Would Jesus heal an ISIS fighter? Don’t answer yet. Maybe just as important is the answer to why this question is so important.
Some of the words in the adjacent image will help you understand what I mean.
God, others, life, death, hard, live, practice, habit, know, unlovely, and others.
There are some pretty large differences in those words. Even opposites. And yet, all are part of God’s forgiveness.
Would Jesus heal an ISIS fighter?
I believe there’s no doubt as to how this would be answered.
The Faith of the Centurion 🔍
8:5-13 pp — Lk 7:1-10
Mt 8:5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
Mt 8:7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”
Mt 8:8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
Mt 8:10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Mt 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Remember, Roman rule over the Jews was brutal. Before we recoil at the comparison, it’s worth remembering that the Romans were the ISIS of their day — state‑sanctioned terror, public executions, and the crushing of entire communities. Even the “Jewish King” was appointed by the Roman Emperor, and was hated by the Jews he reigned over. It was the Jewish King Herod to failed in his attempt to kill the baby Jesus when he ordered the slaughter of every Jewish child under the age of two.
Since Jesus healed the slave due to the faith of the Roman Centurion, there’s no reason to believe He wouldn’t have healed the Roman soldier himself. The healing wasn’t because of who needed healing – but the faith of the person making the request.
We see evidence of that throughout the Gospels. Here’s but one example –
It never says Jesus healed some of them – or most of them. If people came to Jesus in faith – He healed them. All of them. The only time few miracles were performed (which would include healing) was when the people lacked faith, as in –
A Prophet Without Honor 🔍
Mt 13:53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
Mt 13:58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Understanding the purpose of Jesus’ miracles protects us from assuming that healing today works the same way it did when He walked the earth.
Please note – this passage does not say that healing prayers aren’t answered due to a lack of faith today. I have a to-do item to complete an article – or more than one – on that idea. Please use the subscribe button towards the top right of this page – or near the bottom – to get an email when new articles are published here, including that one.
From Jesus’ Ministry to Today
Now, let’s move from the days when Jesus walked the earth for His short ministry, to the modern-day world. One such situation could be the case of the ISIS fighter. Are they really any different from the Roman soldiers of Jesus’ time? As brutal as we consider them today, the Roman soldiers were doing the same things. Minus the videos and social media feeds – but they still used the methods available to them to be sure everyone knew what was happening. And yet – Jesus healed the servant of the Roman soldier – because that soldier came to Him, in faith, and asked Him to heal the servant. This was a Roman soldier who was in charge of maybe 100 other Roman soldiers – who were killing Jews by crucifying them, burning them alive, Etc.
Can there really be any question about what Jesus would do today?
Is it important that Jesus would heal an ISIS fighter?
I believe it is. If healing reveals God’s compassion, salvation reveals His deeper purpose — restoring us to Himself through faith.
Righteousness Through Faith 🔍
Ro 3:21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Ro 3:27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
As far as God’s viewpoint, there’s no difference, in many ways, between any one of us and the ISIS fighter. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. Truth be told, God is so much holier than we are that we’re closer to the ISIS fighter than we are to God. I know that’s going to be hard to hear. But if you’ve ever considered the concept of true perfection, an infinite God, and so many other concepts God tells us about Himself – there’s honestly no other conclusion we can reach. This isn’t about minimizing evil; it’s about recognizing the infinite gap between human goodness and God’s holiness.
The path to salvation is another area where there’s no difference between an ISIS fighter and any of us. If you don’t believe it, go check out the passage that includes John 3:16. In the NIV, it’s titled “Jesus teaches Nicodemus”.
If we cannot truly live by these words, what good are they? If we believe in God – but don’t believe this about Him – what do we really believe?
These words, in fact, go further than just healing. They go all the way to forgiveness.
If you paid attention to the image at the top of the page, you should be expecting this.
As Paul says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In fact, we all fall so far short that compared to God, the differences between us and any other person pretty much amount to nothing. If hating, or calling someone a fool, counts as murder – are we not all mass murderers compared to God?
What if God decided that certain things would not be forgiven. (There is still the one thing – blaspheming the Holy Spirit – that won’t be forgiven.) But what if God decided that hating 5 people was the limit. Or Killing 5 people was the limit. Or maybe stealing 9 times. Anything above that wouldn’t be forgiven. But He isn’t going to tell us – because He knows us well enough to know that we’d probably go right up to the limit.
If He did that – we wouldn’t know if we were forgiven or not.
So yes – it is important to know that Jesus would not only heal, but forgive, an ISIS fighter. Of course, as in the case of the Roman Centurion, that fighter would need to come to Jesus, in faith, and make their request. But if they did – it’s important for that fighter – as well as for us – to know that it would be granted.
Is it important that we want Jesus to heal an ISIS fighter?
Again – the answer is yes. We do have to want Jesus to heal an ISIS fighter. It’s part of what Jesus not only taught but commanded for us.
There’s the consistency issue, of course. If we want that consistency for ourselves, then we need to want it for everyone. Otherwise – how could we know that He’d be consistent with us?
There’s also the issue of whether we believe the words from Romans 3 above. If we do, what right do we have to even ask God to heal/forgive some, but not others?
Jesus knew how easily our hearts drift toward comparison, so He addressed the danger directly.
Judging Others 🔍
Mt 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Mt 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Conclusion
If Jesus’ healing, forgiveness, and warnings all point to the same truth, it’s this: God’s mercy is far wider than the patterns our hearts fall into.
How is your eye?
I’d look at it and let you know, but I’m still having some trouble with my own.
Discover more from Which god can save?
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