Jesus heals a leper as portrayed in The Chosen
Jesus ministered to people by healing them with the miraculous power of God.
- Matt 4:23-25 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.”
A recent excellent dramatization of these events (The Chosen season 2 episode 3) gives you an idea what it might have been like to be present and observe this sort of ministry.
Jesus told his disciples that they too would minister in power:
- John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
However, I think that it is natural to read about Jesus and feel that this sort of supernatural ministry is only possible because he is Jesus. He is the sinless son of God, the Messiah, and He can do things that we simply can’t. To some extent, even for those who believe that his disciples can minister in this sort of supernatural kingdom power the special nature of Jesus is undeniable. For example, I could die on a cross, and no one would be saved. Jesus died on a cross and EVERYONE who believes is saved.
This week as I was contemplating the incredible boldness of Jesus’ disciples I was also struck by the incredible supernatural power that they displayed in their ministry:
- Acts 5:12-16 “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.”
Now this is eye opening, because it confirms Jesus words and suggests that perhaps we too, today, could be used by God and see an outpouring of Kingdom power.
Perhaps you are like me, and desire to see this realized in your life.
Why were they able to minister with supernatural power?
Jesus spells this out pretty clearly:
- Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
If you desire to minister in power, you desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When I pause and reread this scripture I see that “Holy” is an adjective describing the Spirit. Holiness is an attribute meaning “set apart, sacred, different, upright, pure, consecrated.” In fact the concept of holiness, that of being highly regarded, set apart, and even eliciting fear or awe is pretty much captured by the rather enigmatic verse sandwiched in the midst of this passage I quoted in Acts 5:
- Acts 5:13 “No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.”
What is the immediate context of this passage in Acts 5, that led up to this outpouring of miraculous power?
There is a very disturbing and uncomfortable passage:
- Acts 5:1-11 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”
Peter is so adamant about truth that he calls this couple out for their deception. Then God strikes them dead! Not only does this strike fear in the community of the early church, but the Holy Spirit has used this for 2000 years to strike fear in the church. It is not just our actions, but the intentions of our heart that matter to God. Holiness is not a surface thing. A partial truth is a lie.
Here are two passages the Lord used to help me understand the connection between the zealousness of Peter and the Kingdom power that he evidences:
- Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
- John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”
Both of these bold phrases exhibit a curious grammatical construction in Greek. The Spirit is described as a Spirit of holiness and a Spirit of truth. First a moment to digress about Greek grammar to explain what this means. In Greek there is a genitive grammatical case, which indicates possession. To translate Greek to English, sometimes we translate the genitive case as “the words of the Spirit” and sometimes we translated it “the Spirit’s words”. These are equivalent grammatical constructions to indicate possession in English. The words are owned by the Spirit.
An example of the genitive case in Greek:
- Acts 8:39 “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.”
“Spirit of the Lord” is a genitive construction where the word “Lord” is written in the genitive case and indicates that the Spirit is owned by the Lord. The noun put in the genitive case is typically a person who can own something. The scripture uses this construction often to say things like: “my boat”, “Jesus’ spirit”, the “Lord’s will” etc.
So returning to Romans 1:4 we find:
- Romans 1:4 “…and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The phrase “the Spirit of holiness” is a curious example of the genitive case in Greek. It is an anthropomorphism speaking of “holiness” as a person! The Spirit of God is being described as “Holiness’s spirit”. Likewise using this same construction the Spirit is referred to as “Truth’s spirit” in John 15:26:
- John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”
It struck me that if I want to be filled with the Spirit of God then I have to want to be Truth’s guy and Holiness’ guy too.
How serious am I about truth and about lies?
It bothered Peter so much that he was willing to make an example of this couple despite the negative impact on the growing congregation:
- Acts 5:11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
How much do I want to be holy?
- Acts 5:13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
Am I willing to be seen as different? Do I desire a quiet life or do I want a life like Jesus and the Apostles, one that upsets the Devil, elicits persecution and that people take note of?
Here is what immediately follows this outpouring of power:
- Acts 5:17-20 “Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
Look carefully at what the angel tells them. I expected him to say: “share the good news of forgiveness” or “tell them about the cross and what Jesus did”. Clearly these are core parts of the message that they do deliver.
But specifically, what is this new, abundant life that the angel is telling them to speak all about?
Could it be that the abundant life that the angel commands them to speak of is the eternal life of Jesus which is characterized primarily by truth and holiness, expressed in sincere acts of grace and love?
Do I desire a new kind of life?
Perhaps when our life and motivations are characterized by a zealous pursuit of truth and holiness, like Peter, the Spirit will come upon us and we will see the supernatural Kingdom power of God too.
Atheist to Elder 