Healing

by Bryan Craig 

Day 1: Disciples Heal 

“Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”  Matthew 10:1 

Have you ever taken a Spiritual Gifts Assessment?  It is always so refreshing for believers to learn about their spiritual gifts.  It is as if they discovered hidden superpowers they never knew they possessed.  As you look through the various spiritual gifts listed on most assessments, one gift that stands out, but is not really discussed, is the gift of Healing.  This gift and other seemingly miraculous gifts are thought to be “self-evident,” meaning you would know it if you had the gift.

However, when Jesus was preparing His disciples for their ministry, He sent them out to go to the people, and one of his instructions was “to heal.”  It is clear that Healing was a part of their ministry, as you can see in the scripture above.  In Mark 16:15-20, right before Jesus ascended, Mark records the Great Commission a little differently than what we know of in Matthew 28:18 (the Go Make Disciples passage):

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…these signs will accompany those who believe:  In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well…Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His Word by the signs that accompanied it.” 

It seems the instruction to heal was as clear as the instruction to make disciples.  And lest you think this was “just” for the original 12, I will tell you that in Luke 10:1-8, we read about Jesus sending out 72 people, 2 by 2, and He told them:

“When you enter a town, eat what is offered to you.  Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.'” Luke 10:8-9 

I know you probably believe, like I do, that we are to be Jesus’ Disciples in this modern-day world in which we live.  If that is so, shouldn’t we expect to do the same things they did?  As a matter of fact, Jesus says we can do even greater things:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”  John 14:12 

How does this relate to us today?  Do you know any sick people?  More tomorrow…