Christian Healing
Jesus was clearly able to perform extraordinary miracles where the impossible happened. The dead were raised, the blind saw and those crippled since birth walked again. In spite of the wild claims of some enthusiastic healers today, there is no evidence that such miracles have not been repeated in the same way since the apostle’s time. Even the apostles were no match for Jesus power. Why is an omnipotent God not widely healing organic diseases through his people now? He is clearly able to. Why are amputated legs or arms not being restored? Why are those paralysed from severed spinal cords not being returned to full health? The answer lies in the purpose of the miraculous.
The purpose of the miraculous
In the Old Testament miracles occurred only at special times and were used to authenticate God’s involvement through a prophet or leader. Moses was enabled to do extraordinary acts at God’s command but the reason was to show Pharaoh, the Egyptians or God’s people that the Lord was to be taken seriously, that he was speaking through his man, Moses, and that he really had chosen the Children of Israel to be his people. These acts were extraordinary and not every day occurrences.
“Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:32-35
Repeatedly we are told that these miracles were signs that God gave for the special purpose of ratifying what he was doing. These signs did not continue throughout subsequent generations to continuously bolster the faith of the people, they were given at one period of time when there was a particular need. Note the use of the past tense in the following statement,
“Before our eyes the LORD sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.” Deuteronomy 6:22-24
In particular the miraculous signs were given to ratify a particular person that God was using as his special representative. They were unique to him.
“Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.” Deuteronomy 34:10-12
Elijah and Elisha were also enabled by God to perform miraculous signs which demonstrated that God was with them in a dark period of history.
The Old Testament looks forwards to God’s deliverance of his people by the coming of the Messiah, God’s chosen king. One way the Saviour would be identified was to be by the signs he performed,
“. . . ‘he will come to save you’ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy.” Isaiah 35:5-6
When Jesus came these miracles were some of his identification marks, but this passage is also a reminder that when he returns, for the final judgement, all his people will experience the joy of this new life and healing.
The miracles Jesus performed were like nothing the world has seen either before or since. There was nothing he could not heal. At his word organic diseases were healed immediately and instantaneously. Even the dead he raised lived on for many years.
“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 9:35
The apostles were clear about the reason for miracles. They were to authenticate the claims of Jesus to be God’s chosen king, the Messiah, that the world had been waiting for.
“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” John 14:11
“Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” John 10:37-38
“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31
These miraculous signs were clearly performed to authenticate Jesus.
Apostolic Witnesses
The apostles were appointed by Jesus to be unique witnesses to his life, death and resurrection. As the apostles were to be the means by which the truths about Jesus would spread around the world and be recorded it was important that the true apostle should be distinguished from the false. They were to be ‘the witnesses’ to Jesus. This word is a legal word, used of those who gave evidence in court. Only first hand witnesses were valid. This is why to qualify as an apostle disciples had both to be personally chosen by Christ and to have seen the Lord Jesus in the flesh after his resurrection. The apostles were simply called to be God’s witnesses about Jesus.
“Then he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.’” Luke 24:45-48
What a succinct explanation of God’s good news! The apostles’ job was to confirm the facts about Jesus and explain their significance.
John confirms that their role was to pass on the facts about Jesus:
“And you also must testify, for you have been with me since the beginning.” John 15:27
They understood this clearly. The book of Acts, which gives the story of the nascent church, has this as a recurrent theme. Jesus had specifically trained them for this role.
“ . . . after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:2-3
This final training, in addition to the three years they had previously been with him as disciples, prepared them for their life’s work.
“. . . and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, . . . ‘God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.’” Acts 2:14, 32
After healing a crippled beggar at the entrance to the temple Peter said to the crowds,
“You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” Acts 3:15
When Peter and the other apostles were questioned before the Sanhedrin Council by the High Priest, they said,
“The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead – whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. . . We are witnesses of these things.” Acts 5:30, 32
When invited to explain the gospel to Gentiles in Cornelius’ home Peter confirmed the apostles’ special role as witnesses,
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.” Acts 10:39-42
When Paul gave his testimony to the crowds in Jerusalem he confirmed that the Lord had specially made an appearance to him and commissioned him to join the band of witnesses to his resurrection.
“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.” Acts 22:14-15
Towards the end of his long life, John confirmed that he had been an eye-witness of these things and had fulfilled his role as a witness for Jesus Christ.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.” 1 John 1:1-3
This task of being witnesses had an awesome responsibility. If they failed the world would be ignorant of all God had done in Christ. They must not fail so God gave them special powers to aid their witness.
