Jesus Over Sickness

Thesis: Jesus, by showing his power and authority over illnesses, proves that He is above the state of the world.

State of the World: Beginnings

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

In the beginning of this story we see the change, the shift, a vital peace of information that would drastically change the world.

What is displayed here

Questioning and doubt of the command of God

Disregarding the command for what appears pleasing in their eyes

Acting on the disobedience and personal desires instead of the command of God

The opening of eyes and shame instead of enjoyment of what God had made

Looking at this chart we have the breakdown for the doctrine of humanity.

State of the World: Continued

Psalm 38:1 ESV

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!

We learn that there were those who cried out to God—pleading and begging Him not to pursue justice in anger. And yet, we must acknowledge a sobering truth: we deserve discipline under His righteous wrath.

Every day we sin. Every day we disobey. Through our actions, we repeatedly tell God that we love our sin more than we love Him. Each day, we choose rebellion, treating with contempt the grace of a holy and righteous God who loves us—yet whom we continually dishonor through our willful disobedience.

Psalm 38:2 ESV

For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.

Sin must be punished, and we must answer for our choices. We are accountable for our actions.

Psalm 38:3 ESV

There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.

Soundness means healthy. My flesh is no longer healthy because of your fury Lord. There is no peace in my bones because of my sin.

The Problem of Sin

Sin is not a meaningless problem. Sin presents unique properties that should never be ignored. Just to name a few:

Sin affected and influenced the whole world. Genesis 3:17 “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;” “therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.”

Ground is what man, the trees, the cattle, and every beast came from. Now sin affects this.

Sin affected the way the think. Genesis 4:6–9 “The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?””

Sin affected the way the way we view God.

Sin affected the way we interact with God.

Sin affected the way we feel.

Problem of Sin Extended

Sin affected our relationship with God.

God is holy. Holy means:

Sanctified: set apart to a sacred purpose

free from sin

inviolable: meaning the state or quality of being protected from being violated, broken, attacked, or disrespected.

Commanding respect!

I have heard people casually talk to God as if He is one of the streets.

How could we talk so nonchalantly to God as if He is like a friend from down the block?

The Lord’s prayer, that Jesus taught his disciples, the model of prayer we are to imitate, starts with reverence.

If God is holy, and sin is the problem, what would a holy God to in response to sin?

Sin must be dealt with, because God is the righteous judge. It must be dealt with because God is holy. Sin and God we never be at peace.

If you understand that the problem of sin is really an attack against God, and God will not allow this against him, He will not idly sit there and be disrespected, He will not allow anyone and or anything to disrupt his plans, then we must understand the danger that we are all in because of sin.

The Solution

God knew that we could not do enough good to eliminate sin completely from ourselves and the world. There was a payment that needed to be paid.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

However, our response to sin has and increasingly been one of acceptance: Romans 1:32 “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

How could we appease such a task?

The prophets in the Old Testament (OT) sinned and they spoke to the people for God

Which prophet(s) comes to mind when we think about a prophet sinning against God?

The sacrifices were only a temporary, finite fix, for the problem, because it would appear that the moment after forgiveness we could continue down the path of sin. See examples within the book of Judges. They would cry out to God to save them to forgive them, but then turn around and do what was evil in the sight of God.

Nothing worked, it seemed like a futile endeavor. They would pray, offer sacrifices, attempt to do what they believed to be right, try to keep the law, yet fall miserably short. No hope!

However, God provided a powerful solution. Jesus Christ.

By Jesus proving that he has power over sickness, also meant he had power to rid the sickness of world. Though, to grasp the meaning of this we must understand that Jesus was not just…

Jesus was not just some prophet.

Some prophets could heal sicknesses.

Jesus was more than some prophet.

Jesus was not just some good man.

Men can attempt to do things that are kind and loving, but only Jesus has done something that far exceeded any supposed good action that we could ever do.

Jesus was not just some teacher.

The Word who became flesh.

He knew, and knows the plight of man, but still conquered.

Jesus was not an angel turned human.

