[Below is the chapter from the book, Just a Taste of Heaven, on which this podcast episode is based]
The Power of the Spirit
Isaiah predicted that when the Messiah would come the Spirit of the Lord would be upon him in order that he might preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to those who were captive, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Isaiah 61:1-2)
In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus claimed that this prophecy was now fulfilled. This is important in our understanding of Luke’s Gospel because it illustrates Luke’s emphasis that Jesus performed his miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 3:21-22 tells us that just after Jesus was baptised by John in the River Jordan the Holy Spirit descended on him. As a result of this he returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1), and in 4:14 he returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
This may also be reflected in Luke 5:17 where we are told that the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick (cf. 6:17:19).
In this chapter we will consider three healings recorded by Luke, two of which are not recorded in any other Gospel:
The paralytic(5:17-26) The womanwith curvature of the spine (13:10-17) The ten lepers(17:11-19). The paralytic (5:17-26)
Luke begins by saying that the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick (v.17). This statement raises important questions:
Wasn’t God’s power always present with Jesusto heal the sick? If it was, then why does Lukebother to mention it?
And these questions raise a further question,
Did Jesuswork his miracles by virtue of the fact that he was God, or did he (even though he was God) perform them as a man through the power of the Holy Spirit?
The answer to this last question must surely be that Jesus performed his miracles as a man, by the power of the Holy Spirit. How else could he tell his disciples that anyone who had faith in him could do similar, and even greater, works (John 14:12)? This would only be possible because of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus would send.
If this answer to question 3 is correct, then the answer to question 1 must be that Jesus only worked his miracles when led by the Holy Spirit to do so (cf John 5:19).
The answer to question 2, therefore, is that Luke mentions that the power of the Lord was present to heal, to emphasise that at that moment the Holy Spirit was empowering Jesus to heal and leading him to do so.
If this understanding is right, then it will clearly have implications for us as we minister to the sick today. If Jesus ministered to them as he was led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so, then how much more do we need the Spirit’s leading and empowering?
But we must now turn to the account of the healing itself. Here is how Luke describes it:
18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.
19 When they could not because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier; to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home”.
25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
The following points are worthy of note:
It seems that in this case it is not the sick man, but his friends who take the initiative(v. 18). Indeed it appears to be their faith (v. 20) to which Jesus In this respect it is similar to the healing of the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8. This teaches us that it is not always the faith of the sick person that is the basis for the healing. Jesussays, Your sins are forgiven, before he performs the healing (v.20). Why? 3 possibilities:It may indicate that the man’s sickness had come as a result of personal sin– or even that the sick man believed it had! It’s possible, too, that by demonstrating his authorityto forgive sins, Jesus is seeking to stress his Messianic authority to the critical Pharisees. However, it seems just as likely that he is showing his audience that the forgivenessof sins is more important than the healing of disease. The story demonstrates Jesus’ authorityas the Son of Man (v. 24), a Messianic title. It implies his deity. The Pharisees were right to say that only God has the right to forgive sins, they just didn’t realise that Jesus was God. (Not his miracles, but his authority to forgive sins). The woman with curvature of the spine (13:10-17)
Only found in Luke’s Gospel.
The Bible indicates that some sickness is the result of personal sin, as may have been the case with the man we considered in the last section.
At other times, though by no means always, it may be caused by the activity of Satan, as the next passage clearly shows:
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity”.
13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not the Sabbath”.
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?
This passage, like the last we considered, describes a confrontation between Jesus and the religious authorities of that day.
Again the passage is used to demonstrate Jesus’ authority, this time to heal on the Sabbath. It also shows the rejection of that authority by the Jewish leaders to whom Luke intends the parable of the fig tree in verses 6-9 to be a warning.
This shows that the main purpose of the passage may not have been to teach about healing as such, but to highlight again the failure of the Jewish authorities to recognise who Jesus was, and to show Jesus’ righteous indignation at man-made regulations which only brought God’s people into bondage.
Nevertheless, there are several aspects of the story which enlighten us with regard to healing:
Here is an example, similar to the case of the healing of Peter’smother-in-law, where it is Jesus, not the sick person who takes the initiative (v.12). There is no mention of faithon the part of the woman. Jesus heals her as soon as he sees her (v.12). This is another indication of Jesus’ willingness to heal. There is no suggestion that the sickness was caused by sin. It was caused by ‘a spirit’ (v. 11) acting as an agent of Satan(v. 16). This is not demon-possession. Jesus does not cast it out. He does not address the spirit, he speaks to the woman, tells her she is free and lays hands on her. Immediately she is healed. However, more important than the cause of the sickness is the clear implication that as one of God’s people the womanhad a right to be healed (v. 16). The passage clearly shows that compassionis more important than legalism. Compare Luke 14:1-6 where Jesus heals a man suffering from dropsy on the Sabbath and leaves the Pharisees and legal experts speechless! The ten lepers (17:11-19)
This story, too, is only found in Luke’s Gospel. He tells us that as Jesus was going to Jerusalem, travelling along the border between Samaria and Galilee, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, as lepers were required to, and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us! Then Luke tells us:
14 When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests”. And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
18 Was no-one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well”.
Note:
The failure of the Jews to recognise Jesus for who he was. The nine Jewish lepers who were healed and yet failed to come back to give thanks may well be taken to symbolise the ingratitude of Israel as a whole, despite the many blessings which Jesus brought to them.
One obvious lesson from this story, therefore, is the importance of gratitude.
The importance of faith.
This is seen in the lepers’ initial plea for pity. It implies that they believed Jesus could help them.
Furthermore, Jesus’ instruction, which is given before they are healed, that they must go and show themselves to the priest (cf. Matthew 8:4 where the leper is told to go after Jesus has healed him), surely implies the demand that they should act in faith. It is only as they go that they are cleansed (v. 14).
Jesus’ last words to the grateful Samaritan leper, Rise and go; your faith has made you well.
Jesus’ statement here[1] is identical to what he said when speaking to the woman whose bleeding was healed when she touched his cloak (Mark 5:34). There we suggested that Mark might have intended us to understand that the woman received more than healing for her body. At the very least, we argued, Mark was using a miracle of healing as an illustration of salvation, and it seems likely that this is also Luke’s intention in the story of the grateful leper.
Conclusion Jesus performed his healings by the power of the Spirit and as he was led by the Spirit. This is where his authority sprang from. The forgiveness of sins is more important than the healing of the body. Some sicknesses may be caused by personal sin. Others may be inflicted by Satan. Faith features strongly in healing. It is sometimes the faith of the sick person, but it may be the faith of friends. Sometimes that faith is tested. In some cases faith is not mentioned at all. Miracles of healing may be powerful illustrations of God’s saving power. This may indicate that in some sense healing is a part of salvation. (Next time)
[1] The Greek is hē pistis sou sesōken se which means:
Your faith has healed you OR Your faith has saved you.
Cf. the following passages where the same expression is used:
Bartimaeus - Matthew 10:52, Luke 18:42
The woman with the haemorrhage - Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48
The Leper - Luke 17:19
Luke 7:50 - referring to the forgiveness of sins.
