Search This Blog

Did Jesus ever get sick?

QUESTION: Since sickness is a result of sin, did Jesus ever get sick?

A: You are correct in saying that sickness and death entered the human condition when sin was introduced into God's otherwise perfect creation. Since that time mankind has been plagued with sickness of every kind, until finally such a toll is taken on our bodies that we expire physically.

To be entirely honest, the Bible does not say whether Jesus ever suffered a physical ailment. But as we consider this question I think it's important to remember that, while Jesus shared our humanity, He never gave in to sin. The writer to the Hebrews said:

"...we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15

So Jesus experienced all our temptations but He never gave in to sin. And because He was without sin it is reasonable to assume that He did not suffer the effects of sin like sickness. In fact, what we see in the Word is quite the opposite—When He touched the sick and infirmed they were healed of their diseases.


17 comments:

  1. Hmmm... that is something to think about today. Can you imagine the thoughts that went through Mary's head when she noted that he didn't get sick like the other children? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I never thought of this before...hmmm. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dennie Dec 2, 2013
    I agree with you 100%. Adam never got sick until the fall, How anyone could think of
    Christ's physical body being anything less, I'll never know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I disagree.Jesus experienced pain (as clearly seen in the crucifixion). Pain is a result of the fall. Jesus experienced hunger and thirst (also a result of the fall). Therefore when Jesus is fully man he took on the form of man fully capable of getting sick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Would it make any sense for the man who could heal anyone of any infirmity around him with a simple touch to have gotten sick himself? No. Jesus wasn't born here to suffer through the flu, and other things. He likely had perfect health and deserved to have such. God and the angels would have protected him 24/7 until the time for his betrayal came. "i was born and came in to the world for this one purpose" the purpose he spoke of was to be a sacrifice for sins. His suffering took place at the end of his life. Prior to that, there was no need for God in the flesh to suffer sickness etc. It just wouldn't make sense that the divine person who could cure anyone of anything could come down with something himself and have to suffer through it. While he suffered pain brought on by the physical elements of this world, my guess is that his genetics were hand crafted by God the Father to have no flaws, no abnormalities, etc. He had an egg from his mother, but the holy spirit itself inseminated that egg. His DNA was perfected from above.

      Delete
    2. I would agree with you only to adjust this one comment: "He had an egg from his mother, but the Holy Spirit HIMSELF inseminated that egg." :)

      Delete
    3. I agree with Robby...I hope you don’t get a stomach virus this year, or the flu or the fever or a cold. But, if you do, I hope you remember, just for a minute, in your discomfort that Jesus has passed through everything you’ll ever face. He might have been racked with nausea or chills or aches, just as you are. And then he faced far, far worse.
      But, as you lie there, remember the gospel of incarnation and substitution, a gospel that comes, as the old song says, to make his blessings known “far as the curse is found.”

      Delete
    4. Experiencing pain and suffering doesn't always come from sickness. I think Jesus didn't suffer sickness because he never sinned. And remember, being lame or blind doesn't necessarily come from sickness.

      Delete
    5. Well.. Matthew 8:3 "Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy." Anyone in their right mind who COULD have gotten sick would NOT have touched someone with leprosy and additionally under Old Testament Law he would have been considered "unclean" (Lev 13). Jesus did NOT get sick likely because He was not only fully man, but also fully God. Death came into the world through sin and although Jesus did NOT sin he was subject to physical death only because John 10:18 "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" and so he would have NEVER died even as a man if he had not willed it in order to destroy death (ultimately).

      BUT MY questions is... if we're to be Christ-like and continue to grow in Christ then why can't WE get to the point where we do not get sick? So in other words... is there a limit to our Christ-likeness (of course we can't be God Himself, which Christ was always and is) but still.. what is the limitation?

      Delete
  5. Word of Faith teachers us this subject.. Jesus was never sick so shouldn't we. So if we are sick we lack faith... We must be careful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We must also be careful not to shy away from truth simply because some groups have chosen to mis-use biblical passages or ideas. The error of the Word of Faith teachers is in failing to understand that Jesus was "without sin" and we are not. Granted this is a challenging conversation, since Jesus CLEARLY allowed Himself to be touched by certain aspects of our fallen nature by experiencing hunger, thirst and exhaustion. Some people might conclude then that He was just as susceptible to the common cold. My response to this question is more or less my best guess, as I said in the post above that the Word does not say for sure. Thanks for responding.

      Delete
    2. I agree with you. We can't know for sure but we can conclude that sickness is the result of sin; or own, someone else's or living in a fallen world.

      Delete
  6. "He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
    As a man of "sorrows" the Hebrew word here is pain, physical or mental, such as anguish, affliction, grief or sorrow (strongs)
    "Acquainted with grief" is even stronger! grief may and perhaps should be translated "sickness." and the idea of being acquainted with sickness is an intimate knowledge (experience?) with it.
    This is followed by "he was despised and rejected by men," a typical Jewish response to people who were ritually unclean with some form of sickness...
    Is all this figurative? or could it also be suggesting that Jesus understood what it meant to have a debilitating sickness at some point in his life as well,

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mary was born into sin , so I believe that Mary was a surrogate for Jesus. Jesus was not born into sin. He bore sin on the cross alone.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mary was born into sin. She needed a savior. I believe that Mary was a surrogate for Jesus. The only sin Jesus bore was at the cross, for all mankind, including Mary.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Robby Cherry. Pain is a result of injured flesh. Sickness is a result of injured blood. After the fall, Adam's flesh as well as his blood became injured. Jesus blood was representative of Adam's blood before the fall, pure without sin.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well.. Matthew 8:3 "Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"

    Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy." Anyone in their right mind who COULD have gotten sick would NOT

    have touched someone with leprosy and additionally under Old Testament Law he would have been considered

    "unclean" (Lev 13). Jesus did NOT get sick likely because He was not only fully man, but also fully God. Death came

    into the world through sin and although Jesus did NOT sin he was subject to physical death only because John 10:18

    "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" and so he would have NEVER died even as a man

    if he had not willed it in order to destroy death (ultimately).

    BUT MY questions is... if we're to be Christ-like and continue to grow in Christ then why can't WE get to the point

    where we do not get sick? So in other words... is there a limit to our Christ-likeness (of course we can't be God

    Himself, which Christ was always and is) but still.. what is the limitation?)

    ReplyDelete