Does Jesus Still Heal Today? Mark 6:53-56

Does Jesus Still Heal Today?

Have you ever prayed for healing and nothing happened? Or watched someone you love suffer and wondered why God didn't intervene? These are the questions we rarely ask out loud in church, but they're the ones that keep us awake at night.

Matt Edmundson tackled one of the most honest questions in faith head-on. And the answer wasn't a simple yes or no — it was something far more helpful for those of us living in the messy middle between faith and doubt.

The Question We're All Asking

Does Jesus still heal today like he did in the New Testament? If he really is who he says he is — risen, powerful, seated in heaven — surely he's still capable of miracles. But is he actually doing them?

Matt's answer was refreshingly direct: "Absolutely, positively." But he didn't stop there. Because the more important questions come afterwards: If he does heal, will he heal me? Will he heal the person I'm praying for? And what happens if healing doesn't come?

These are questions that deserve honest answers, not religious platitudes.

Why Healing Gets Confusing

The passage Matt explored from Mark 6:53-56 paints a picture of Jesus arriving in a town where everyone who touched him was instantly healed. Every single person. Which sounds amazing until you've prayed for someone and watched them stay sick.

Here's where Matt shared something that helped this make sense. He talked about a moment years ago, standing in his dad's house, watching his dad change the nappy of his baby sister Amy, who was desperately ill. His dad said something Matt never forgot: "I wish I could take out of Amy the sickness and put it on me. Give her my health."

That longing — to switch places, to take someone's suffering and give them your wellness — is exactly what the Bible says Jesus did. Theologians call it substitution. Isaiah prophesied it. Matthew saw it fulfilled. Jesus took our sin and gave us his righteousness. He took our sickness and gave us his health.

As Matthew 8 puts it: "He put upon himself our weaknesses and he carried our diseases and made us well."

Past tense. Already done.

Grace, Not Striving

So if healing has already been provided, how do we access it? Here's where it gets freeing.

Matt pointed to Ephesians 2:8: "For it is only through this wonderful grace that we believed in him. Nothing that we did could ever earn this salvation, for it is a gracious gift from God."

The same grace that brings forgiveness brings healing. And the key word there is grace — undeserved favour. Nothing we do earns it. No amount of prayer techniques, positive thinking, or spiritual striving makes it happen.

"If I had to do something to earn it, I guarantee you I would mess it up," Matt admitted. "But because it is based on grace, that's all on God."

This directly challenges a harmful teaching that's been floating around some Christian circles — the idea that if you're not healed, it's because you don't have enough faith. Matt was clear: "It's not about conjuring up faith. It's about trusting in God's wonderful grace."

Penalty, Power, and Presence

So if Jesus has dealt with sin and sickness, why do we still sin? Why do we still get sick?

Matt introduced a helpful framework: Penalty, Power, and Presence.

At the cross, Jesus took the penalty for sin and sickness. When he rose from the dead, he broke the power of sin and sickness. But we still live in the presence of both — because we're in a fallen world.

Think about it this way: As Christians, we believe sin has been dealt with. Yet we still sin. That doesn't mean forgiveness isn't real — it means we haven't yet arrived in the place where sin doesn't exist anymore.

The same applies to sickness. Healing has been provided. The power of sickness has been broken. But we're still living in a world where sickness exists. One day, that won't be true. One day, as Matt put it, we'll be "sliding down the streets of gold in our socks" where there's no more pain, no more sickness, no more tears.

But we're not there yet.

When Healing Doesn't Come

This is where the conversation gets real. Because what do you do when you've prayed and believed and healing doesn't come?

Matt shared a story from pastor Robert Morris that captures this tension perfectly. Robert’s daughter called him one day, a few months pregnant and bleeding. They prayed together, trusting God no matter what. The baby survived.

Then Robert’s son called with the same news about his wife. Same prayer. Same trust. They lost the baby. And the next one.

When Robert tells this story, he talks about how his son now has five children for all eternity — three on earth, two in heaven. It's heartbreaking.

So what did Robert say in response to that devastating loss? "I'm gonna trust God no matter what."

As hard as that is, it's the foundation that holds when everything else shakes.

Finding Your Anchor

Matt opened with a detail from the scripture that's easy to miss. After the disciples survived a terrifying storm at sea — rowing all night, battered and exhausted — they finally made landfall and anchored there.

That word stuck with Matt. After the storm passes, after the fight ends, we need to be anchored somewhere. Otherwise we just drift.

Hebrews 6:19 puts it beautifully: "We have this certain hope, like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself."

Our anchor isn't in circumstances. It's not in whether we get the healing we're asking for. It's fastened to God's mercy seat — to his character, his faithfulness, his grace.

What This Means for Monday Morning

Here's where this gets practical:

• Stop trying to earn healing. It's grace. You can't achieve it, buy it, or conjure it through the right spiritual technique.

• Bring your questions to God, not just your requests. He's not intimidated by your doubts. He'd rather have honest confusion than fake certainty.

• Trust him no matter what. Not because it's easy, but because he's proven himself faithful. Even when the answer isn't what we hoped for.

• Remember where you're anchored. Circumstances change. God doesn't. When the storm passes, check your anchor.

• Hold hope for heaven. This isn't the end of the story. There's a day coming with no more sickness, no more pain, no more tears.

A Truth Worth Holding

Matt shared his own experience of praying for a torn muscle and feeling it knit back together. Heat in his arm, instant healing. But he was quick to add: "Does that mean every time my muscles get injured, I get instantly healed? Not at all."

That honesty matters. Because faith isn't about having all the answers or a perfect track record. It's about trusting a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever — even when our experience is inconsistent.

As Paul wrote in Philippians: "No matter what, I will continue to hope and passionately cling to Christ so that he will be openly revealed through me... whether in life or in death."

That's the bottom line. Not "I'll trust God if he heals me." But "I'll trust God no matter what."

A Question Worth Asking

What would change if you believed healing was already provided — even if you haven't experienced it yet?

Maybe it would free you from the exhausting pressure of trying to drum up enough faith. Maybe it would shift your focus from what you're doing to who God is. Maybe it would give you permission to be honest about your struggles while still holding onto hope.

Jesus is still in the business of healing. And whether that healing comes instantly, gradually, or fully only in eternity — we can trust him with our bodies, our minds, and our hearts.

As Joyce Meyer once said, there's no place where you hurt that God can't heal. And there's no storm so fierce that his anchor won't hold.