Psalm 147:3 says the Lord “heals the brokenhearted, And binds up their wounds.” The term translated as brokenhearted means simply broken. The term for wounds includes emotional pain: to grieve, to become tired or weary, to be bitter or despairing, to be troubled.
In Matthew 8:16, the term for healing is therapeuo, where we get therapy, which we typically think of not so much as healing but restoring physical or mental health. Jesus was going about…healing every kind of disease and sickness… (Matthew 4:23). That seems redundant but sickness here is malakia (the origin of malady) which means softness or weakness. Jesus offers restorative therapy for grief, weariness, bitterness, despair, and worry. He repairs softness and weakness.
Jesus healed us spiritually by displacing our guilt before God by paying the penalty for sin at the Cross. We are healed as we displace our guilt, shame, worry, and weakness by placing our confidence in Christ.
Jesus made a way for us to become different than we have been. The Bible makes a lot of promises and Jesus invites us, by faith, to believe every one. His invitation includes the gift of eternal life. That means our physical afflictions are temporary.
But Jesus’ invitation also includes the opportunity to live in a new perspective…His. The quest to find His perspective helps us focus on something greater than ourselves. We can learn to stop worrying about offenses we have inflicted on others (finding forgiveness) and put to rest the offenses we have received (by forgiving others).
Above all, Jesus gives us the opportunity to be in right relationships…with God and with everyone we have ever known or ever will. Relationships made right…that is the meat of healing the soul.
Thank You!
Eden's Bridge 