14 Lessons Toward Passover: The Gift of Healing (Part 10)

The Passover is filled with spiritual meanings that all of us should understand. One of the deepest messages of the Passover is the message of healing. We must consider how the Passover represents the healing that Jesus Christ made available to us.

In this tenth part of the Bible Study series, let us look into the Bible and see how Passover and healing are connected to each other.

Paul’s sobering warning

Paul firmly warned the Corinthian church about the danger of partaking the Passover emblem in an unworthy manner. This warning is also, in effect, directly given to us. Paul said:

“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drink this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord… For he who eats and drinks in an UNWORTHY manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” (I Corinthians 27, 29-30).

Did you just read what the Apostle Paul is saying? He said that the serious consequences of unworthily partaking the Passover are a lack of energy, sickness, and premature DEATH!

Jesus and His sacrifice for our healing

We know that Jesus suffered tremendously. His suffering is so indescribable that they have to invent a word just to refer to the type of pain that He felt. His pain is described as EXCRUCIATING – literally, out from the cross!

The main purpose of Christ’s suffering is to redeem us from our sins. However, we need to realize as well that He suffered for our healing. Notice I Corinthians 11:24:

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat;  this is My body WHICH IS BROKEN FOR YOU; do this in remembrance of Me.”

The broken unleavened bread of the Passover signifies the suffering of Jesus Christ. His physical body was BROKEN, sadistically beaten with lashes to the point just before death may happen. The Apostle Peter also said:

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were HEALED” (I Peter 2:24).

Isaiah also added:

“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” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy when “He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick” (Matthew 18:16-17).

Understanding the gift of healing

Jesus proved to the people around Him that He is the promised Messiah through miraculous healing. In addition to healing, he couples it with forgiveness of sin (Matthew 9:2-6). Jesus has both the power to HEAL and the power to FORGIVE!

We must understand that sin brings suffering and that includes sicknesses and ultimately, death. By dying for our sins, Jesus is paying for the penalties of sins which include illnesses. Death came to the world because of sin and Jesus died to redeem us from eternal death so that we might have eternal life!

Healing is a GIFT from God. It is among the benefits that we can obtain when we make God our God, LORD, and Supreme Ruler of our lives. Psalms 103:1-5 tells us:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His BENEFITS:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
WHO HEALS ALL YOUR DISEASES,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is RENEWED like the eagle’s.”

So you see, healing and forgiveness do come hand in hand. We need to realize that the gift of healing from God does not just include physical healing, but it also includes MENTAL and EMOTIONAL healing! Christ’s promise of healing covers the TOTALITY of a person. It alleviates all the physical, mental, and emotional illnesses CAUSED by sin!

Partaking of the Passover in a worthy manner

Examining ourselves should include whether we have the faith in Christ’s promised healing or not. The Apostle Paul is literally telling us that if you DON’T accept that Christ’s suffering grants us healing, you are partaking the Passover in an unworthy manner!

Because the Corinthian church and Christians today do not RECOGNIZE that Jesus’ body was BROKEN for our healing, the result is that MANY ARE WEAK, SICK, and DEAD!

When we partake of the Passover, WE NEED TO TRUST AND BELIEVE THE VERY FACT THAT JESUS’ STRIPES AND DISFIGURED BODY ARE FOR OUR HEALING. Sadly, many Christians today lacked the FAITH and CONFIDENCE that Christ also paid the physical penalties of sin, which include sicknesses and illnesses.

Taking the Passover emblem means that you understand and fully accept that Jesus’ beaten and broken body is also for our healing.

I hope we could see the magnitude and seriousness of Christ’s death for us and what it means. This is one way for us to partake of the Passover in a worthy manner.

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