Jesus has Authority Over my Body

Matthew 8:14–17; Mark 1:21–34; Luke 4:31–41

Last week we were introduced to the fact that Jesus has authority over the angelic realm and this includes Satan and his minions but Jesus’ authority is not limited to the spiritual realm. His dominion extends into every facet of our lives as we’ll see today.

³¹ Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. ³² They were astonished at His teaching because His message had authority.

Luke 4:31–41

²⁹ As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house with James and John. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. ³¹ So He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.

Mark 1:21–34

³² When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all those who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.

Mark 1:21–3

The people had heard Jesus was in town but they didn’t go find right away because it was the Sabbath and it was against the law to carry sick people before night time but how did they know when it was "night time” enough? According to the Talmud, it was safe to go out when three stars were visible in the sky. 

…demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Messiah.

Luke 4:31–41

Just as last week, we again clearly see physical sickness and demonic activity were not the same thing and Jesus is still not interested in having conversations with demons.

…He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick, ¹⁷ so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

He Himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases. [Is 53:4]

Matthew 8:14–17

1. Jesus has authority over our bodies

Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

1 Cor 6:19-20

When Jesus turned water into wine, he proved he had authority over the elements; when he commanded the demons to leave, he proved he had authority over the spiritual realm; when he rebuked the wind and the waves, he proved he had authority over the weather; here, when Jesus rebukes disease out of people, he is proving his authority over our bodies.

But, contrary to some false teachers, this doesn’t mean that we have authority to command disease to leave people today. Liars and charlatans have been using this grift for millennia and making millions of dollars in the process but the fact is that this is a lie from the devil.

One of these false teachers preached, “God Wants You Healed Without Exception.”

This guy went on to lie about his son being dead, tagged, and in a morgue for 4-5 hours before being resurrected through the power of prayer but, when people tried to confirm this “miracle,” there was not one shred of evidence. What the hospital did say was that the son was admitted for a drug overdose where he received narcan and he recovered.

Another one of these false teachers had his appendix burst, went to the hospital, and had surgery despite having preached to his congregation that if you weren’t healed by prayer, you didn’t believe enough. 

Healing is 100% dependent on God’s willingness to heal for his purposes, not our own.

So why doesn’t Jesus still heal everyone? He performed miracles at that time to authenticate His message. Scripture shows that every major event in biblical history began with miracles to prove that God was at work and, once that purpose was fulfilled, the miracles ended. Of course, God can and still does do miracles but, by definition, miracles are not normal occurrences.

But Jesus is also different because he is the messiah, his miracles are a taste, a foreshadowing, of the world to come which brings us back to the fact,

2. We still live in a Fallen World

Despite the lies people say online, the fact is that we are often not healed because the majority of human suffering is self-inflicted. The majority of deaths in America come from heart disease which proves that, despite having more knowledge and the HS, we are still abusing our bodies. We are still choosing to sin. 

The fact that the #1 killer of teenage boys is suicide proves that sin is still rampant. The point is we still live in a fallen world which is why God gave us the Holy Spirit and Jesus commands us to pray, 

“Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matt 6:9-10

Jesus did not die to make you physically healthy; he died to free you from sin and give you the Holy Spirit so that you can do what you were created to do, which is to do good work and glorify God through the process. The healing he offers is spiritual. Matthew quotes Isaiah,

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 

Isaiah 53:4-5

This is obviously referring to spiritual healing. His wounds have brought us peace and healing but there is no promise of physical healing. Jesus used this exact same type of language,

For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn [repent], and I would heal them. 

Matthew 13:15

Jesus is obviously talking about their unwillingness to humble themselves and his plea is for them to repent so he can heal them spiritually, not physically. We know this because of the context: his listeners were not literally blind or deaf, they were spiritually blind and deaf. 

“As for me, I said, 'O Lord, be gracious to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you!'”

Psalm 41:4

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

1 Peter 2:24–25

Finally, if physical healing was promised, why was the Apostle Paul suffering from blindness?

3. Suffering is essential to Growth

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'”

2 Corinthians 12:8–9a

What we see in this gospel story today is a woman who had a fever who was physically healed but the point wasn’t her healing. What did she do with her healing? Served.

The lesson we learn is God often allows us to suffer so we can learn, grow, and apply what he taught us so we can serve others and offer them the same freedom. God’s power is often made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…

And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 

Romans 5:1-5

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6–7

There is always something to learn from suffering but we must also learn that when you pray with any expectation for God, you are actually commanding God to do your will. The problem is,

4. Prayer is for Communion, it’s Not a Transaction

We often struggle with unanswered prayers partly because we misunderstand what prayer is designed to do. Prayer is not about getting what you want; it is about growing closer to God and being changed from the inside out to become more like Christ. Prayer is not for us to get things.

When we pray, we often think we are pulling God to ourselves but authentic prayer happens when you realize that you are pulling yourself to Jesus Christ, the Rock of our salvation. True prayer is submission to his will and trusting him as your stable foundation.

We have to remember that we always pray with limited fragments of information and we are always led by self-centered desires. So, when we pray for God to heal a friend or remove a trial, we are oblivious to the bigger picture. God has the entire planet and every human being in mind. This means that God not doing what you ask may simply be because He has bigger plans. 

This is why our prayers should always end with humility. As James says,

“Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’”

James 4:15

The devil wants us to believe that Jesus died to give us literally everything we could possibly want. They want us to prayer selfishly. They literally want us to believe that Jesus died for us to be rich and healthy but the fact is that we promised nothing more than peace and hope.

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” 

John 16:33

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 8:18–25

Someday, Jesus will bring perfect health for every human being who trusts in him, but that is for the future. It is something we are trusting in and patiently waiting for. 

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. 

Revelation 21:4

Knowing and trusting God and his word is what we are offering people. We are offering people a real foundation for their beliefs that produces real peace and hope. 

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