If you look at any cross section of our present-day society, you will find that most of humanity suffers from physical or emotional maladies of one kind or another. It doesn’t matter what people’s belief systems are, suffering is universal. Who amongst us wouldn’t want to have some of that suffering taken away in a miraculous fashion? Who wouldn’t want their arthritis healed or their cancer cured, or their hearing or eyesight restored? The Christian teaching of faith healing some groups of Christians adhere to can be a very attractive and exciting proposition. If I have enough faith, and if I go and see this or that preacher who can wield the power, praise God, I can have relief! As attractive as this might be, we need to ask the fundamental questions. Is this what Jesus taught? If not, what do we do with it? The miracles really were miraculous! Jesus performed many miracles. His most frequently performed kind of miracle was that of healing. He could by his mere touch or words or attention grant healing for a wide variety of physical and mental ailments. Throughout the Gospels, there was not a single ailment that came before him that he did not or could not heal. What is even more dramatic is that some of those who were healed were not even in his presence. He spoke the word to someone who knew the ailing individual and the healing took place. What about faith? The next amazing observation is that faith was NOT a driving force in his healing. One dramatic example of this was when he healed the ten lepers. All they did was ask for mercy. All Jesus did was tell them to go before the priest, and as they were on their way, they were healed. Nine of those men didn’t even come back to express gratitude for their restored lives. This healing episode, along with several others, shows us the worthiness of the person being healed was not a relevant consideration. Why then were they healed? Because Jesus had God’s spirit working though him, and he had deep compassion on our sinful and ailing world. The disciples of Jesus who were granted this gift of healing (which incidentally was a small number) all operated exactly in the same way that Jesus did. They healed because God’s spirit was in them, and they too had compassion. Here is the big question: When we look at those who claim the title of faith healers today, do we see more similarities or differences when compared to Jesus and the apostles? Do today’s healers do their work in public? Do they “heal them all” the way Jesus and his disciples did? Is the delivering of healing based on God’s spirit and deep compassion, or do they require faith? Check out our July 29, 2024 podcast, “Should Christians Expect to Be Healed?” for more. Join us as we ask the hard questions and search through the sound biblical principles of the gift of healing. The answers we find may cause you to pause and consider!