The power to save and to heal is not a thing but a person. The apostles, and the early church disciples, did not believe that the risen, glorified Jesus was passive or inactive; on the contrary, they knew that he was at work in his body, the church. In their experience he was powerfully changing lives. Signs and wonders were following the preaching of the good news of the nearness of the Kingdom of God. They still do to this day.
In the beginning, John the Baptist had been teaching his disciples to expect from Jesus the baptism of the Spirit —not of water only, as in his own baptismal rite. Before his death on the cross, Jesus continued to fill his disciples’ minds with the expectation of this gift of the Spirit; and, some ten days after Jesus disappeared from sight, that Spirit had come in power upon them. This same Holy Spirit was the Spirit of God and also, and therefore, the Spirit of Jesus.
Jesus could not be thought of merely as a perfect past example, or a remote Lord, but an inward presence and power.
World history shows us that the impact of mere examples, whether they be people or an experience of some massive event, becomes more and more feeble as time progresses. The example of Jesus, however, had become something much more than a memory. He who had, in the past, taught them how to live in the Kingdom, was alive in the heavenly places and was working within them by his Spirit, to grow that very same Kingdom. And the result? There is now great power for those of us who believe.
And how should we think of this Jesus within? He is the Son of God, the Creator of the universe who makes all things new; the one who healed everyone who asked him, because he knew that it is the will of the Father that all who respond to this Jesus should have salvation. And this salvation includes eternal life after death, together with physical and emotional healing during this life for all of us who respond like little children to the Good News.
Mike Endicott
