The Power of the Cross: Introduction
New Testament Scholarship and the Evidence
Many New Testament scholars, publishing over the last century in English, German, and French, seem to have concluded that, throughout the New Testament, the power and compassion of God in healing and gift-based ministry is integrally related to the proclamation of the gospel and the ministry of the Word of God. Many point out that in the New Testament’s view such ministry is a sign of God’s forgiveness and grace in the gospel.12 The following quotations summarize research on the subject.
F.F. Bruce, the well-known evangelical British New Testament scholar, considered Jesus’ healing ministry an integral part of the message Jesus preached:
While the miracles served as signs, they were not performed in order to be signs. They were as much a part and parcel of Jesus’ ministry as was his preaching—not … seals affixed to the document to certify its genuiness but an integral element in the very text of the document.13
A. Feuillet, a French New Testament scholar, points out that just as Jesus’ preaching was regularly accompanied by healing and gift-based ministry, so was that of his disciples:
In Mark ii.2 and iv.33 Jesus is seen ‘to proclaim the Word.’ . . . In Mk. xvi.19-20, once Jesus ascended to heaven, the apostles in their turn ‘proclaim the Word.’ And as the Word proclaimed by Jesus was accompanied by works of power, it was exactly the same according to Mark xvi.20 for the Word proclaimed by the apostles. . . . What Jesus began to say (the Word) and to do (the miracles), all that is continued after the Ascension by the apostles.
Moved by the Spirit, the apostles take up the call of Jesus for repentance ([Acts] ii.38, iii.26, v.31, xviii.30) and his announcement of the ‘Kingdom of God’ ([Acts] viii.12, xix.8, xx.25, xxviii.31). . . . They bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus: cf. [Acts] i.22, ii.32, iii.15, iv.33, v.32, x.39, 41, xiii.31. They depend on the invocation of the Name of Jesus. . . . It is for this Name that the apostles suffer ([Acts] v.21, xxi.13; cf. I Pet. iv.14); it is this Name that they preach ([Acts] iv.10-12, 17-18; v.28-40).
And the invocation of this Name puts into action the divine power kept by Jesus. The result is that, by this invocation, the apostles accomplish miraculous wonders like those of Jesus’ public ministry, heal the sick, drive out demons and even raise the dead: [Acts] iii.1-10, viii.6-7, ix.32-43, xiv.8-18, xx.7-12 … v.16 … xix.12.14
The British New Testament scholar, Alan Richardson, points out that Jesus’ healing ministry was a necessary concomitant of His preaching:
The working of miracles is a part of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, not an end in itself. Similarly, the sin of Chorazin and Bethsaida [Lk. 10:13; Mat. 11:21; ] is spiritual blindness; they do not accept the preaching of the Kingdom of God or understand the miracles which were its inevitable concomitants. … Can we interpret the remarkable connexion which this Q saying establishes between the miracles and repentance in any other way than by understanding the miracles as the necessary concomitants of the preaching of the Kingdom of God?15
Dr. Bertold Klappert, a German New Testament scholar, similarly describes the unity of word and deed in Jesus’ proclamation:
The healings are part of Jesus’ word and are not to be detached from his proclamation. According to Lk. 4:18, Jesus related the prophetic word of Isa. 61:1f. to his own mission. God sent him to bring good news to the poor and sight to the blind. This denotes the unity of word and deed in Jesus’ proclamation. … The proclamation of the kingdom of God takes place by means of Jesus’ word, and Jesus’ healings are the physical expression of his word.16
The German New Testament scholar, Prof. Gerhard Friedrich, G.; of Tübingen, points out that the New Testament concept of preaching the gospel is more than verbally communicating the rational content of the gospel and that it includes demonstrating the power of the gospel through healing ministry:
Euaggelizesthai [“to preach the gospel”] is not just speaking and preaching; it is proclamation with full authority and power. Signs and wonders accompany the evangelical message. They belong together, for the Word is powerful and effective. The proclamation of the age of grace, of the rule of God, creates a healthy state in every respect. Bodily disorders are healed and man’s relationship to God is set right (Mt. 4:23; 9:35; 11:5; Lk. 9:6; Acts 8:4-8; 10:36ff.; 14:8-18; 16:17ff; Rom. 15:16-20; II Cor. 12:12; Gal. 3:5). Joy reigns where this Word is proclaimed (Acts 8:8). It brings sote—ria [“salvation”] (I Cor. 15:1f.)… Hence, euaggelizesthai [“to preach the gospel”] is to offer salvation. It is the powerful proclamation the good news, the impartation of sote—ria [“salvation”]. This would be missed if euaggelizesthai [“to preach the gospel”] were to take place in human fashion en sophia logou [“(merely) in the wisdom of words”] (I Cor. 1:17).17
The British scholar, D. S. Cairns, says that the biblical evidence shows that the miraculous signs of Jesus’ healing ministry were “integral parts of the revelation, and not adjuncts to it.”18 Christ, Cairns says, does miracles out of love and compassion for men and women, “because he cannot help working them.”19 The Dutch New Testament scholar, H. van der Loos, points out the same about the apostle’s healing ministry:
The miracles were therefore not works or signs which happened for the sake of the apostles, but originated in the point at issue, viz. the proclamation of salvation by Jesus Christ and the coming of His Kingdom. They did not accompany the preaching of the gospel as incidentals, but formed an integral part of it; in the healing, as a visible function of the Kingdom of God, something that could be experienced, God’s will to heal the whole of man was manifested.20
Category: Pneuma Review, Spirit, Spring 2006
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