Apostolic Miraculous Signs
The apostles were enabled to perform some miraculous signs and wonders to authenticate their role as reliablewitnesses about God’s chosen king – the Messiah. Their role needed to be validated to ensure the good news of God’s salvation went out rapidly to the world. These powers were not given to the whole church but were clearly restricted to the chosen apostles. The following passages make this abundantly clear.
“Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together . . .” Acts 2:43
“The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together . . .” Acts 5:12
The writer to the Hebrews also argues that these early miracles were signs which ratified the apostles, those who heard him, and their message about Jesus. Please note that the past tense is used, “God testified”, even by this early stage these signs had stopped.
“This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” Hebrews 2:3-4
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, which was deeply troubled by false ‘super-apostles’ and false teaching, and he urges them only to follow true apostolic teaching.
“I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not the least inferior to the ‘super-apostles’, even though I am nothing. The things that mark an apostle – signs, wonders and miracles – were done among you with great perseverance.” 2 Corinthians 12:11-12
The use of the past tense and the wording of these sentences make it apparent that miracles were no longer occurring. The true apostles had been ratified.
There is one passage that could be interpreted differently. In the early letter Paul wrote to the Galatians he mentions miracles. This letter was probably written to churches that Paul had himself helped to establish shortly before but which were now being greatly troubled by false teachers who insisted that the church should remain ‘Jewish’. He begins the letter by suggesting that it was only a short time since he had been with them,
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all.” Galatians 1:6
He contrasts ‘the gospel I preached’ with this new teaching. In the middle of this letter he said,
“Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you have heard?” Galatians 3:5
What miracles are these? His point is that the new teaching, observing the Jewish law is impotent. As it is likely that Paul himself had recently been present it is probable, to remain coherent with the other apostolic writings, that he is referring to the miraculous signs he had been involved with and knew about. The major point of this letter is to insist that the new churches must remain faithful to apostolic teaching. Everywhere else true miraculous signs are the mark of apostles and he does not expand on this to suggest that continuing miracles were a reason that his ministry was being undermined.
The Danger of Miracles
Last year I was travelling on a bus after giving an evangelistic talk at Imperial College in London. I started talking with the Nigerian man sitting next to me. He asked me what I had talked about.
“I explained the Christian gospel that if anyone becomes a true follower of Jesus Christ he will be forgiven his sin, his rebellion against God, and will be helped to live a new life in obedience to him.”
“That won’t attract people today” he replied, “They need to see something impressive. They need to see miracles. In our church this is what we do and thousands come and are blessed.”
Jesus faced this very problem. Crowds of people were coming to him but they wanted to do anything but obey what God had to say. Some wanted people who they could honour, others wanted more experiences, anything but a personal submission to Christ. A woman who was listening to Jesus was clearly impressed by him and therefore wanted to beatify his mother Mary. She shouted out,
“Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Luke 11:27
Jesus clearly thought that she had missed the whole point,
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28
This is the response God always wants. Jesus warned us all about mankind’s attraction to the spectacular, which will draw the crowds, instead of a faith based on the historical evidence.
“As the crowds increased, Jesus said, ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.’” Luke 12:29
On another occasion some Pharisees and religious leaders approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher we want to see a miraculous sign from you. He answered, ‘A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. . . so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:38-39
Jesus said to Thomas after he had said he couldn’t believe unless he saw the risen Lord himself,
“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29
The miracles that Jesus performed in the presence of his witnesses were carried out to enable us to believe in Jesus because of their evidence. John follows the story of Thomas with the following remarkable sentence,
“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
There is a danger for church leaders who in the name of Jesus claim to give their own prophecies and perform miracles. In God’s eyes such roles do not even secure salvation – they can be practised for the practitioners benefit. They may have the lingo and leadership skills but salvation is only given through having a personal relationship with Jesus and this is demonstrated by our obedience to him. Jesus warns,
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you shall know them.” Matthew 7:15
It is remarkable to see thousands flock to experience flamboyant preachers and healers, even those who have had sexual affairs or live in luxury.
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!’” Matthew 7:23
Early Church Fathers
During the first three centuries of the Christian church, early Christians referred to the miracles of the Lord Jesus as supporting evidence that the Christian faith was true. They did not claim that miracles were still occurring. For example Quadratus gave a copy of his Apology to the Emperor Hadrian in 125 AD, and in this he said,
“But the works of our Saviour were always present, for they were genuine: those who were healed and those who rose from the dead—who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised but were constantly present; and not only while the Saviour was living, but even after He had gone they were alive for a long time, so that some of them survived even to our own day.”
He emphasises that the miraculous signs that Jesus did were proof of his claims. The use of the word ‘genuine’ does suggest that some were still claiming to perform miracles but that these were false claims. Note also that Quadratus uses the past tense for these miracles.
