

So how does New Testament healing, the healing after the Lord’s resurrection, differ? Going back again to the story of Elisha, we read that after Elijah went up to heaven, the prophets searched for him for three days and did not find him. [2 Kgs.2:17] That’s right — for three days and three nights Jesus lay in the grave, while Elisha waited for the prophets in Jericho. After they returned, the men of the city said to Elisha: “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.” [2 Kgs.2:19] How did Elisha solve this problem? He took a new bowl, in which they put salt, went out to the source of the water, threw the salt in and said: “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’” [2 Kgs.2:21]

In the article “The Salt of the Earth, or How Lot’s Wife Lost Her Righteousness” I have already written about the meaning of salt. The water in this story is a type of the spirit, because Jesus Himself spoke of the Holy Spirit as a source of living water. [Jhn.7:38-39] Paul writes: “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” [Rom.8:10] The spirit [the source] is alive, because the Lord threw salt into it and “the water remains healed to this day…” [2 Kgs.2:22] As you can see, there is no tree in this story. Here there is a new bowl and salt. That is why Paul goes on to write: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” [Rom.8:11] If anyone thinks this is about the future resurrection of the dead, I want to draw attention to the words “who dwells in you” [present tense] and “mortal bodies”, not “dead bodies”, and also “Christ is in you” in the previous verse.

So it turns out that the healing and strengthening of our body in the New Testament happens not when we look at our infirmities and sicknesses on the cross, but when the Holy Spirit, who raised Christ from the dead, quickens our bodies, or gives them life. And the Spirit lives in us thanks to the righteousness given to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If even before His resurrection Jesus healed everyone, how much more now will He give life to everyone by His Spirit. Everyone means everyone.