The people in her neighborhood were busy during the daytime cleaning up the debris and trying to repair the damage inflicted by the bombs. At night, they huddled for protection in the air-raid shelters.
After several nights, someone commented that this elderly lady was missing. Some speculated that she had been injured and was in the hospital. Other neighbors wondered if she had been killed. Still others thought she had gone away to the country to escape the bombs.
A few days later, one of her neighbors met her on the street during the daytime and said, "Well, we certainly are glad to see you back and to know that you are all right."
"Oh, I haven't been anywhere," she said.
"But you haven't joined us in the air-raid shelter every night. Where have you been?" her neighbor asked.
"I was home sleeping," was her calm reply.
"Sleeping?" he asked, astonished. "How could you sleep through all this? Aren't you frightened?"
"No." she replied. "When I was reading my Bible the other day, I found where it says that God neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps. 121:4), so I decided there was no need for both of us to stay awake."
Likewise, if Jesus has borne our sickness - and Isaiah 53:4 says He has - there is no need for us to bear it too (See Matt. 8:17).
When we look up the word translated "borne" in this text, we find that in the original Hebrew it meant to lift up, to bear away, to convey, or to remove to a distance. Therefore, when the scripture says, "He hath borne our sicknesses," it means that He has borne them away, or removed them to a distance.
This word is a Levitical word. It is applied to the scapegoat that bore the sins of the people. It is the same Hebrew word used in Leviticus 16:22: "...the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities..."
The high priest laid his hands on this goat and, by faith, transferred to the goat the sins and iniquities of the children of Israel. Then the goat was taken out "...unto a land not inhabited: and...let go the goat in the wilderness."
Just as that goat bore the sins of Israel, the Word of God teaches that Jesus bore my sins and my sicknesses. Sin and sickness have passed from me to Calvary, and salvation and health have passed from Calvary to me.
In the fourth verse of this redemption chapter, Isaiah 53, we have not only the Hebrew verb for borne, but we also have the Hebrew verb for carried: "He hath borne our sicknesses, and carried our pains."
These two verbs in the Hebrew are the same as those used in Isaiah 53:11 and 12 regarding Jesus' substitutionary bearing of sin: "...He shall bear their iniquities...and bare the sin of many...."
In the Hebrew, the verbs "hath borne" and "carried" signify to assume as a heavy burden. They denote actual substitution - Jesus actually took on Himself the burden of our sin, or our sin nature.
It is equally true that Jesus has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. These verbs in the Hebrew mean a complete removal. When Jesus bore our sins, our sickness, and our pains, He bore them away. He completely removed them!
Both of these verbs signify substitution. They mean "one bearing another's load." That is what Jesus did for us. As our Substitute, He bore our sins and our sicknesses.
That is the reason divine healing belongs to every child of God. There is no need to question God's will in the matter when you know this. If Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried our pains, there is no need for both of us to bear them!
This scriptural truth became a reality to a woman who came for prayer in one of my meetings. She had a purplish-colored malignant cancer on her face. I instructed her to say, "According to the Word of God, I am healed. I believe this cancer is healed."
I told her, "According to the Word, it's healed. Go to bed saying it. Get up saying it. Say it sweeping the floor. Say it washing the dishes. Say it every time you think of it. I feel led of the Lord to tell you to do this for ten days."
On the tenth day, the telephone rang in our parsonage. This woman was on the other end of the line, but she was almost too excited to talk. Finally, she managed to say, "The cancerous growth just came off my face! It has a lot of roots on it. It all came out, and there is no hole in my face. It is as smooth as a baby's skin."
When was this woman healed? On the tenth day? No, she was healed back there at Calvary, but her healing was manifested when she believed it. It came about as she said, "According to the Word, I am healed." It came about as she believed that Christ, her Substitute, already had borne her sickness. He had paid the price for her cancer; therefore, she didn't have to bear it any longer.
When I tell people they don't have to pray to be healed, they look at me in amazement. But it is not a matter trying to get God to heal you; it is a matter of you accepting the gift God has already provided.
Some say, "Well, I believe God is going to heal me sometime. I believe that in His own good time and in His own way, He will do it." That kind of thinking is out of line with the Word of God.
First Peter 2:24 says, "...by whose stripes ye were healed." Notice it says "were," not "going to be." If I believe what the Bible says, then I believe that we were healed. Peter is looking back to Calvary. I was healed then. I accept that.
God laid on Jesus our sicknesses and diseases; He bore them. He was "stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" with our diseases. Therefore, Satan has no right to put on us what God put on Jesus.
Someone may say, "It may be the will of God for me to be sick. God may get more glory out of my being sick than if I were well." What right, then, would God have to put your sickness on Jesus if He wanted you to keep bearing it?
There is no need for both of you to bear it. Because Jesus bore it, you are free!
Healing is a gift, like salvation, already paid for at Calvary. All you need to do is accept it by faith. All you need to do is possess the promise that is yours. As a child of God, you need to realize that healing belongs to you!
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
