Matthew 9:35 (NIV) Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
Matthew 10:1, 8 (NIV) 1He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Matthew 12:22, 24 (NIV) 22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
Miracles were part of the mission of Jesus, but the Pharisees were skeptical, thinking Jesus was the devil in disguise trying to trap the people into believing He was the Messiah. Can we blame the Pharisees for their skepticism? Do we not often do the same? What we call the Fall of man and woman from the Garden of Eden not only alienates us from God, making God seem unreal and irrelevant, but infects all of life with the destructiveness of sin. Physically, we are subject to disease and death. Emotionally, we are driven to do things that bring hurt and harm to others and to ourselves. Intellectually, our minds distort the truth and feed our pride or brand us with low self-esteem.
As Jesus walks down the back roads of Palestine healing the blind, feeding the hungry, and raising the dead, we are given a sneak preview of God’s intention for human life. Whenever Jesus makes a twisted body whole with His touch, or releases one possessed with a demon of destruction, whenever He forgives a sinner, we see what God desires for human life. But, why do we get only a glimpse of the way God wants life to be? Why doesn’t God go ahead and restore the whole thing so that there is no more sickness, disease, hurt and harm between people, death and destruction?
For right now Jesus wants to give us the responsibility to be agents of the power of that Kingdom and calls us to be co-workers with Him. Jesus gives us modern day disciples the authority to do something about all the suffering and pain and distortions of life. He gives us the authority to be what He has been. You and I have been vested with the power and the authority of the Kingdom of God. What exactly are we supposed to do? We are to exercise the authority Jesus has given us, to bring healing to relationships, to raise dead hope into new life, to break through the paralysis of present disappointment and past regrets, to set the prisoners free from pride, greed, and fear, whatever Jesus gives us to do by opportunity, by promptings, by a community who cares for us, by power within us. We limit ourselves only by our refusal to accept.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 3, 1991
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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