“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.”
JOHN 14:12 NIV
“Can I pray for you to be healed?” asked Betty’s friend. She sighed. “Sure, you can try. But everyone I know who gets cancer dies from it.” “Jesus healed everyone who came to Him,” her friend encouraged. “Well, of course He did,” Betty retorted. “He was God!”
Many like Betty think that Jesus had the power to heal because He was God. It is true that Jesus certainly was fully God. He was sent by the Father (John 5:31–37) to do the works of the Father (John 5:16–18), and He was one with the Father (John 10:30, 38). He is the visible image of the invisible God, He created all things, and He holds all creation together (Colossians 1:15–18). But Jesus was also fully human (Colossians 2:9). His appearance was not particularly special (Isaiah 53:1–3). He hungered, thirsted, and grew fatigued like us (Matthew 4:2; John 4:4–7). He felt emotion like us (John 11:35). And He suffered and died like us, for only as a human being could He die and break the power of sin and death (Hebrews 2:14).
But while He was fully God, Jesus gave up His rights as God and put His deity aside when He walked on the earth (Philippians 2:8). He never used the fact that He was God in the flesh, from the beginning of His ministry when Satan tried to trick Him in the wilderness to the end when He hung dying on a cross. He was the promise of God, sent to bring good news to the poor, release the captives, and free the prisoners (Luke 4:18–21). And He did just that. He made the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers clean, the deaf hear, and the dead rise (Luke 7:20–22). All His power to heal the sick came directly from His Father in heaven (John 10:31–32, 38). Jesus didn’t heal the sick as God. God healed the sick through Jesus the man (Luke 5:17; Acts 2:22; 10:38).
Just as God healed and performed miracles through Jesus, Jesus healed and performed miracles through His disciples by the power of the Spirit. For example, Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). Philip preached the Gospel in Samaria, cast out many evil spirits, and healed many who had been paralyzed or lame (Acts 8:5–8). In Lydda, Peter instantly healed a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years (Acts 9:33–35). Paul and Barnabas performed many healing miracles and wonders in their ministry travels (Acts 15:12; Romans 15:18–19). Paul raised a boy from the dead who fell out a window while listening to him preach (Acts 20:9–12), and he even healed the sick through handkerchiefs that only touched his skin (Acts 19:11–12)!
These men were not God but mere human beings who allowed God’s healing power to work through them just like Jesus did when He was here on earth. In the same way that Jesus worked through believers in the early church, He works through us today. In His humanity, Jesus came to show Betty and all of us how to live on the earth as God intended, free from the bondage of sin, intimate with the Father, and working in partnership with Him to advance His Kingdom through the power of His Spirit living inside us. He does His best work through those who are fully submitted and dependent on Him. Today, remember that the same God who placed the stars in the sky and called them by name humbled Himself as a tiny baby. He gave up His rights as God to live in relationship with you. Jesus healed everyone who came to Him. By the power of His Spirit working within you, He can do even greater things.
Lord, You are no stranger to my suffering. You have felt my pain and You have cried my tears! I will never fully understand the kind of love that would compel You to come to earth as a humble baby and give up Your rights as God. Immanuel, God with us! Thank You for dying a criminal’s death on the cross to break the power of sin and death over me.
Lord, You came to bring good news to the poor, release the captives, and free the prisoners! You cast out demons and restored sight to the blind. You made the lame walk, the lepers clean, the deaf hear, and the dead rise! By Your authority, the apostles continued to perform signs and wonders in Your holy and precious name. Forgive me when I’ve doubted Your power and desire to heal today. Thank You that Your Spirit is alive in me and other believers. Lord, You came to show me how to live and walk in that power! Help me to be an obedient vessel, fully submitted to Your will. By Your Spirit within me, You can do even greater things. By Your power, I can be healed.