Divine Healing Ministry:
In the School of
Christ
By Jim Lynn
Spiritual healing of the sick in Christ has
many Christians in a kind of spiritual vise. On the one hand
they read about divine healing in their Bibles and hear of
divine healing ministries. On the other, they also hear from
pulpits that divine healing and healing miracles have
ceased. The net effect is cause for confusion and even loss
of faith. What is the truth about spiritual healing in
today’s Church?
When Jesus first appeared on the scene with
His ministry, He was what Broadway show producers today
would call a smash hit! As news spread about His teaching
and healing, people literally swarmed around Him. And why
not? The
message Jesus presented to them was something no one had
ever heard. He proclaimed the kingdom of God drawing near
and then did something most amazing. He healed people—as
many as could get close to Him.
The lesson was clear. God is breaking
through to the physical world (into the affairs of man) to
heal. Jesus never wavered in this teaching. He Preached the
kingdom of God and healed the sick.
When Jesus selected His team to disciple, He
taught them the nature of God’s kingdom, instructed them how
to heal, and sent them out to continue the work He had
started. He commanded them to “Heal the sick..,’ and tell
people, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’” (Luke 10:9).
Jesus further said that anyone who has faith
in Him after He is gone will “do what I have been doing. He
will do even greater things than these, because I am going
to the Father” (John 14:12). Again, Jesus was drawing on the
message of his ministry and mission.
The more one studies the ministry of Jesus,
the more one realizes the importance Jesus placed on healing
the sick. For nearly one-fifth of the four Gospel accounts
is devoted to Jesus’ healing and the discussions raised by
it. In fact, the emphasis on healing is greater than any
other experience in the narrative.
Out of 3,779 verses in the four Gospels, 727
relate specifically to the healing of physical and mental
illness and the resurrection of the dead. And those healings
that are recorded represent only a small fraction of the
total (John 20:30). Compare this to the 165 verses that deal
in general with eternal life.
Jesus saw Himself as being in conflict with
evil, doing battle on a spiritual level made manifest in the
physical realm. Unlike some believe, Jesus made clear that
most people in their present condition do not deserve
punishment. He healed freely, never asking what a person had
done or how they had sinned.
Jesus viewed the effects of unclean spirits
(sickness) in our lives as keeping us from reaching our full
potential and calling. This then sets the backdrop of what
it was like to be in the School of Christ.
The message is “God loves you.” And what
better way is there to demonstrate His love to you than for
Him to heal you. This is the heart and soul of what the
Incarnation of Christ is about (John 3:16), and what Jesus
meant when He said the Kingdom of God is near you. It
implies God breaking forth into the world and into the life
of man to heal him from what evil has wrought.
But how did Jesus heal exactly? What did He
specifically teach His disciples about healing? Is there
anything we can learn from Scripture about healing the sick
that we might apply today? In other words, is there a divine
healing model recorded in the Bible we can use today in the
healing ministry? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!”
In Mark 6:7-13, we read that Jesus sent the
twelve out in pairs on a kind of on-the-job training mission
for the work they would be doing after His departure. Before
they went, He gave them very specific instructions. The
results of their work is recorded in verse 13...
“They drove out many demons and anointed
many sick people with oil
and healed them.”
Before addressing the question of why the
oil in the above passage, we need to first be clear about
the healing performed. The Greek word used for “healed” in
verse 13 is therapeuo, pronounced “ther-ap-yoo'-o,” from
which the English word “therapy” is derived. It literally
means “to wait upon menially” (to serve), to “restore to
health.”
So there be no question, therapeuo denotes
healing occurred over time. There is no indication the
healings were in any way out of the ordinary or
instantaneous. If the healings were instantaneous, the Koine
Greek word, iaomai, as used in Luke 8:47 would have been
used.
So we must (by using the rule of language)
deduce the healings of Mark 6:13 occurred normally over a
period of time. Were these healings divine? Yes! Were they
miraculous? Yes! Why? Because all healing is spiritually
rooted.
What makes the healings reported in Mark
6:13 all the more curious is the healing modality employed
by the twelve disciples. They anointed (applied with their
hands) the sick with healing oil. The reason the oil is so
interesting, so unexpected, is that there is no previous
passage that indicates the need or requirement to use oil in
the disciples ministry. The reader is suddenly left with the
appearance of these oils.
Without a previous text to explain the use
of oil, the following questions are raised:
1. By whose authority were they using
healing oil?
2. From where did the oil come?
3. Why were the disciples using healing oil
in their ministry?
4. What are the implications for us
today?
The answer to these important questions and
more are answered in a free ebook entitled,
Essential Oils and Healing From a Christian Perspective.
The ebook is bible-based and non-denominational.
Jim Lynn is a minister in the church of
Christ and author of the book, The Miracle of Healing In
Your Church Today.
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