Also in the second century, Melito of Sardis used the miracles of Christ as an argument to support Jesus’ claims to be divine. He does not claim that miracles were still occurring.
“The deeds which Christ performed after His baptism especially His miracles, conclusively prove to the world that underneath the flesh was hidden the divinity.”
The early church father, John Chrysostom (AD 349 – 407), Archbishop of Constantinople wondered why miracles had ceased by his time. He concluded,
“. . . that you should believe God without pledges. And in fact this, and one other thing, were the reasons why God made miracles to cease.”
To be fair, he did recognise that a different type of miracle was still happening, people’s characters were changing.
“For if you change from inhumanity to alms giving, you have stretched forth the hand that was withered. If you withdraw from theatres and go to church, you have cured the lame foot. If you draw back your eyes from a harlot ... you have opened them when they were blind ... These are the greatest miracles.”
Augustine (354 –430) tried to define what a miracle is. He recognised that God was omnipotent but considered that he worked his miracles within the limits of the laws of nature. He concluded,
“. . . that a miracle is not contrary to nature, but only to our knowledge of nature; miracles are made possible by hidden potentialities in nature that are placed there by God.” (City of God, 21.8.2)
By the Middle Ages, Europe had become very superstitions and ‘magic’ abounded everywhere. The Protestant Reformers attacked this superstition that had even become rife in the church and they spoke very strongly against the use of charms, spells and wizards to help people experience God’s power. The Reformers considered these were occult practices often encouraged by fraudsters.
This remained the view of Puritans leaders such as Thomas Watson and John Owen. They believed passionately in the power of God to change individuals and societies. They all thought that Christians should pray for the sick, but they considered that the apostolic gifting of prophets and healers stopped very early on. It was not God and his power that was doubted but those who claimed to be specially endowed with such apostolic gifts today. Yet today there are some ministers who are again claiming to be apostles and others who claim to be the channels for God’s healing power. Some of these can be seen on many television God channels.
Healing today
Some churches use the offer of physical healing as a way of attracting people into their fold. Why is it that God’s people, who are meant to characterise the Lord’s honesty and integrity, do not undertake any audit of the results concerning those they have prayed for? If there was a will to do so, it would not be difficult! It is surely significant that when Jesus healed the ten lepers he immediately sent them to the priest to have their healing independently ratified. It would be helpful to know if any amputated legs have regrown, how many terminally ill with Alzheimer’s disease have been restored to health, how many with genetic defects such as Down’s syndrome have been cured, how many confirmed long-term dead have returned to life? The medical literature fails to give any support to suggest such organic miracles are occurring today. Such independent ratification is desperately needed if people are to continue to make such claims.
Symptomatic relief is widely recognised to occur as a result of prayer. Remarkable coincidences in response to prayer are occurring but the Lord does appear to be standing by the laws of nature he established, just as Augustine noted in the fourth century. We do have a supernatural God who has promised to restore everything that is wrong in his world. The amputee, the demented, the elderly and the blind will be physically healed but this will be when they are given new bodies. Jesus has promised this to his people but the fulfilment will come in the next life and not this. We will get old and suffer from some of the wide varieties of illnesses that occur in inhabitants of this fallen world. No-one is immune from this. However to be at peace with God and know that he is in control will influence symptoms markedly and some Christian practices such as the avoidance of promiscuity, alcohol and smoking will themselves be health giving.
If there is little evidence that God, who is able to do anything, is widely breaking his own laws of nature today, this does not mean that we should not pray for the sick. We all should. When Christians pray about disease in others, we are praying not so much about the pathology but their symptoms – their feeling of ‘dis-ease’. Those who are trusting in Christ will be ‘raised up’ in one way or another. The spiritual well-being of a person certainly affects the symptoms and outcome of disease and there is good objective evidence to support this.
Coincidences do happen as a result of prayer. Members of the Clapham Sect, a small influential group of British social reformers such as William Wilberforce, committed themselves to pray for three hours every day. They organized Christians throughout the country to get together to pray before critical debates in Parliament. They recognised that in some areas prayer was very effective indeed.
William Temple replied to his critics who regarded answered prayer as no more than coincidence,
“When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.”
The primary message of the church must be that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world who will save for eternity all who turn to him asking for forgiveness of our rebellion against him. The gospel must never be perceived as a panacea for problems in this world but as the purpose of God for all eternity. A man-centred gospel can often be perceived as emotional ‘hype’ followed by a temporary obeisance or gestures of respect, instead of an eternal ‘hope’ associated with longstanding obedience of all God has taught us in his word.
BVP
February 2011
