Making History

For The Sick
December 4, 2022
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given … . And he will be called Wonderful Counselor … .

John 9:2-7 (NIV)
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed and came home seeing.

Isaiah 53:4 (NIV)
He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.

Luke 14:12-14 (NIV)
“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Matthew 25:34, 36, 37, 39-40 (NIV)
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance … . I was sick and you looked after me … .”

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord … . when did we see you sick … .?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

James 5:14 (NIV)
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

Dionysius, a third-century bishop or elder of the church in Alexandria wrote:
Heedless of the danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need, and ministering to them in Christ. And with them departed this life serenely happy, for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing upon themselves the sickness of their neighbors, accepting their pains.

Another church leader, Tertullian, wrote:
It is our care of the helpless, our practice of loving kindness, that brands us in the eyes of our opponents.

Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
“… you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
… and by his wounds we are healed.

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NIV)
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!