Taking on Sickness

Matthew 8: ¹⁴ When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

¹⁶ When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.”

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Sweaty, cold and hot, I did not know which way my body was going. My body was achy and I could barely see. After placing my breakfast and lunch on the floor and in the toilet, I finally cried out, “LORD help.”

There have been times when I felt really sick and could only think about getting better! I never once thought about “Where does sickness go?” Does it stay in my body, ready to pounce again or does it go someplace? GOD has an answer.

• JESUS heals my body but it can be attacked again.
• JESUS touches me to give me strength on a day by day basis.
• JESUS bears my infirmities, meaning HE is the one who gets sick.

I am still pondering this notion, but I actually believe that if JESUS took on all of my penalties of sin, HE may also take on other penalties like sickness. “HE bore our infirmities” means HE took them away from me and became sick, just for me.

I wonder if Peter’s mother-in-law saw HIS symptoms and stopped to wait on HIM because she knew how she felt when she was sick. JESUS may have taken on her fever and felt as rotten as she did. In fact HE may have taken on everyone’s sickness that believed and was in the vicinity that day. JESUS cares enough about me to take on my ailments.

• Do you wish to be healed?
• Do you feel tired and run down?
• Will you ask JESUS to take on your sickness so you can be healed to serve HIM?