[Below is the chapter on which this podcast is based]
In the last four chapters we have examined the healing ministry of Jesus as it is portrayed in each of the four Gospels. But Jesus did not only heal the sick, he commissioned his disciples to do so too. So in this chapter we will turn our attention to the healing ministry of the disciples as it is described in the Gospels. In the next chapter we will see how that ministry continued in the Acts of the Apostles.
The Gospels record three occasions when Jesus commissioned his disciples to heal the sick. These include:
The call of the Twelve (Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 6:7-12, Luke 9:1-6)
The sending out of the seventy-two (Luke 10:1-24)
The Great Commission (Mark 16:15ff)
We will consider each of these in turn before turning to the Acts of the Apostles.
The call of the Twelve
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record how Jesus gave the twelve apostles authority to heal the sick (Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 6:7-12, and Luke 9:1-6). The account in Matthew is the most detailed, so we will concentrate on that, making reference to Mark and Luke only where appropriate.
In Matthew 10:1 we are told that Jesus
called his twelve disciples and to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to cure every kind of disease and sickness.
Verses 2-4 then give us a list of the names of the twelve. The following verses (5-42) recount the instructions which Jesus gave to them on that occasion. However, it is verses 7-8 that are particularly noteworthy with regard to healing. Here Jesus says:
As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near’. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received. Freely give.
Mark and Luke add little to this, except that Mark says:
They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them (Mark 6:12-13)
and Luke says:
So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere (Luke 9:6).
As we consider all three passages together, the following points are noteworthy:
There appears to be no limit to the authority that Jesus gave them on this occasion. Matthew 10:1 says that Jesus gave them authority to heal every kind of disease and sickness and this extended to cleansing lepers and even raising the dead (v.8). Their authority is such that they are not told to pray for the sick but to heal them.
This authority was given at a specific time to a specific group of people whom Matthew names (10:2-4). We should not, therefore, automatically assume that the same authority is given to us, unless this is plainly stated elsewhere in the New Testament[1]. However, the passage in Luke 10, where Jesus sends out another 72 with a similar commission does suggest that this authority was not intended to be limited to the 12 apostles.
Since Jesus later told his disciples to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit before they were to go out and preach the gospel (Acts 1:4-8), it is possible that the authority given on this occasion was intended for the duration of Jesus’ earthly ministry only. Once Jesus had returned to heaven the disciples in Acts would perform healings as they were prompted by the Holy Spirit.
The twelve were sent only to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 10:6). In fact, Jesus specifically tells them not to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans on this occasion (v. 5). This again suggests that the situation being described here was unique. The commission is given, as we have seen, at a specific time, to a specific group of people, and with a specific purpose – to proclaim God’s kingdom (v. 7) to the lost sheep of Israel. This need not mean, however, that we can learn nothing from this passage. It is interesting that Paul, in his mission to the Gentiles obeys Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 10:14 to shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against any who reject the gospel message (cf. Acts 13:51).
Jesus does not appear to teach any methodology of healing on this occasion. There are no instructions, for example, to lay hands on the sick. However, Mark tells us that they anointed the sick with oil (6:13), and this was presumably at Jesus’ instruction. This was later to become a regular means of healing for the Lord’s people as we will see when we come to consider James 5:14ff.
There is a clear connection in both Matthew and Luke between healing and the kingdom of God[2]. Luke says that Jesus sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:2, cf. 10:8) and Matthew states that Jesus said, As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near’. Heal the sick, raise the dead…(Matthew 10:7-8).
The sending out of the seventy-two
As we have already mentioned, Luke not only records the sending out of the twelve apostles, but he also tells us of a later occasion when Jesus appointed seventy-two[3] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go (Luke 10:1). Then, after giving them instructions very similar to those he had given earlier to the twelve (vv. 2-8) he tells them to heal the sick (v. 9). The significance of the number (whether 70 or 72) has been much discussed and need not detain us here[4]. What is significant, however, is the fact that this clearly extends the commission to heal beyond the twelve apostles. Other points of interest are, again, the connection between healing and the Kingdom of God (v. 9), and the fact that the disciples were sent out two by two (v. 1).
