Divine healing, trials, and persecution

==================================================================
NOTE:  The updated version of this post is located at my new website:  http://bornofspirit.net/divine-healing-trials-and-persecution/
==================================================================


Jesus warned his followers that there would be persecution and hard times for them (John 16:33). He walked this earth as a living example of enduring persecution. He suffered persecution, and so did those around him. When he encountered persecution, he endured it.

He was slandered, shunned, and hated by his enemies, and he was eventually beaten and executed. He warned his disciples that that they too would encounter many trials, and we know from the bible and from history that this is indeed what happened. Many disciples were treated in the same way, including beatings, imprisonments, and executions.

It is important to note, however, that the persecution and hard times were not physical ailments in his body.  Jesus did not endure sickness and disease as part of his ministry, nor did he instruct his followers to do so. In fact, when Jesus encountered sickness and disease, he ministered healing to those that needed it.

Acts 10:38“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

During his earthly ministry, Jesus encountered many people with health problems. When people came to him that were in need of healing, he healed them. This is the case in every example that we have in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

There is not a single example of someone coming to him for healing and going away with their condition unchanged. Rather, we see the exact opposite. From the examples we have available for us to read, Jesus was always willing to minister healing.

We also see that every time he sent out anyone to represent him, he instructed them them to function in the same way.

He did this when he sent out the 12:

Luke 9:1 – “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.”

He did this when we sent out the 70:

Luke 10:1,9 – “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go……And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

He did this when he sent out everyone else(including you and me) at what we call “the great commission”

Mark 16:15-18 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel…And these signs will follow those who believe...they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

If we want to be followers and imitators of Christ, then it appears that He wants us to have the same attitude towards sickness that He did. If we are to act as His representatives, then we would be wise not to misrepresent Him by saying things that contradict the life He lived.