Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness. Matthew 10:1
A key moment has arrived in Jesus’ earthly ministry.
We aren’t told exactly how long his twelve disciples have been with him, but it’s been long enough for them to have heard his teaching and also to have witnessed his miracle-working powers. They have seen him heal people with leprosy and other diseases, cast demons out of people, and even raise the dead (Matthew 8 and 9).
They are awe-struck by what they see. “What kind of man is this?” they exclaim when he demonstrates his power even over the forces of nature (Matthew 8:27). What kind of man indeed!
And perhaps they sometimes thought, deep down, “Thank goodness he is here! Thank goodness we don’t have to do these things!”
Well, if they did think like that, they’re in for a bit of a shock.
Matthew tells us that he “called them to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness.” He says, in effect, “You see this divine authority I have from my Father? Well, now I am vesting it in you. For a time I’m not going to be with you - not physically, at any rate. But you will have the same authority as I have. So... get out there and use it!”
And they did.
True, they didn’t have that authority to the same full extent, and there were times when they failed - Matthew 17:14-21 is a good example. But they had it nonetheless, and we are given various examples in the book of Acts, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
This raises an intriguing question: Does the authority of Jesus extend to those who came after, or did it stop with the apostles? Does it even extend to us today?
As so often happens, sadly, Christians tend to go to opposite extremes on this question.
On the one hand, there are those who say, “Yes, we today should expect just the same power to work miracles of healing. Isn’t this exactly what’s promised in Isaiah 53:4, which Matthew has already quoted: ‘He took up our infirmities, and bore our diseases’ (8:17)?” There is, they will insist, “healing in the atonement” - in other words, Jesus’ sacrificial death accomplishes not only the forgiveness of our sins but also the healing of our bodies.
On the other hand, there are those who interpret verses like that in a non-literal sense. They maintain that while ultimately, of course, we will indeed be made perfectly whole, the supreme work of Jesus was to deal with the spiritual disease from which we all suffer - the disease of sin.
The New Testament makes at least two things very clear...
First, the authority of Jesus was not limited to the twelve.
Luke tells us that, after sending them out, Jesus also sent out “seventy-two others” - people over and above the first disciples. Giving them instructions for their mission, he includes the command, “Heal those who are ill and tell them ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’”. And it happened... “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name’” (Luke 10:8-17).
The church of Corinth, several years later, was a sorry mess in various respects. But when Paul teaches its members about “the gifts of the Spirit”, he includes “gifts of healing” (1 Corinthians 12:9). He obviously doesn’t think that such gifts ended with the twelve - even a bunch of problem Christians like the Corinthians might have miracle-workers among them.
But second, there can be no doubt that miraculous gifts become less prominent as time goes on.
There are examples of Christians not being healed... Timothy is told to "drink a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (note that, frequent illnesses!). Paul tells us that he “left Trophimus ill in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20) - this is the Paul who was actually used by God to raise the dead! And Paul himself, of course, had his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7), which God told him he must learn to put up with it.
So... Should we expect to see miraculous gifts today?
There is no biblical reason why not. Certainly, if we are sick, we should pray for healing (perhaps with the laying on of hands and anointing with oil; James 5:14 means exactly what it says). And if we know someone who is sick, we should pray for them (without neglecting the God-given gift of medical science, of course).
The key is to be neither presumptuous (“God must heal if only I have enough faith”) nor defeatist (“Certainly, I will pray for a person’s spiritual needs, but not for their physical needs”).
What do you think? I hope I’ve got the biblical balance about right.
But who knows... if we are people of real faith, and filled with Holy Spirit, if we are people who pray with expectation - who knows when the Holy Spirit may come in power and you or I may be used in a miraculous way?
Don’t dismiss the possibility!
Lord God, I pray daily to be used by you in the bread-and-butter business of life. But give me also the faith and vision to believe that, by the empowering of your Holy Spirit, you might also use me in exceptional and even miraculous ways. Amen.