Perhaps more important, however, is the passage in verses 17-20 where Luke tells us:
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord even the demons submit to us in your name”. He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
We have already noticed that salvation is more important than being healed. But this passage clearly indicates that salvation is more important than the power to heal! It also shows us that the authority Jesus had given the 72 was no less than that given earlier to the apostles – it was authority over all the power of the enemy. It seems that, rather than the apostolic power being limited to a few, Jesus intended it to be extended to many! But that leads us very naturally to the passage in Mark 16.
The Great Commission
The passages we have considered so far in this chapter describe occasions where Jesus sent out his disciples to heal, during the time of his earthly ministry, before he had died and risen from the dead. Now, in Mark 16:14-20, we turn to a passage in which Jesus gives his disciples a similar commission after his death and resurrection, indeed immediately before his ascension into heaven (v.19). Mark records how Jesus said to them:
Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.
Although the authenticity of this passage has been challenged on the grounds that it is not found in the most reliable early manuscripts, it is nevertheless worthy of our consideration for several reasons:
It has long been considered to form part of the canon of Holy Scripture.
The passage is in complete harmony with Jesus’ earlier statements to his disciples found in the examples we have already considered.
The promises Jesus makes here are, with the exception of one, all fulfilled in the Acts of the Apostles, of which Mark 16:20 might well be considered to be a summary.
To this we might add the further evidence that modern experience testifies to the literal reality of these things[5] .
Now, turning to the passage itself, we notice that, although the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel was given initially to the Eleven[6] (v.14), the promise of miraculous signs was not made only to them but to those who believe (v.17). It was not just the apostles who were to spread the good news, but those who came to faith as a result of their ministry were to do so too, and the same signs would accompany their preaching[7].
Of course the signs which Jesus promises will accompany the preaching of the message of the gospel are not the message itself. The message, which must be preached to all the world (v. 15), is that Jesus died for our sins and that we may be saved by believing in him (v. 16). The signs are given to confirm the truth of that message (v. 20).
It is important to notice too that healing is not the only sign mentioned in these verses. God has many ways of confirming his word. Jesus is not saying that all believers will manifest all of these signs. Some will be used one way, others in another way (cf. Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Understood correctly Mark 16 does not imply that all Christians will be used in healing the sick, any more than they will all pick up snakes! Jesus is simply saying that these are the kind of signs that will accompany his servants as they go out and preach the good news.
Finally, it is important to notice that the responsibility for having faith for healing in this passage is not placed on the sick, but upon those who lay hands on them. Jesus says, These signs will accompany those who believe…they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well (vv. 17-18). If we are to minister to the sick, especially in the context of evangelism, we should not place all the burden of belief upon them. It is our responsibility to have faith for their healing.
Conclusion
The passages we have examined indicate that:
The disciples were given authority to perform exactly the same kind of miracles that Jesus performed.
This was closely connected with the proclamation of the kingdom of God.
This authority was initially given to the twelve apostles, then to a wider group of 72 disciples, and ultimately, after Jesus’ resurrection to all who believe as they go into all the world to preach the gospel. This does not mean, however, that all Christians will be used in healing.
Healing miracles in themselves are not the message. They are given to confirm the message, which is the good news that Christ has died for our sins and that those who believe this will be saved. Being saved is more important than being healed and even having the power to heal.
The responsibility for believing for healing lies with those who lay hands on the sick, not necessarily with the sick themselves, as they may well still be unbelievers.
These principles are seen very clearly in Acts, to which we now turn our attention.
[1] Mark 16:15 ff. may be taken to mean that authority to heal is given to all believers. However, we will discuss this in more detail later.
[2] Matthew uses kingdom of heaven consistently where both Mark and Luke use kingdom of God. The two terms are synonymous.
[3] Some manuscripts have 70 others, rather than 72.
[5] See, for example, Burton, W.F.P., Signs Following, London, AOG, 1949, where the author relates how all these signs accompanied the ministry of the Congo Evangelistic Mission.
[6] Judas, having betrayed Jesus and having committed suicide, the number of the original apostles at this point was reduced from 12 to 11.
[7] Cf. Matthew’s version of the Great Commission where the apostles were to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe everything the Lord had taught the apostles (Matthew 28:19-20). We have already noted that Matthew records how Jesus had taught the apostles to heal the sick!