Did you ever know someone who seemed to excel at whatever they attempted? I have a friend like that. In high school, he lettered in baseball. He maintained a close to perfect grade point average. In his high school yearbook he was voted "most likely to rule the world." Something like that, I think. He became fluent in a second language. He ministers around the world. On top of it all, He is generally a humble person. I hope he still is after he reads this!
On the other hand, since we grew up together, I have had a pretty good look at his flaws. He has many areas of strength, but he also has areas that are not strengths. I could take a couple paragraphs to describe his flaws. But just in case he reads this, I will not do that.
The point I am making is that each of us, as we mature, will become more effective and fruitful. But we will never be perfect. We are part of the body of Christ. We need the rest of the body to function, and the body needs us. While we may function in different styles of healing ministry, we will function most fruitfully in the style that matches our calling. We should have characteristics of each of the ministry gifts and office. But we will find that we have a primary function that most closely relates to only one of those offices. Not everyone in the body of Christ is called to one of those offices. However, everyone in the body of Christ will have a style that relates to one of those offices.
Jesus emulates, in His ministry, each of the ministry styles that we have discussed in this series of lessons. He is the example of the perfect man. He operated in the "full measure" of the Spirit. He was voted most likely to be: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher.
In this lesson I would like us to take a look at the miracles of Jesus. As we do, we will see "how", "when" and perhaps "why" he used each style of healing ministry. Jesus had no limitations, other than the ones He chose to take on. We will see, I believe that He did limit Himself, even in healing ministry, while He was on the earth. He was very purposeful in how He healed; this is a lesson for us as well.
Jesus The Teacher
Jesus was well recognized and respected as a teacher. Many called Him "Rabbi," which means "teacher." The disciples of John the Baptist recognized Him as Rabbi, when He first came on the scene at the end of John the Baptist's ministry. Jesus' own disciples refer to Him as Rabbi numerous times. It seems as their relationship grows and they have a greater revelation of who He really is, they stop using the term. Some of the religious leaders of the day accept Him as rabbi. The pharisee Nicodemus came to Him at night and called Him Rabbi.
Wherever we find Jesus ministering, He is teaching. Sometimes in the fields, other times on a mountaintop. On occasion in a boat on the lake, He taught the masses. Often, in the serenity of the olive groves, He taught his disciples. In the synagogue on the Sabbath, in private households in the evenings, and on the streets throughout the day, Jesus taught whoever had ears to hear and learn. He was a master teacher.
Jesus Used Healing Ministry To Teach
- Luke 5:17-25
- Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"-- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."
Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
Luke does not tell us what Jesus was teaching before the roof came down, but he does say that the power of God was present to heal while Jesus was teaching. We are also told that a number of religious teachers were present. Jesus was given an opportunity to demonstrate a miracle and teach a lesson. Often, when Jesus saw a person with faith He would speak healing to them immediately. In this case, Jesus saw their faith and said, "your sins are forgiven." This opened the door for Him to use healing ministry to demonstrate the power to forgive sin. When the Pharisees questioned his authority to forgive sin, he says, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"-- "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Through this healing, Jesus taught that He had the power to forgive sin. It was a powerful lesson. One that religious people had trouble refuting.
Pastor Jesus
I have a Venezuelan friend whose name is Jesus. This is not a completely uncommon name in Latin American culture. He also happens to have long hair and a beard. He told me a story once about visiting the United States. He went to restaurant where he had to wait for a table. When his table was ready, the host called his name using the North American pronunciation, "Jesus, your table is ready." Everyone in the restaurant turned to see if it was really the Messiah. No one expects to see the Son of God when they go out for a quiet meal.
In reality, Jesus spent much of His time among the common culture of His day. If the Messiah was born into the twenty-first century, no doubt, we would see Him at a fast food burger joint one day and the upscale bistro another. Jesus loved to be where the people were. He was a shepherd and He wanted to be with the sheep.
The word "pastor" used in Ephesians chapter 4:11 means shepherd. It is the same word used throughout the gospels when referring to a shepherd. The prophets prophesied that the Messiah would be a shepherd. Jesus said of Himself in Matthew 15:24, "I was sent to the lost sheep of Israel." In John 10:11, He said, "I am the good shepherd." Jesus demonstrated over and over His love for the people of Israel. He expressed pastoral feeling over the city of Jerusalem just days before the city turned against Him in Matt 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
Many times, it is this Shepherd's heart that motivated Jesus to heal. One example that seems particularly clear is that of a woman whose son had died. Upon entering the town of Nain, Jesus comes upon a funeral procession. Let's pick up the story from Luke 7:11-15:
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and His disciples and a large crowd went along with Him. As He approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out-- the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, "Don't cry." Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. (NIV)
The woman does not petition Jesus for help, nor does anyone else ask Jesus to intervene. He is moved with emotion at the sadness that this woman is experiencing as a result of losing her only son. It may be, although we do not know, that she had previously lost her husband. This would leave her without anyone to care for her. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gives back her son. Compassion is a powerful force. Enough force to move the hand of God to raise the dead.
