Jesus applied to himself the prophecy of Isaiah in Luke 4 18-19 ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed…’
In Luke 9:1,6 it shows that Jesus didn’t just keep the power to heal to himself but also gave his disciples the power to heal and ‘authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases’. They went throughout the villages ‘healing people everywhere’. Jesus’ healing power has been continued by his disciples ever since.
So what about the present day that we live in, can we be healed from sickness today? Christians seem to think differently on what they believe.
The bible describes a ‘gift of healing’ given to every church and teaches that if you confess your sins to one and other you will be healed. The church elders are instructed to pray for the sick and lay hands and anoint them.
Much of what Christians think about Jesus is based on Faith. Even though the bible records many incidents of miracles and points out instructions on how to follow Jesus, people will interpret things differently. There are some that believe that the healing miracles were only for Jesus’ day. However, there are many others that believe that Jesus is the same today as he was yesterday and that he set an example and encourages us to pray for healing. So healing seems to be a matter of Faith.
For example many Roman Catholics make pilgrimage to many places around the world where reported physical cures have taken place. One such place is called Lourdes in France. After careful checks by the International Medical Commission in Paris, 58 reported cures have been designated miracles. One example was of a man called Joseph Charpentier. He had been wheelchair-bound for 19 years when he came to Lourdes for a cure. During the healing service he was anointed with oil, and tem minutes later to quote his own words ‘I felt a great warmth rise from my feet to my heart’. He then stood for the first time.
Psychologists would say that often people who have a faith and believe positively in a cure often make miraculous recoveries and that this can be explained through psychological processes rather than a biblical miracle. They would also say that a person who is negative in their thoughts can become very depressed and many Christians would explain this as a way that the devil uses to oppress people. They would pray that the devil be cast aside so that they could be healed.
Sometimes it works that people who have no belief or faith in the existence of God pray for healing and are healed and in this way begin to follow Jesus.
There are some Christians who pray continually for healing and it never comes. But they too continue to follow Jesus as they have enough faith to believe that God loves them and wants what is best for them. Physical healing may not be in their best interests for many reasons. Jesus may have other ideas about what should happen and perhaps the person will be a better person and serve God’s purpose with the sickness or illness.
Out of suffering many people develop coping mechanisms and character traits that make them into better people as well as more dependent on God.
Christians will always argue about the importance of the healing miracles of Jesus and the relevance for their lives today. It seems from some of the examples that I have mentioned above that spiritual and physical healing are linked. God is the power and source of healing. God expects all Christians to bring every need to Him in prayer and by faith and be confident that God hears the prayer. There may not be any guarantee of a healing for those that believe and have faith but Christians do have a guarantee that God loves them and will act in their best interests.
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