Paul Name
In the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec, Canada, the pillars are festooned with a display of crutches from people who have been healed there. When searching for a photograph I discovered that there’s something similar at the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Poland. These are testimonies to the reality that Jesus heals.
A few months ago I shared stories of how healing had taken place at a conference that I was involved with. A prophetic word was spoken during worship: that God wanted to heal chronic conditions.
That evening and the following morning people testified to what had happened. One person had lived with the consequences of a stroke for 41 years. Now feeling had returned to hand, arm, and foot. Another had endured 30 years of back pain and seven surgeries but was healed that night. And so the stories flowed…
In his book of Acts, Luke describes a church where healing happens. It is a also church that is growing. Is there any connection between the two?
I find it helpful to appreciate that there are several kinds of healing that can happen.
The story in Acts 3 deals with two of these types of healing:
In verses 3-5 we see a man who expected simply to receive a cash handout, yet received much more than he hoped for.
But Peter expected healing and confidently commanded the man to rise up and walk. Where did this confident expectation come from?
Perhaps it came from the times when he had seen Jesus himself heal lame people? So at least he knew that healing was possible. Maybe it came from personal experience when he and the other disciples were sent out in pairs to heal the sick, cast out demons and proclaim the kingdom of God. Did their encounter with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost give them a fresh sense of expectation? And what of Jesus’ promise to them:
Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing (John 14:12)
Our expectations make a difference. They affect what we’ll dare to ask for (after all, I probably won’t ask for healing if I expect nothing would happen anyway). But our expectations also affect what actually happens. Even Jesus had to cope with the limitations caused by people’s expectations and trust! The reason he could heal only a few people in Nazareth was because of people’s lack of faith (Mark 6:5-6).
I have been present when people are miraculously healed. And I know very well that not everyone healed. I have lived with hearing loss for 51 years and Jesus has not healed it (at least, not yet!). I could use this as an excuse to not bother asking for healing to happen, lowering my expectations and limiting what happens.
But why make the excuse? Why not ask? Why not, knowing that it does make a difference for some people – that Jesus does sometimes bring healing? Why deprive them of this possibility? Why not raise my expectations?
As Luke writes about this incident he makes it clear that this is a credible story.
In verse 2 he describes the beggar’s chronic congenital condition. He has been lame since birth. This is a longstanding issue. And in verse 10 he points out the public awareness. The man and his situation was well known to the crowd. There is no doubt about the authenticity of his condition.
There is also no doubt about the authenticity of his healing. Has on his feet, walking and jumping and praising God, and the crowd saw this. Luke makes sure that his readers have absolutely no grounds to doubt the reality of what happened. He builds faith within his own audience. When I described the healings I saw a few months ago, it builds faith.
When I tell the story of one of our youths who was on crutches because of a hip injury during a boating incident and how I met him, days later, hopping on that same leg because friends had prayed for his healing …that builds faith.
When I describe a young woman who had badly sprained her ankle after falling down some stairs and how people prayed for her before the morning service, and that she was walking perfectly normally later that afternoon …that builds faith.
When I tell the story of a woman who asked a few of us to pray because she was (once again) off work due to severe problems with her back, and how she received healing in that moment and was still pain free years later …that builds faith.
Credible witnesses build our faith, persuading us that healing can and does happen!
When people are amazed at what happens, Peter remains humble and is adamant that none of the credit belongs to him. It is not his own power, nor his own godly spirituality that caused this man to be healed (v.12)
Instead he points people’s attention to Jesus. When he commanded the man to rise up and walk, he did so in the name of Jesus. And so he declares to the crowd:
It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him.
(Acts 3:16)
When healing happens it’s all because of Jesus. There’s no room for human ‘celebrities’ in this work!
Let’s not forget that all physical healing is temporary. Yes, Lazarus was resurrected from his grave …but that means he also had a second funeral! And that’s true of every healed person. One day the body stops working.
Yes, the Day will come when Jesus makes all things new. The Day when there will be no more sorrow, sickness, death or tears. But that Day is not yet. And in the meantime, physical healing remains a welcome – but temporary – relief.
But spiritual healing is absolutely essential. Speaking bluntly, what would be the good of 100% physical healing but with zero spiritual healing? What if we enjoyed 80 or more years of excellent health, and then spend all of eternity separated from God himself? How utterly short-sighted and negligent that would be!
And so Peter passionately proclaims Jesus Christ to the gathered crowd. They have seen for themselves who Jesus. They have seen his power to bring healing to a lame man. They have heard of his resurrection from death to life again. They need Jesus, and they need to make a choice about their response to Jesus. We hear the power and passion of Peter’s proclamation if we read these verses aloud:
When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways. (v.26)
Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people. (v.23)
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord (v.19)
Surely we are well aware of the growing concerns caused by the Coronavirus outbreak. We face a need for serious action to preserve health and life, and I am not intending to diminish this at all. Right now we are being deadly serious about physical health.
But that raises a question for me. How serious are we about eternal health?
Are we passionate about the need for spiritual healing.
Last month one of my friends was desperately concerned about her dying brother-in-law. He was not a Christian and was physically dying, but she was more concerned about his spiritual life. She asked us to pray as she went to visit him, and got in touch afterwards, rejoicing that he had chosen to put his faith in Jesus. He died the following day.
I think it is fair simply to ask: are we as serious about people’s salvation as we are about dealing with coronavirus?
If we look at ourselves in the mirror and compare ourselves to the picture of this growing church in the New Testament, how do we compare?
