Spiritual Healing: In The School of Christ

Spiritual healing of the sick in Christ has many Christians
in a kind of spiritual vise. On the one hand they read about
spiritual healing in their Bibles. On the other, they hear in
pulpits that healing miracles have ceased and are not of today. The net effect is cause for confusion and even loss of faith.
What is the truth about spiritual healing in todays 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 peopleas 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 Gods 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. He 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 spiritual
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 others
are answered in a free ebook entitled, Essential Oils
and Healing From a Christian Perspective. The ebook
is bible-based and non-denominational. To download
a free copy, click on http://godshealingword.org/free_ebook.html

Jim Lynn is a minister in the church of Christ and author of the book, The Miracle of Healing In Your Church Today. For more information visit http://godshealingword.org