The Holy Spirit and the Ministries of Jesus
We may well ask, What was the source of Jesus’ outstanding healing and authority? The religious leaders, especially the Pharisees (who opposed Jesus because he performed healings on the Sabbath, formed friendships with sinners and tax collectors, and was successful in his ministry), accused Jesus of setting people free from demons through Beelzebub, a chief demon. Here is one example: “Then they brought a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David?’ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons’” (Matt. 12:22–25).
God heals through ordinary people. – Peter Ostrander
One of the clearest Scriptures connecting the work of the Holy Spirit through Jesus and healing is found in Acts 10:38 within Peter’s message to Cornelius, a God-fearing centurion, and his other Gentile friends. Peter tells them, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good [works] and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” As Peter goes on to tell them about Jesus’ death and resurrection, his hearers come to faith and the Holy Spirit sovereignly falls upon them. They are baptized and included in this new movement.
Jesus is anointed and empowered for a healing ministry. His ministry also freed people who were under the power and reign of evil in their lives. (This is not to specify what proportion of illnesses, infirmities, or diseases are caused by demons rather than by a host of other factors, which were unknown in the first century.) Though Jesus was a good deed-doer in the best sense, he was nevertheless killed, and then rose on the third day.
The passages discussed so far in this chapter indicate that the Holy Spirit of God had clearly been involved in the life and healing ministry of Jesus, as He will be in our lives. We cannot actually estimate the number of times Jesus’ healings were accomplished through his own divine nature or through the Spirit. In some ways, Jesus may have humbled himself by not doing his mighty works except through the power of the Holy Spirit.
However, in his early encounters with demons that were oppressing or indwelling human beings, the demons defensively asserted that they knew who Jesus really was; namely, the “Holy one of God” (Mark 1:21). His usual tactic, while casting them out, was to silence or muzzle them, keeping them from prematurely identifying him as the Anointed One, the Son of the Living God. Jesus usually called himself ‘the son of man’ as God had addressed Ezekiel (Ezek 7:14) but points to Dan 7:13 at his trial before the Sanhedrin.
Overall, we believe that God was working powerfully in the preaching, teaching, healing, and deliverance ministries of Jesus the Christ, without any hindrances. Though they may have taken different roles at various times, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked in perfect harmony to redeem and transform humankind and will create new Heavens and a new Earth. Is it possible for Christians to be caught up in such movements and ministries of God, resulting in a spreading Gospel wave, carried by Spirit-endowed believers?
PR
Part 2 continues in the Spring 2016 issue with “The Holy Spirit and the Ministry of the Disciples”
This chapter is reprinted with permission from New Testament Healing by Peter E. Ostrander (Xulon, 2011).
Category: Spirit, Winter 2016