Faith Healing and the Living Church Ministries

Living Church Ministries: The Apostle Peter proclaimed the message of Jesus to the first
Gentile converts by explaining “How God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about
doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil;
for God was with him.” [Acts 10:38] Just how he did it is
explained by the CCC as follows:

“517 Christ’s whole life is a mystery of
redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the blood
of his cross,[179] but this mystery is at work throughout
Christ’s entire life: -already in his Incarnation through
which by becoming poor he enriches us with his poverty;[180] –
in his hidden life which by his submission atones for our
disobedience;[181] – in his word which purifies its
hearers;[182]- in his healings and exorcisms by which “he took
our infirmities and bore our diseases”;[183] – and in his
Resurrection by which he justifies us.[184] ” [CCC; notes: 179
Cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-14; 1 Pt 1:18-19. 180 Cf. 2 Cor 8:9. 181
Cf. Lk 2:51. 182 Cf. Jn 15:3. 183 Mt 8:17; cf. Is 53:4. 184
Cf. Rom 4:25.]

While we do not want to miss anything that is part of the
whole council of God, our emphasis here is with the healing
ministry of Christ, namely “in his healings and exorcisms by
which “he took our infirmities and bore our diseases” The
footnote refers to two texts:

“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and
bare our sicknesses.” [Matt 8:17]

and

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted.” [Isa 53:4]

The CCC here implies that the Old Testament Scripture quoted
in Matthew 8:17 is Isaiah 53:4. When the words “griefs” and
“sorrows” are thus interpreted for us by the Holy Spirit
through St Matthew as “infirmities” and “sicknesses”.

Let’s be clear on these words “infirmities” and “sicknesses”
to be sure we are not talking about some sort of spiritual
experience but actual physical health. We will do this by
looking at a fuller context of the quoted verses. For the
reference in Matthew we have:

“14 And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house,
he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.

“15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she
arose, and ministered unto them.

“16 When the even was come, 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:

“17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the
prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our
sicknesses.” [Matt 8:5-17]

Now to be exact, only the verse directly before verse 17 goes
with verse 17. Verses 14 and 15 clearly discuss Jesus healing
a physical sickness, a fever, that had the woman bedridden.
Verses 5 through 13 (given in the Faith section) discuss the
case of the Centurions’s servant who was healed by Jesus of
palsy with which he was bedridden. It is very clear looking
in context that we are talking here of actual physical
healing.