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It must be obvious to even the casual reader that I have more than a passing interest in the matter of divine healing. It occupies a lot of my waking thoughts and I’ve been involved in many different healing or related ministries over the years. One of the main things I’ve thought about is what, in the mind of God, healing ministry should look like. I’ll try to explain what I mean.
A careful reading of the Gospels and the Book of Acts provides electrifying ideals of what healing should be. I mentioned in an earlier post that Jesus healed as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit. We know this because His healing ministry only began after the Holy Spirit descended on Him when baptized in the Jordan. We can also assume this because Jesus Himself said in John 14:12:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
I’m not sure how you read that but I read greater as meaning greater. This is the challenge that should motivate pastors and laypeople alike to strive towards the goal that Jesus set. I’ve met believers who will focus on the ‘greater’ part and say “..yes, but Jesus meant salvation, not healing, because we would lead people to salvation, which could only happen after his death and resurrection”. Then they proffer a wan smile, saying, “this is what He meant by ‘greater'”.
Fine, I think that is silly, but fine anyway. If you believe that, then strike out the second sentence and look carefully at the first. Jesus said you would do the same things as Him if you believed in Him. If you don’t accept greater miracles, at least do the same miracles that He did. However, you would really have to distort the scripture to read the first sentence as salvation, not healing.
Thus my thought is that healing ministry should be more powerful and more effective than medical science. It should meet the ideal set by Jesus. Let’s think it through. If we could do more through funding medical missions (which I love!) than through miraculous means, then we as a church are corporately not close to God’s ideal. Our inclination when sick should be to get in the car and go to church, but very few believers would. In fact, many tend to come to healing rooms and crusades only after the doctors have admitted defeat and there are no human options left.
I’m not blaming congregants, mind you. Many never heard a sermon on healing, so where would their faith come from anyway? Faith still comes …”from hearing the Word”. My prayer is that a new generation of pastors, preachers and workers of miracles would rise up to the ideals of Jesus. Do you feel the same way?