Jesus was born into the world, through a virgin birth, meaning that he was not born through conventional means. Therefore, the sin that we carried from birth, Jesus was not born with that.

Jesus is fully God, fully man.

If Jesus was only just a prophet, a good man, a good teacher, even an angel, it would not be able to be the ultimate sacrifice.

Here is a counter argument:

Angels and Immortality: We began by establishing that angels are immortal spiritual beings created by God to exist eternally—they cannot die in the traditional sense, though their immortality is a gift from God rather than inherent.

Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Christology: We then explored why Jehovah’s Witnesses believe Jesus was the archangel Michael made human. According to their theology, Michael existed as a spirit creature for billions of years before his life force was transferred into Mary’s womb, ceasing his existence as an angel. After death, he was raised as a spirit creature again—not as a physically resurrected human. This framework allows them to maintain Jesus’ divinity while denying his equality with God the Father and his eternal nature.

The Atonement Problem: Finally, we examined how Jehovah’s Witnesses address the sin problem through their unique understanding of atonement. Rather than viewing Christ’s death as a complete substitutionary sacrifice for human sin, they teach that Jesus’ primary purpose was vindicating God’s name in response to Satan’s challenge, with atoning for Adam’s sin as secondary. They employ the concept of a “corresponding ransom”—Jesus paying with his life what Adam lost—but crucially, this atonement is only partial, incomplete in the present, and dependent on human obedience. Salvation becomes a merit-based system requiring strict adherence to Jehovah’s Witnesses’ moral and behavioral standards, with the atonement’s full application deferred until the end of Christ’s thousand-year reign.

My answer:

Angels were created, but Jesus Christ was never created. See John 1:1–3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

Created beings are not given supreme authority and power.

Jesus declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18) (Matthew 28:18). This statement comes at the culmination of Matthew’s Gospel, affirming Christ’s comprehensive dominion following his resurrection. John 3:35 reinforces this, stating that “the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” Additionally, Ephesians 1:20–21 describes Christ as seated at God’s right hand “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

Created beings do not deserve praise and angels do not welcome praise

Jesus Deserves All Praise

The most direct statement about Jesus receiving universal worship appears in Philippians 2:9–11, where Paul writes that God “has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

In Revelation, this worship is explicitly depicted. Revelation 5:12–13 portrays heavenly beings declaring the Lamb “worthy...to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing,” with every creature in heaven and earth saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

When John attempted to worship an angel in Revelation 19:10, the angel immediately rejected the worship, declaring himself a fellow servant and directing John to worship God alone. This same pattern repeats in Revelation 22:8–9, where another angel stops John from worshiping him, identifying himself as a fellow servant and again directing worship exclusively to God. These passages reveal a fundamental principle: created beings—whether angels or humans—consistently refuse worship and redirect it toward God. When Cornelius attempted to worship Peter in Acts 10:25–26, Peter immediately stopped him, insisting “I too am a man.” Similarly, when crowds in Lystra tried to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods, the apostles tore their garments and rushed into the crowd, declaring themselves merely human and directing people to “a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.” (Acts 14:11–15)

This consistent refusal of worship by creatures—whether angelic or human—stands in stark contrast to Jesus’ acceptance of worship throughout the Gospels and Revelation. The distinction is theologically significant: Paul warns against the “worship of angels,” (Col 2:18) treating such practice as a spiritual error. The willingness of Jesus to receive worship that angels and apostles categorically reject demonstrates his unique status as divine rather than created—further undermining the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ claim that Jesus was merely the archangel Michael.

Jesus, who knew no sin, was offered as the ultimate and final sacrifice. Jesus displaying power over sickness should cause us joy. The King has authority to rid sickness, victory over sin, the power and authority to set things right, the only way for the human race to come back to a Holy God who is our source. God provided the solution, Himself. And we should thank God for his mercy, long-suffering, forgiveness, and love. For we did not deserve those things, but through His will and love, He sent His Son to pay the debt, to be the victor over all. Believe in Him and become a new creature. Follow Him who is above the state of the world, and devote ourselves to Him who is greater than anything we can conceive.