THE ALL-ENCOMPASSING POWER OF THE GOSPEL
Last week we explored how Christ’s gift of power and authority frees us to fulfill God’s mission on earth (Luke 9:1-2). Through the enablement of the Holy Spirit, Christ-followers live above the fear of demons and disease; and proclaim the good news wherever we go.
Equipped with Christ’s gift, the disciples receive instruction for their journey:
(Jesus) told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them” (Luke 9:3-5)
Now Christ’s disciples obediently move out in power and authority. Luke describes their actions,
So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere (Luke 9:6).
Jesus told the disciples in Luke 9:1 to cure diseases, but in Luke 9:6, they are told to heal the sick. You may think, “Aren’t these the same thing?” English speakers use the words heal and cure synonymously. But the language of the New Testament draws a distinction between healing and curing.
Curing disease speaks to the removal of the cause of sickness. Thus, this idea of curing disease points to ridding a person of an illness that ravages their body. Take away the sickness, and the person(s) are restored to physical health.
Healing expands the notion of simply returning someone to their previous state of wellness. To heal is to be made whole: spirit, soul, and body. Sickness does not dwell solely in the physical realm. Sickness encompassed the emotional spectrum of powerlessness and perceived intellectual weakness. It describes the poverty of spirit and soul that comes from the brokenness of sin inherited from Adam. That means healing the sick is more than removing a virus or conquering a cold. It’s about restoring physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
British mystery writer, Susan Howatch summarizes my thoughts perfectly. She writes, “A cure signified the banishment of physical illness, but a healing could mean not just a physical cure, but a repairing and strengthening of the mind and spirit to improve the quality of life even when no physical cure was possible” (From her book Absolute Truths).
Consider this: the same power and authority given by Christ to believers for the proclamation of the gospel are also given for curing disease and healing the sick. Why does this even matter? Because our preaching of the good news includes not only the potential for physical healing but also, the promise of being made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The gospel’s power affects every aspect of human existence. We who’ve put our faith in Christ not only live with the expectancy of physical healing but also with the guarantee that our sin-sick souls are made completely new through grace and faith!
Jesus makes the wholeness of spirit, soul, and body possible. This was made clear when Christ announced the purpose of His earthly ministry in Luke four. Jesus declared,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
Jesus’s purpose is ours too. You and I are anointed to,
Proclaim the good news to the poor.
Proclaim freedom for the prisoners.
Proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.
Proclaim freedom to the oppressed.
Proclaim the favor of the Lord.
Our mission is to herald a kingdom wherein all its citizens find freedom through the death, burial, and resurrection of its king. A kingdom where captivity, powerlessness, blindness, and oppression give way to the overwhelming love of God, the grace of Christ, and the fellowship of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:14).
Dear follower of Christ, remember your deliverance from sin! Consider the moment you stepped out of darkness into the marvelous light of God (1 Peter 2:9). Recall the words of Isaiah and the promises received when you repented of sin and put your trust in Christ. God gave you,
“…a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3a).
Now, go and shout from the mountains and the valleys that Christ has come to save and to heal!
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