The Power of Healing

Lk 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them." 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

There are those who would say that the "healing" ministry of the apostles ended in the first century; that it existed solely to exhibit the power of God to early non-believers as the fledgling faith was just beginning.

There are those also we see on television who tell us that if we send them a check for $100 then we will be guaranteed a miracle of healing in our lives.

And the rest of us are left wondering how exactly DOES God heal our woundedness and brokenness. Should we pray for healing and restoration? Should we expect for God to perform healing miracles in our lives today? Should I write the check and send it in and expect God to work through the tele-evangelist?

As I've prepared my message for this coming week, I've been looking at the passages of scripture that deal with the subject of Jesus's healing. While some scholars would try to dismiss healings as purely emotional or "mental" events - I can't do that. Jesus, according to those who witnessed the events or spoke to those who DID witness the events, restored people's bodies and spirits to health. You can't explain away the impact of these actions on the lives of those who would ultimately turn to Jesus in complete faith as God's power was demonstrated through him.

After Jesus's death, the apostles healed as well. In Acts 5, people crowd the streets simply to be in the shadow of Peter so that they may be healed of their diseases. Paul heals a crippled man in the town of Lystra astonishing the crowds to the point that they believe him to be a god (Acts 14:8ff).

In a conversation with a friend of mine who is a physician of internal medicine - a very rational person when it comes to his profession - he claimed that he had seen many instances of what appeared to be miraculous healing - healing where there was no rational explanation of how the person was restored to wholeness.

Perhaps you could tell your own story of healing when all seemed lost to you.

Here's what I have come to know as a pastor working with literally thousands of people in the last fifteen years - those who turn to God in faith for healing are met with grace and restoration. I can't explain it. I don't know the "mechanics" behind it. I simply know that those who let go of "control" and trust in God completely with their lives experience amazing grace and with that grace - healing. Is it the healing one is looking for specifically? Sometimes. Sometimes one is healed in other ways they weren't quite expecting. But in every case where one trusts in God's power to heal, healing takes place. Every single time.

This experience fits with Jesus's response to a sick woman in Luke 8 who approaches Jesus through the crowds to touch the hem of his garment believing that simply touching his robe would heal her of her bleeding. When she touches his robe, she is instantly healed. "Who touched me?" Jesus asks. Fearfully she responds, "it was me." "Daughter," Jesus says, "Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace."

Here's the good news of our faith. God can heal anything. It doesn't cost any money. There's no special "incantation" or prayer to pray. It only requires faith that God can do something new with your body, your spirit, your emotions, or your mind. Sometimes it happens immediately. Sometimes the healing process takes years. But healing does occur just as God has spoken to us continually throughout history that He desires our restoration (e.g. Jeremiah 30:17).

If you were that woman in Luke 8, pressing through the crowds to touch the garment of Jesus, what exactly would be healed if you made it through? What's keeping you from asking God to work a miracle of healing in your life today?