And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal… 6 And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. Luke 9:1-2, 6 (ESV)The gospel announces that God’s King has been born in fulfillment of promises made to Abraham and King David. He was rejected and put to death, but God the Father raised him from the dead, declaring that he is Lord of all. Those who renounce their rebellion against God’s rule and declare their allegiance to Jesus will be forgiven and given the Holy Spirit. As proof of Jesus’ authority and ability to set prisoners free, he regularly healed people when he walked the earth. After his resurrection and ascension, his disciples also healed people to demonstrate the reality of God’s rule. Healing was linked to the gospel message then and is still.
Jesus launched his public ministry in a synagogue in Nazareth by sharing his messianic mission statement from the prophet Isaiah.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 (ESV)
The Father in heaven sent Jesus to planet earth to release those who were and are under the oppression of the devil. This oppression manifests itself in many ways, including sickness, disease, and demonic oppression.
The gospel is not limited to the forgiveness of sins. It is holistic, bringing liberty to the entire being – body, soul, and spirit.
When John the Baptist later questioned Jesus regarding his messianic identity, our Lord reminded John and his followers that, although he was not behaving in the way most people thought the Messiah would act by overthrowing Roman oppression, he was fulfilling the role prophesied by Isaiah. When Luke wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, he included this marvelous summation of Christ’s ministry, which was spoken by the apostle Peter:
And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 (NLT)
The anointing of the Holy Spirit, mentioned in Luke 4:18, empowered Jesus (and us today) to heal all who were and are oppressed by Satan by overcoming sickness, demonic oppression, and even death, not to mention the more spiritual and psychological oppression related to sin, guilt, and condemnation.
Paul also operated in healing and miracles when he presented the gospel.
For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 (NLT)
Was this a peculiar operation of grace for those early days, or does it continue? Some theologians have proposed that the gifts of the Spirit ceased after the deaths of the twelve apostles. This is a human theological construct designed to account for the lack of the miraculous today by claiming signs and wonders were only for the early days following the resurrection, before the church came into possession of the New Covenant scriptures. According to this theory, now all we need to do is to proclaim the truth without having any confirming signs of Christ’s reign over the oppression of the devil.
It is always a bad idea to build our theology around our experience instead of around the Word of God.
Nevertheless it is a common practice, since we all tend to explain away that which makes us uncomfortable. It’s what psychologists call denial. We don’t want to be confronted by the truth; so, we build walls and fences to keep it at a distance.
The truth is that Jesus never stopped setting the captives free, body, soul, and spirit. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
If the early disciples needed the confirming signs of God’s presence and power in their presentation of the gospel, how much more do we need it? Evil and deception is just as strong today as ever.
We need both God’s truth and his power.
Separating the power of God to heal from the presentation of the gospel is a serious error which deprives the gospel presentation from being confirmed by the Holy Spirit the way God intended.
When Jesus sent out the seventy-two disciples in Luke Chapter 10, he told them:
Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ Luke 10:9 (NLT) When we engage those who do not yet know Christ, it is a divine strategy to pray for their healing. When we do so, we give God the opportunity to reveal himself to the person in a way that confirms his existence, power, and love. Healing is a function of God’s divine compassion for our predicament.
Healing reveals God’s love in a way that anyone except the most hardened religious people can understand and accept.
Healing confirms the words of the gospel and opens the heart to believe that Jesus is both Lord and Savior. Some call miracles the “dinner bell” to salvation. Evangelists in third world countries know the importance of signs and wonders. Have we become so intellectual that we no longer require God’s power? How foolish!
We do well to take Jesus’ commands to those early disciples to heart.
We should look for any and every opportunity to pray for the sick in order to open the door to sharing the gospel of grace with people we know and love.
It is not up to us to actually heal anyone: that remains under God’s jurisdiction. However, as Christ’s representatives, we have an amazing opportunity to open the door for God to work. If you pray for the sick, you may see a miracle with your own eyes. More importantly, you may open the door for your hearer to receive eternal life through faith in Christ!
