CHRIST AS JEHOVAH-ROPHEKA
Exodus 15:26

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Christ is co-equal and co-eternal with God His Father (John 1:1f; 5:23). He is therefore named Jehovah (cp. Isaiah 45:22f; Romans 14:10b-12 & Philippians 2:9-11).

All the Jehovah-compound names belong to Christ. These include: Jehovah-Jireh, "The-LORD-Will Provide" (Genesis 22:14); Jehovah-Nissi, "The-LORD-Is-My-Banner" (Exodus 17:15); Jehovah-Meqadeshkem, "The-LORD-Who-Sanctifies-You" (Exodus 31:13); Jehovah-Shalom, "The-LORD-Is-My-Peace" (Judges 6:24); Jehovah-Tsabaoth, "The-LORD-of-Hosts" (1 Samuel 1:3); Jehovah-Elyon, "The-LORD-Most-High" (Psalm 7:17); Jehovah-Roi , "The-LORD-Is-My-Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1); Jehovah-Tsidkenu, "The-LORD-Our-Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6); Jehovah-Shammah, "The-LORD-Is-There" (Ezekiel 48:35); and that which here is to be considered, Jehovah-Ropheka, "The-LORD-Who-Heals-You" (Exodus 15:26). Jehovah alone possesses the inherent power to heal (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6). Christ has manifested Himself as Jehovah-Ropheka, "The-LORD-Who-Heals-You," through His exercise of this power.

I. Christ is the healer of all who are healed. This is true because all healing is "divine healing," and God performs all His works toward men through Christ. Mortals who heal, such as physicians, do so only in a secondary, not primary, sense, as being instruments in the hand of Christ. Peter the apostle acknowledged this truth when he healed a lame man by saying "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth [i.e. through His authority and in virtue of the power received from Him], rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).

II. Christ preventively heals His people of many afflictions. He will not afflict them with the plagues He sends upon the wicked. He therefore promises them in our text, "I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians." And the Christian lifestyle itself is a preventive against infirmities associated with licentious living, such as those which are sexually transmitted through the means of multiple sex partners, homosexuality, and bestiality.

III. Christ miraculously healed many of His people of their physical infirmities during the days of His incarnation. A most notable passage in this regard is Matthew chapters 8-9. He healed persons afflicted with leprosy (8:2-4), paralysis (8:5-13; 9:1-8), fever (8:14f), demon-possession (8:16f, 28-34), hemorrhaging (9:20-22), blindness (9:27-31), muteness (9:32-34), and even death (9:18f, 23-25).

IV. Christ heals all His people of their spiritual infirmity (see Psalm 103:1-5). The miraculous healing of infirm bodies was a figure of the glorious saving of sinful souls. Both were performed in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4f: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." This prophecy was applied first to those who were by Him healed physically (Matthew 8:16), and later to those who were healed spiritually (1 Peter 2:22). (Note in Mark 7:34 His sorrowful anticipation of the former, and of the latter in Luke 22:41-44.)

1. The ones Christ will save. He healed the bodies of all who trusted in Him for healing, and none but them (see Matthew 13:58). Likewise, He will save the souls of all who trust in Him for salvation, and none but them (John 3:14-18).

2. The reason Christ will save believers. He both healed the afflicted and saves the sinful because of His compassion toward them (Matthew 9:36): "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."

3. The manner in which Christ will save believers. In fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4f, the sin which caused their infirmity, whether physical or spiritual, was imputed to Christ. He consequently suffered and died for their sins as their penal substitute. They are then healed through the imputation to them of His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) and the impartation of His holiness (2 Peter 1:2-4). They receive this through faith in Him.