When Jesus was asked for a sign in Matthew 12:38, He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Even though Jesus here is merely talking to the unbelievers of His time, while He's walking the earth, it's safe to argue that what He said is true even today. In other words, the only sign that will be given to unbelievers is the resurrection. It is indeed a historical fact, and no alternative conspiracy theory exists today that can make sense of the historical data we have. Historians like Gary Habermas have made beautiful cases in favour of Christianity, using only the minimum amount of data we have which is even acceptable among most non-Christian scholars and historians. What's the connection with physical healing you might ask? The connection is that I don't believe that physical healing is a sign for unbelievers, but rather "bread" for God's children!
In Matthew 15:26, Jesus refers to His healing ministry as "the children's bread". Contrary to popular belief that Jesus literally healed everyone He came across, Mark 6:5 tells us that He could not do any miracles in His hometown, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them. The very next verse tells us why He could not: He was amazed at their lack of faith! In other words, physical healing is not a sign for unbelievers, but is rather bread for God's own children who already believe. Not only that, In passages like John 6:35, Jesus Christ claims to be the bread of life. In John 6:50, He says, "But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die." And in the very next verse He says, "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world!"
Luke 22:19 says that Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." The next verse also tells us about the blood of Jesus and how the wine in the Lord's supper represents it. Isaiah 53:5, the famous prophecy about Jesus, tells us that by His stripes, we are healed: "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His stripes/wounds we are healed." Many try to argue that this healing is merely a spiritual healing. While this healing is indeed spiritual at least in one sense, there is nothing about it that says it's only spiritual. If we are healed by the stripes/wounds of His body, and His body is the bread of life, and Christ's healing ministry is our bread, and not a sign for unbelievers, then I think we should be able to do the rest of the Maths! To further prove this, it's noteworthy to refer to Matthew 8:17 where the author quotes from Isaiah 53:4 as the bedrock for Christ's healing ministry, being fulfilled in the previous verse which is not only about driving out demons, but also about healing the sick.
In John 10:10, Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Are we really going to argue that having life to the full does not include physical healing of the body? What about the contrary in this very verse which is the thief? Does the thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy us spiritually? Or also physically? The early church also had a similar problem with discerning the body of Christ, while taking communion. As a result, they were taking communion in an "unworthy manner"; some were even getting drunk on the wine and eating all the food, not leaving any behind for the poor so Paul has a go at the Corinthians in the 11th chapter of his first letter to them. But surprisingly, this passage is actually often used to get Christians to avoid taking communion, unless they're not living in "wilful disobedience." Now I don't know about you, but when I hear something like that, if I'm 100% honest with myself, I hear this: "Don't take communion, unless you're living a perfect life."
At first, I tried to live a perfect life and obey all of Christ's teachings including extreme ones preached in the sermon of the mount in Matthew 5 which are often watered down, such as the one where the Lord commands us to turn the other cheek, and avoid resisting evil. I failed terribly and as a result, I would not feel welcome in any church, neither would I feel okay to take communion. But then I realised that none of these Christians are living up to these standards and so either their interpretation of what Paul is saying to the Corinthians is wrong and hypocritical, or we're all heading to hell! That's when I had to dig deeper and I can't be happier what this digging eventually led me to discover in the Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 11:27 says, "So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord." Now we know that in context, this "unworthy manner" is referring to those who are eating all the food and getting drunk on the wine, leaving nothing for the poor. But Paul seems to think that there's something deeper going on here. As a result, in the next verse he says, "Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ, eat and drink judgement on themselves." Now I don't know about you, but I think Paul is simply telling us that if we participate in the Lord's supper, without actually knowing what we're doing, we'll be eating and drinking judgement on ourselves! What's interesting is that Paul here refers to discerning the body of Christ, rather than His body and blood or His blood.
Some might argue that discerning the body of Christ refers to the leaders discerning the members of the church, and should not be taken literally. However, the word "body" is used two more times in the same context and in both places it exclusively and irrefutably refers to the literal body of Christ. It makes no sense for Paul to use the same word again, and cause this type of confusion. Furthermore, according to apostle Paul, the examining of ourselves, and the judgement in its absence, are spoken at individuals rather than only addressing the leaders of the church. In verse 30 he says, "That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep(died)."
Therefore, it's a single reason that is causing the judgement, and so cannot be a result of works or lack thereof, because then it would be plural. Not only that, in the next verse Paul tells us that this judgement is God's discipline so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. Critics might argue that this discipline is for the sanctification process of those who are already saved, but how are we saved exactly, or put it another way, how do we escape the final condemnation? Is it by faith that we are saved, or is it by works? I think the Gospel is very clear that it's by faith that we are saved, and not by works lest anyone should boast! If you still doubt whether you're saved by faith alone or not, then you need to examine yourself and discern the body of Christ!
