Let’s answer this by answering these questions:

1) Did Jesus Christ heal the aged when He was here?

2) Can and does God heal people today, including the aged?

To answer #1, let’s read a few verses from Matthew 4:24; 8:16; & 12:15: “Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him ALL SICK PEOPLE who were afflicted with various diseases and He HEALED THEM…When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and HEALED ALL WHO WERE SICK…But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him and He HEALED THEM ALL.” We could multiply passages that show that Jesus HEALED ALL THE SICK that came to Him or were brought to Him. When we read the words “all the sick” and “all who were sick,” it obviously includes ALL AGE GROUPS (young, middle-aged, and aged).

To answer #2, let’s read Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This teaches us that Jesus Christ is the SAME PERSON He was when He walked the earth 2,000 years ago. He is intrinsically HOLY and LOVING. He is still God who is OMNIPOTENT (all-powerful) and OMNISCIENT (all-knowing). Because He still has “the POWER to heal,” people use this verse to teach that since Jesus performed miracles of healing then, we should be able to perform miracles today in His name. This sounds good on the surface, but is it true? One has said of this verse: “Jesus Christ is the same, but we need to understand HOW He is the same. He is THE SAME in His CHARACTER, in His PERSON, and in His ATTRIBUTES, but He is NOT THE SAME in PLACE or in PERFORMANCE.” This is my belief as well. Jesus CAN and MAY at times “do miracles of healing,” but His purpose for healing when He was on earth is NOT THE SAME TODAY.

Why did Jesus heal back then? We know Jesus had compassion on the people and healed them to relieve them of their sufferings, but His primary reason for healing was as a SIGN to them TO PROVE HE WAS THEIR MESSIAH. In Matthew 4:23 we read, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM and HEALING ALL KINDS OF SICKNESS AND ALL KINDS OF DISEASE AMONG THE PEOPLE.” In short, Jesus was presenting Himself to His people (the Jews) as their King and He performed miracles of healing to prove it. The prophet Isaiah said He would do this: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing” (Isaiah 35:5-6). The Apostle John ended his gospel with these words, “And truly Jesus did many other SIGNS in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST (Messiah), the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31). Sadly, the nation of Israel still rejected Him as we see in John 1:11, “He came to His own, and His own did not received Him.” Because of their rejection of Christ, God’s purpose today is NOT to “heal all that are sick of physical diseases,” but rather to preach the gospel of Christ to people so they can be “healed of their malady of sin” (see Isaiah 53:5-6 with 1 Peter 2:24).

Some may be thinking, “But didn’t the apostles in the early church heal people?” Yes, they did, but in their case too, healing was to be a SIGN to prove they were preaching God’s Good News of Jesus Christ. We see this in Mark 16:15, 17-18, 20: “Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…And these SIGNS will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast our demons…they will LAY HANDS ON THE SICK, AND THEY WILL RECOVER…and they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and CONFIRMING THE WORD THROUGH THE ACCOMPANYING SIGNS.” As time went on it was indeed confirmed that the Apostles were “preaching God’s Word” and the sign of healing became less; in fact, we read of believers getting sick and not being healed (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20).  (DO)  (722.1)