CHRIST'S MISSION TO THE EARTH.
By S. N. Haskell
WHEN Christ met humanity in humanity, “they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed ALL that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” Here, in this act of healing all that were sick, so that whole towns were left without a sick person, was a fulfilling of the testimony of the prophet in Isa. 53:4: “Our diseases did He bear himself, and our pains He carried.”—Leeser's translation. Again: in 1 Peter 2:24 is another quotation from the same verse: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” In Matthew this thought is applied to the healing of the sick in our present state; in Peter it is applied to His bearing our sins on the tree. The death on the cross paid the price not only for the transgressions of the divine law of God, but at the same time purchased for man redemption for the violation of physical law. In other words, it was redemption of soul and body. In violating physical law, moral law was also violated, and it required nothing less than the death of Christ to purchase salvation for man's physical fall as well as for his moral fall. This not only connects the two, but it sets a value upon the health of every man as much as on the preservation of the soul. When we place this value upon the health question, it will become as much an object of interest to learn how best to preserve our health as to know how we can be saved. Christ's healing the sick when upon the earth was an object lesson of His healing the soul. “Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know, that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then saith He to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” When the laws of our being are disregarded, we reject the healing power of God. In rejecting this we are rejecting the higher and greater healing of the soul, of which bodily healing is only a type. Why was Christ's life so largely spent among the sick? and why is more said about His healing them than about any other one thing, if it is not to make manifest His interest in behalf of the health of His people?