Sometimes it all comes together. That happened for me last Sunday when I went up for Holy Communion. In our group at the communion rail was a faithful church member who only weeks before had a heart attack and bypass surgery. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:2-3).
That moment illustrated Isaiah 53:4-5, translated literally by Dr. Christopher Mitchell. “Surely He bore our sicknesses and carried our pains, but we had considered Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Yet He was pierced for our transgression, crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Our Suffering Savior , p. 12).
Dr. Mitchell asks, “Is Isaiah 53:4-5 a promise that Christians will or do receive physical healing from all sickness?” (p. 65). I remember a seminary classmate who had a terrible, debilitating disease. Some Christians came to campus, prayed over him, but when there was no healing, they said he didn’t have enough faith. No! Sickness is a consequence of sin (e.g., Deuteronomy 28:58-59; Isaiah 1:4-6). Both need healing. “The verse promises both the plenary forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ and eventual healing of all our physical maladies” (p. 65). All that you and I experience in our frail bodies and sinful souls, it’s all laid on Jesus. Everything comes together in Him.
That’s our future, all things together in Him. The Lord’s Supper is not only about the forgiveness of sins. It also looks forward to the heavenly banquet, when we who communed together on earth will be forever free of sickness and sin when we’re with Jesus and all the saints. “From sorrow, toil, and pain, / And sin we shall be free / And perfect love and friendship reign / Through all eternity.” (Lutheran Service Book: 649:5).