Jesus Preached The Good News
One of the ways Jesus seems to have limited Himself was in the area of evangelism to gentiles. His earthly ministry focused primarily on the Jewish people. There are a few instances when He ministered to non-Jews. These, however, are mostly cases where the gentiles sought Him out, rather than the other way around.
Jesus did fulfill to the role of the evangelist, which is the proclamation of the good news. The word "evangelist" means, "one who proclaims good news." In Jesus' first public ministry at His home town synagogue in Nazereth, Jesus states that He is anointed to "preach good news." Jesus told His disciples that He had to continue to travel to all the towns and "preach the good news of the kingdom of God." That is why He was sent, to be an evangelist.
There are few examples in scripture of Jesus using healing as a tool of evangelism. One of those examples is found in Matthew 8:5-11:
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented." And Jesus saith unto him, "I will come and heal him." The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, 'Go,' and he goeth; and to another, 'Come,' and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he doeth it."When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to them that followed, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven."
In this passage Jesus willingly reaches out to meet the need of this Roman leader. He then speaks prophetically about the kingdom of God. Many gentiles will be included in it.
At another time, Jesus seemed to be reluctant about healing a Caananite woman's daughter. However, she was persistent and impressed Jesus with her faith. So He healed the girl. While Jesus was primarily sent to the house of Israel, He did, on occasion reach out to non-Jews. Sometimes He employed healing as a means of reaching them.
Many other times, healing was used as a method of convincing unbelieving Jewish people. On one occasion, this resulted in the entire household coming to faith in Christ. We see this in John 4:51-53:
While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
A Prophet With Honor
After being rejected in Nazareth, Jesus proclaimed, "Only in his home town and in his own house is a prophet without honor" Matthew 13:57. The crowd in Jerusalem recognized Him as "Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee" Matthew 21:11. The Pharisees wanted to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of how the people would respond because they all felt He was a prophet.
Jesus prophesied and operated keenly in prophetic gifts. He used the miracles to make prophetic statements. He also, at times, healed in a prophetic style. The healing of the man born blind demonstrates this style well. The timing and method used are prophetic, as is the way Jesus confronts the religious spirit in the leaders.
The entire chapter of John nine is devoted to telling this account. One Sabbath day, Jesus encountered a man that had been blind from birth. His disciples, bound by a legalistic notion that someone sinned in order for this man to be in this condition, are confounded. "Who sinned?" they asked. Jesus used their question to proceed into a prophetic discourse on the times. He spoke of night and day, light and darkness. Concluding with the statement, "I am the Light of the World." This statement is made in the context of a man who is blind and a nation that is blind. Without light no one can see. God would be glorified when this young man's eyes were opened, and darkness gave way to light. God would also be glorified when the nation was removed from darkness and brought into light.
After these statements, Jesus spit on the ground and mixed His saliva with the dirt. He took this "mud dough" and placed it on the man's eyes. This is prophetic act is reminiscent of creation. God formed man out of dusk. Some have suggested that perhaps Jesus was forming new eyes for the man. That is a possibility. What we do know is that by mixing the saliva and mud, Jesus was breaking a religious law. The law of kneading. It was forbidden to knead dough on the Sabbath. Jesus confronted a religious spirit without saying a word. After the man received his sight, the Pharisees were angered by this method.
They began to investigate and cross examined the man who was healed. In the process, some began to change their opinion about Jesus. The pharasees asked this man what he knew about Jesus. And he declared in John 9:17, "He is a prophet."
The man could now see and some of the Pharisees were beginning to have their spiritual vision restored. They were having their spiritual eyes opened. The once-blind man believed Jesus was a prophet. The Pharisees were enraged and threw the man out. When Jesus heard this, He said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." John 9:39. Jesus used healing to prophetically show that He wanted to heal spiritual blindness.
Jesus The Apostle
The word "apostle" means one who is sent. Jesus repeatedly referred to Himself as one who was sent from the Father. He was The Apostle sent from heaven to earth. Jesus spoke often about the fact that He was sent. He seemed to rely on this as the credentials and motivation for His ministry.
Jesus understood the apostolic nature of His mission. In His first recorded sermon He said, " The Spirit of the Lord is on me; He has sent me to proclaim freedom for prisoners." In His last recorded prayer He prayed, "As You have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." He knew His apostolic calling and He ministered out of that calling.
Apostolic Healing In Jesus' Ministry
There are several examples of what I would call apostolic healing in Jesus' ministry. The one I would like to point out is the woman with a blood issue from Luke 8:43-48:
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped."Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you." But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed. Then He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
I call this apostolic healing because Jesus did not seek out nor did He initiate the encounter. Jesus was not teaching on healing. In fact, He wasn't teaching at all. He was just walking down the road. He did not attach any prophetic significance to the event. He seemed to be completely surprised when it happened. This woman received her healing and may have been planning to go back home without saying anything. Jesus felt power flow through Him. This is the only reason the woman came forward. This healing just happened.
As we can see, Jesus moved in each of the healing styles. He taught as He healed, and He taught how to heal. He had great compassion and, at times, sought encounters for healing. On occasion, He reached out with healing to unbelievers. He used healing to make prophetic statements. He carried out an apostolic mission; which included healing. Jesus excelled at whatever He did.
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