Acts 10:38 NKJV
(38) how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
This is a sermon summary that the Apostle Peter was giving and it is interesting that he could have chosen a number of things to describe the ministry of Jesus such as:
- We were fishing and He said to cast our nets on the other side and we did and the nets were so overcome by fish that they broke.
- He turned water into wine at a wedding one day.
- Two times He fed the multitudes supernaturally by multiplying some loaves and fishes.
- He could have talked about how Jesus walked on the water one night.
- He could have talked about how he needed to pay his taxes and Jesus had him go fishing and the tax money was in the fish’s mouth.
- He could have talked about when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
Peter chose to talk about Jesus as the Healer because this was a defining characteristic of His ministry.
After God had done such wonderful miracles to deliver the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, and they had just witnessed Pharaoh and his armies drown in the Red Sea as they were swallowed up by the water, He made a simple statement to them:
Exodus 15:26 NKJV
(26) and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
They would have known Him as this great Warrior God but He wanted them to know what His true characteristic is and that is a Healer.
The defining characteristic is what you most know someone or something by.
Apart from spiritual things, the one thing that we as humans are most concerned about is our physical body.
Matthew 6:25 NKJV
(25) “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
The reality is that our cars, clothes, etc. become secondary when our bodies are not as they should be.
God cares about the care of your body.
What types of people does God heal?
- God healed someone who did not even know Him.
2 Kings 5:13-15 NKJV
(13) And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (14) So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. (15) And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
Naaman acknowledged that God was the ONLY God because God had healed him.
Healing is such a powerful and personal thing that it shows the character of God and He uses it to prove that He is the One True God.
- Jesus healed the man that was outcast from society.
Mark 1:40-42 NKJV
(40) Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” (41) Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (42) As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
The leper had no doubts about the ability of Jesus to heal but the question was Jesus willing to heal him? When Jesus touched the man He would have been unclean.
- Jesus heals those who are left behind because of their disease.
Mark 2:1-12 NKJV
(1) And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. (2) Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. (3) Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. (4) And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. (5) When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (6) And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, (7) “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (8) But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? (9) Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? (10) But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”–He said to the paralytic, (11) “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (12) Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Life has left this man behind because of his paralysis. He is always at the mercy of everyone else.
- Jesus heals the one who was limited because of disease.
Mark 3:1-5 NKJV
(1) And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. (2) So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. (3) And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” (4) Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. (5) And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
The religious leaders were more concerned about whether Jesus was going to break the law than they were about the man being healed.
- Jesus healed the man from his mental illness. (Sickness and disease can affect someone mentally as well as physically.)
Mark 5:1-20 NKJV
(1) Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. (2) And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (3) who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, (4) because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. (5) And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. (6) When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. (7) And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” (8) For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” (9) Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” (10) Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. (11) Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. (12) So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” (13) And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. (14) So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. (15) Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. (16) And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. (17) Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. (18) And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. (19) However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (20) And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.
- Jesus heals those conditions that are long standing and that maybe you have learned to live with.
Mark 5:25-34 KJV
(25) And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, (26) And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, (27) When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. (28) For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. (29) And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. (30) And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? (31) And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? (32) And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. (33) But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. (34) And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
This was a long standing condition that the woman had had for years. It may not necessarily been terminal and maybe she was on her way to learning how to live with this. But the woman was a fighter.
- Jesus wants to heal people so that they can have some normalcy in their lives and not have their lives revolve around some kind of sickness.
Mark 5:21-24 NKJV
(21) Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. (22) And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet (23) and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” (24) So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.
Mark 5:35-43 NKJV
(35) While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (36) As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” (37) And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. (38) Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. (39) When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.” (40) And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. (41) Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” (42) Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. (43) But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.
The commandment to not say something had nothing to with what Jesus was doing or had done or even the effect on His ministry. The reason He said this was that they had been astonished with a great astonishment.
He had just healed a twelve year old girl and actually raised her up from the dead. In the eyes of the people she could have become a spectacle and been harassed for the rest of her life. Plainly put, Jesus wanted her to have a normal life as a little girl, a teenager and then a young woman.
The nature of people is that for the rest of her life there would have been whispers about her and what she had experienced.
He said to give her something to eat. He wanted to restore to her normalcy in her life.
It does not matter what the condition is or how great or how small, He cares about it and wants us to be healed.
Mark 6:1-5 NKJV
(1) Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. (2) And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! (3) Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. (4) But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” (5) Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Their unbelief did limit Jesus in what He was able to do there. BUT he still healed some LITTLE physical problems.
Healing WAS and IS a great defining characteristic of Jesus’ ministry.