When reading the Gospels we come across numerous accounts of
Jesus healing and delivering people of demons.
It is intriguing to look at all of the different types of healing and
deliverance provided by our Lord. It is
also intriguing to look at the people who were healed and delivered. Did they want healing or deliverance? Who brought them to Jesus? Did he go to
them? Did he deliver them because they
asked?
When we do a survey of these cases of healing and
deliverance, we see all of these circumstances and more. Some cry out or run to Jesus. Some are
brought by their friends. Some simply intercede on behalf of their children or
loved ones. Some get a direct touch from Jesus, while others get up from the
sickbed healed from a distance. Some are fully followers of Jesus. Others have
only an inkling of who he really is. Some,
as in the case of Legion (Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39), seem
to be drug by demons to the feet of Jesus. And then there was the time that the
disciples could not accomplish deliverance and Jesus said, "This kind can
come out only by prayer." (Mark 29:9)
It is a real temptation for us to try to come up with a
particular formula for all healing and deliverance or to create systems of prayers
and practices to address the different needs for healing and deliverance. But
just as there are many different kinds of possessions and a multitude of
diseases, so there are different approaches and different means to healing and
freedom through Christ Jesus.
But there is one thing that is for certain. Among the multitudes of these kinds of
troubles there is only one source of healing and freedom and that is Jesus
Christ himself. Certainly our prayers
and faith have been invited by God to be a part of the picture, but it is the
Name and the Word of Jesus Christ that brings true and lasting healing as well
as complete and secure deliverance. He
is the source of all knowledge for the doctors and researchers around the
globe. His is the precision that guides
the surgeon’s hand. His is the strength given
to the prayer warriors when it seems deliverance is impossible. He is the power that speaks a word directly to
the wicked powers that prey on his beloved.
The Holy Spirit can guide us moment-by-moment for the unique
or particular means of healing and deliverance as we participate in Christ’s
work around the world. Believing that it
is God’s desire to free all humanity, we can trust his work, be open to our
part in that work and pray, pray, pray.
Copyright M.R. Hyde 2015
