“And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:37-40

Isn’t it funny how Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith? This, among many other reasons, convinced me that His desire is that we would walk in the power of God. You see, Jesus wasn’t trying to be “the guy“, He actually wasn’t even trying to prove that He was the Christ! You may think that sounds crazy, but you should read the gospels. So many times, as He did a miracle He said, “don’t tell anyone”. “And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:41‬ ‭KJV‬‬

So why did He heal the sick? Well there were many reasons. First of all, they were sick. He had compassion on them, and He still does. He also was demonstrating the rule of God’s Kingdom. The thing I want to focus on right now is this; Jesus healed the sick to demonstrate that we were supposed to do the same, as His disciples.

We point at God, He points at us.

A couple things before I put some scriptures here. It’s obvious that we don’t do the healing. It’s God. God has the ultimate authority. However, God made Himself knowable through His Son, so we must do as the Son of God commands us.

“Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.” Mark‬ ‭9:17-27‬ ‭

Oh man, this passage gets me. Jesus is so compassionate, but also, so authoritative. The father of this child said to Jesus, (God in the flesh) “if you can do anything.” And Jesus said in so many words, “if I can do anything? If you believe, YOU can do anything!” Check out this promise Jesus said to His disciples:

“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭17:19-20‬

Jesus said, nothing will be impossible for you, not God! Nothing is already impossible for God. The question is, where is your faith? Now, don’t misunderstand me. A lot of people have really beat people up by saying, “If you had more faith you’d be healed.” That is not what I’m trying to say here. I’m talking about those ministering, and the ones called to believe. Jesus rebuked His disciples, not the people He was ministering to.

The mandate for imitation

Jesus always included His disciples in His authority, and in His power.

“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭3:8‬

“So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”” John‬ ‭20:21‬

““Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14:12‬

…and so many more verses. The point I want to emphasize is this, Jesus has included us in His commission and in His power. He still desires to heal, and we should be ready to believe Him.

I hope this blessed you, and you feel encouraged and stirred up!

Jesus bless you!