A key moment has arrived in Jesus’ earthly ministry.
We aren’t told exactly how long his twelve disciples have been with him, but it’s been long enough for them to have heard his teaching and also to have witnessed his miracle-working powers. They have seen him heal people with leprosy and other diseases, cast demons out of people, and even raise the dead (Matthew 8 and 9).
They are awe-struck by what they see. “What kind of man is this?” they exclaim when he demonstrates his power even over the forces of nature (Matthew 8:27). What kind of man indeed!
And perhaps they sometimes thought, deep down, “Thank goodness he is here! Thank goodness we don’t have to do these things!”
Well, if they did think like that, they’re in for a bit of a shock.
Matthew tells us that he “called them to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness.” He says, in effect, “You see this divine authority I have from my Father? Well, now I am vesting it in you. For a time I’m not going to be with you - not physically, at any rate. But you will have the same authority as I have. So... get out there and use it!”
And they did.
True, they didn’t have that authority to the same full extent, and there were times when they failed - Matthew 17:14-21 is a good example. But they had it nonetheless, and we are given various examples in the book of Acts, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
This raises an intriguing question: Does the authority of Jesus extend to those who came after, or did it stop with the apostles? Does it even extend to us today?
As so often happens, sadly, Christians tend to go to opposite extremes on this question.
On the one hand, there are those who say, “Yes, we today should expect just the same power to work miracles of healing. Isn’t this exactly what’s promised in Isaiah 53:4, which Matthew has already quoted: ‘He took up our infirmities, and bore our diseases’ (8:17)?” There is, they will insist, “healing in the atonement” - in other words, Jesus’ sacrificial death accomplishes not only the forgiveness of our sins but also the healing of our bodies.
On the other hand, there are those who interpret verses like that in a non-literal sense. They maintain that while ultimately, of course, we will indeed be made perfectly whole, the supreme work of Jesus was to deal with the spiritual disease from which we all suffer - the disease of sin.
The New Testament makes at least two things very clear...
First, the authority of Jesus was not limited to the twelve.
Luke tells us that, after sending them out, Jesus also sent out “seventy-two others” - people over and above the first disciples. Giving them instructions for their mission, he includes the command, “Heal those who are ill and tell them ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’”. And it happened... “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name’” (Luke 10:8-17).
The church of Corinth, several years later, was a sorry mess in various respects. But when Paul teaches its members about “the gifts of the Spirit”, he includes “gifts of healing” (1 Corinthians 12:9). He obviously doesn’t think that such gifts ended with the twelve - even a bunch of problem Christians like the Corinthians might have miracle-workers among them.
But second, there can be no doubt that miraculous gifts become less prominent as time goes on.
There are examples of Christians not being healed... Timothy is told to "drink a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (note that, frequent illnesses!). Paul tells us that he “left Trophimus ill in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20) - this is the Paul who was actually used by God to raise the dead! And Paul himself, of course, had his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7), which God told him he must learn to put up with it.
So... Should we expect to see miraculous gifts today?
There is no biblical reason why not. Certainly, if we are sick, we should pray for healing (perhaps with the laying on of hands and anointing with oil; James 5:14 means exactly what it says). And if we know someone who is sick, we should pray for them (without neglecting the God-given gift of medical science, of course).
The key is to be neither presumptuous (“God must heal if only I have enough faith”) nor defeatist (“Certainly, I will pray for a person’s spiritual needs, but not for their physical needs”).
What do you think? I hope I’ve got the biblical balance about right.
But who knows... if we are people of real faith, and filled with Holy Spirit, if we are people who pray with expectation - who knows when the Holy Spirit may come in power and you or I may be used in a miraculous way?
Don’t dismiss the possibility!
Lord God, I pray daily to be used by you in the bread-and-butter business of life. But give me also the faith and vision to believe that, by the empowering of your Holy Spirit, you might also use me in exceptional and even miraculous ways. Amen.
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