Who is Jesus?

Part of receiving from the Lord is based upon our concept of who Jesus is. As we read or listen to scriptures throughout the Bible on the subject of healing, we inevitably will come across the scriptures about the earthly ministry of Jesus. And we are told by modern Bible scholars that the gifts of the Spirit and particularly divine healing passed away with the death of the early apostles. Yet many Christians today believe that God can heal people, but that He does so only on rare cases. But the Bible tells us something different about Jesus. It says that He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

Jesus Has Not Changed

The Bible says Jesus has not changed. He was and is and always will be the Healer. He was and is the Word who was made flesh and dwelt among us, and as such He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. And He is the One who lives in our hearts by faith.

And so, it will do us good to look at a few of the scriptures about Jesus’ earthly ministry and perhaps stir something in us to lift our vision higher and see Him for Who He is, the eternal Healer, the One who makes us whole, spirit, soul, and body.

Jesus Healed

Jesus healed every type of sickness and disease, He cast out devils, He healed the mentally ill, as well as people stricken with paralysis. He healed leprosy, He healed blind people and deaf people. He raised up people from the dead, including Lazarus, and Jairus’ daughter, and the son of the widow of Nain.

He healed ALL the sick people in the great multitudes, not some of them, but all of them. He never met a case that He couldn’t handle.

Jesus Never Said No

Again, he healed all who were sick in this great multitude of people. He never said no to anyone, at least not that we know of. He never said, it’s not God’s will to heal you, you need to stay sick.

Healing in His Clothing

The virtue, the healing power, was even in His clothing. They went all round the country and brought all who were diseased, and everyone who touched Him was made perfectly whole.

Jesus' Ministry was Astonishing

They glorified the God of Israel. We would too. They broke out into worship. Great multitudes had come to Him with people who were lame, blind, hearing-impaired, mutilated, and many others. And it says the multitude wondered, or marveled, or, that is, they were astonished when they saw all of these infirmities healed. We too would be astonished to see something like that.

All Men Did Marvel

And then there was the encounter that Jesus had with a demon-possessed man who called himself Legion, saying, for we are many. And we recall that the devils went out of the man and into about two thousand pigs grazing nearby, which then ran down a hill and drowned in the sea.

This man began to tell people what Jesus had done for him, and they knew who the man was and what his condition had been, and all that heard him marveled. That is to say, they wondered, they were amazed, they were astonished. Astonishment seemed to follow Jesus around.

Astonished With Great Astonishment

Now, when he went back over the lake, a man named Jairus came out and met Jesus and asked Him to come and lay hands on his sick daughter, so that she would live. But the daughter died before they could get to his home, but when they arrived, Jesus said to the people in Jairus’ house, why make all this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

They were astonished with a GREAT astonishment. They were amazed, they were astonished, they were perplexed, they were thrown into wonderment. That word amazement comes from a Greek word that means to be beside oneself, to be displaced, as it were, from the normal state of mind. Jesus had that effect on people.

Does Jesus still astonish people today? I believe He does. But are we starting to get the feeling as I did that perhaps Jesus is much bigger and more powerful than we have come to view Him? Do we have the idea that Jesus may help us with some things but perhaps not with other things? Do we somehow think that certain things are just too big for Him to deal with?

Beyond Measure Astonished

They were beyond measure astonished, the Bible says. That means they were exceedingly or beyond or passed being struck with amazement. They weren’t amazed. They were in a place somewhere beyond amazed.

People who heard Jesus teach and saw Him minister were astonished. They were amazed because His speaking was with power and authority.

What a word is this! For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. Again, the people were amazed at the things Jesus was doing and by the authority He was demonstrating.

They Sought to Touch Him

Can you see this? He is standing before a great multitude of people and a healing frenzy breaks out. The sick people had already been healed and now all the people wanted in on it. It says the whole multitude wanted to touch Him, every one of them. And it says that virtue or power went out of Him and healed them all, the entire multitude.

That is amazing. Now, I personally have been in a few very powerful meetings over the years, but I have never witnessed anything like the ministry of Jesus. He was and is healing and wholeness personified, or maybe I should say incarnate or in the flesh. Everywhere He went, people were delivered and made whole, and they were astonished.

Destroying the Works of the Devil

He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, the Bible says. Notice that the Bible calls sickness demonic oppression.

Now, that is certainly not to say that a sick person is possessed of the devil, for goodness sake, just because they’re sick. We’re smarter than that, aren’t we? But I do believe it’s clear that all sickness is an oppression of the devil. The Bible says so. The devil is the cause of it, and he’s behind it.

So, just because someone might rebuke a spirit of cancer or a spirit of infirmity or a spirit of Covid 19 when praying for somebody to be healed, it doesn’t mean that the sick person is demon possessed. Most folks do understand that.

To destroy the works of the devil. That’s exactly what Jesus did in His earthly ministry. He went about doing good and healing people, which was destroying the works of the devil.

Jesus Remains the Same

John the apostle says that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And we are reading these scriptures so as to get a clearer picture of Who Jesus is. And He is still that way today.

Jesus does not change. He is the same now as He was back then. He is as astonishing now as He ever was. He is still the Redeemer, He is still the Savior, He is still the Healer. He is still the One Who brings healing and wholeness to every part of us, our spirit, our soul, and, yes, even our body.

He is still full of virtue and power. He is still the Word Who was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Bible is written entirely about Him, to reveal Him to us. And faith comes to us by hearing the word of God. The more of this word that we receive into ourselves, the more of Him will be working in us.

If you continue in my words, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Free from what? Free from everything that binds us. Free from sin, free from sickness, free from anxiety and fear, free from everything that binds.

This message came to me as I was sick with Covid a few months back, and I was listening to the healing scriptures over and over and over. As I heard these verses like the ones we looked at today, I began to get a glimpse of how awesome, how powerful Jesus really is, and how He astonished people everywhere went, and I realized that He is still that way today.

The Lion and the Lamb

Yes, Jesus is the gentle Lamb of God who, like a lamb led to the slaughter, he opened not His mouth. But, He had to remain silent, or else He would have stopped what was happening, angels would have come and rescued Him, and He would not have been able to pay the price for our sins. He had to stay quiet, like a lamb led to the slaughter. But Jesus said, no man takes my life from me, I lay it down of myself, voluntarily.

In the book of Revelation, an angel tells John the apostle, weep not, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed. And it says that John turned and saw a lamb, as though it had just been slain.

You see, the Lamb and the Lion are one. The gentle Lamb that was slain at Calvary was in fact the roaring Lion of Judah, defeating all principalities and powers, and making an open show of them in the process. He publicly humiliated the powers of hell.

And that’s Who He is today, the victorious One, the One Who has all authority in heaven and in the earth. His name is above every name that is named, both in this world, as Paul the Apostle says, and in that which is to come.

Jesus was never caught off guard. He never came across any sickness or any situation He could not handle. He always came out on top. And that is Who He is today and Who He wants to be in our lives.

As we spend time hearing His word, taking time to read or listen to the scriptures, we will get a clearer picture of Who Jesus is, and He will become that very thing to us. Faith will come and God will begin to work in our lives in a greater measure.