Jesus … healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Matthew 8:16-17
In times like this, radical faith in Jesus Christ is needed. Because this type of faith is rooted and grounded in God’s great love, as demonstrated by Jesus Christ’s sacrificial work on the cross, God’s Word is chosen over and above any other word.
Matthew 8:16 states, Jesus “healed all who were sick.” This means not one person seeking to be healed by Jesus was excluded. It did not matter what kind of sickness or disease a person had, how severe it was, or how long they had it. Jesus healed them all.
The basis for Jesus healing “all who were sick” was and still is the redemptive work of the cross. 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied the salvation or healing of man’s spirit, soul, and body through the victorious work of the cross. (see Isaiah 53:1-5) Matthew quotes from a portion of this passage in Isaiah, saying “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (Isaiah 53:4; Matt. 8:17)
Jesus has already taken and borne the coronavirus, and every other sickness and disease, for you through the work of the cross!
Making this connection between Jesus’ healing “all” to the work of the cross is crucial for radical faith, especially during this worldwide coronavirus pandemic. At Calvary, Jesus took and bore not only “our” sins but “our” sicknesses and diseases. “Our” refers to everybody, no exemptions! You are part of this “all”!
To help strengthen your faith, let us take a look at two more key words seen in Matthew 8:17 and Isaiah 53. The words “took” and “bore” denote actual substitution and complete removal of the things “taken or borne”. Jesus took and bore your sicknesses and diseases in the same manner He bore your sins – not in fellowship with you, but as your substitute.
What’s the significance of this? Jesus has already taken and borne the coronavirus, and every other sickness and disease, for you through the work of the cross! This means you do not need to take or bear what Jesus took and bore for you!
Declare: Because I am a person of radical faith, rooted and grounded in God’s love, I believe God’s Word as revealed in Matthew 8:16-17. Jesus healed, past tense, all who were sick! That includes me! Jesus has already taken and borne, ______ (you name the sickness or disease trying to afflict you) including the coronavirus for me. He removed them from me in the same way He removed my sins, as far as the east is from the west. Therefore, I refuse to bear what Jesus Christ bore for me as my substitute. “It” shall not come near my dwelling, for I am hidden in Christ under the shadow of the Almighty God.