Page 21 - November 2022 - Truth & Tidings

are roughened by sin. With no ingredient of the infinite sacrifice of Christ, it will be
of sin, it goes without saying that Christ removed forever someday. In the eternal
never contracted personal sickness or state, the human race will say goodbye to
knew what it was to commit sin. Does this sickness, knowing that sin will never raise
make Him inadequate to fully understand its ugly head again (Rev 21:4).
what we feel during these experiences? His Competence
No! Baptised in Jordan without confession
of sin, Christ was led by the Spirit into With the suffering of physical disease or
the wilderness to be tested (Mat 4; Mar crushing shame of sin, there comes emo-
1; Luk 4). As a real Man, He possessed a tional, mental, physical and spiritual pain
body, soul and spirit and therefore would and ultimately death. Ask yourself which
be tempted by the devil in each of those aspect of these sorrows did our Lord not
spheres. Facing physical temptation (lust personally experience. Christ endured the
of the flesh – instant gratification), moral reality of physical (Mar 14:65), emotional
temptation (pride of life – instant rec- (Joh 11:35), mental (Luk 22:44) and spiri-
ognition), and spiritual temptation (lust tual (Mat 27:45) pain and suffering. He
of the eyes – instant possession), Christ knew what it was to be rejected, reviled,
proved beyond doubt that Satan found mocked, misrepresented, misunderstood,
no foothold with that impeccable Man. hated and hurt by people, ultimately ac-
He combated Satan with the sword of the cepting the entire responsibility for sin
Spirit, leaving an example for when we and its universal consequence. He bore
face the enemy. the crushing judgment of God, before
Matthew 8:17 records that Christ “took entering into the physical reality of death.
our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” Beloved, as Great High Priest, our Lord
In demonstration of His Messiahship, our Jesus is both sympathetic (having shared
Lord had just healed Peter’s mother-in-law the same) and empathetic (fully able to
of a fever, and “when the even was come, understand) to every circumstance of
they brought unto him many that were your life.
possessed with devils: and he cast out the The incarnation of God’s blessed Son
spirits with his word, and healed all that is to be explored and enjoyed, but let us
were sick” (v16). This corresponds to the ever remember that this is holy food. The
statement that He “took [away] our infir- priests of old received a portion of the
mities.” Matthew is quoting Isaiah 53:4.
With Calvary in view, we see the Lamb meal offering, which spoke so eloquently
of God bearing away the sin of the world of this subject, but the divine instruction
and its consequences, including sickness. was that it should be eaten in the holy
Some quote this, teaching that people place (Lev 6:16). We likewise do not con-
should not be sick, but that’s not what’s be- template this subject with worldly think-
ing communicated. We could understand ing. We need the Holy Spirit, the Word
it as follows: “He took away our sicknesses of God and a place apart to enjoy and
[His earthly ministry] and bore the burden absorb such awesome truth. What infinite
of our diseases [Calvary].” It may be the privilege that, because of the incarnation
will of God that His child pass through of Christ, we look forward to possessing
the dark waters of sickness (Php 2:26-30; a body like unto His glorious body, free
2Co 12:5-10; 1Ti 5:23; 2Ti 4:20), but because from the taint of sin forever!

341
TruthandTidings.com I November 2022 341