Mark 6 - "Doing the Stuff Jesus Did!"
Verses for the Day
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
"Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. ... 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them." Mark 6:6-7, 12-13
Commentary
Jesus continues to go from village to village preaching the Good News of the kingdom, healing the sick, and casting out demons. Since he had a limited time before he would be handed over, condemned, and crucified, he wanted to reach as many people as possible. He also knew that when his three year public ministry was over, the disciples needed to be trained and ready.
There comes a time in a training program when you have enough information. and the only way you are going to learn is by doing it. Just like as human beings we mature through different stages of life, so a Christian also matures in different stages. It is important for us to learn how to pray and read the bible but at a certain point in our Christian walk we are called to do the things Jesus did.
Don't worry, God uses your own personality, temperment, and experience. You will minister out of our God-given SHAPE for ministry. Sometimes we think praying over someone, anointing them with oil, and even praying against spiritual attack is only for "Super-Christians". But think about how ordinary the disciples were. Fishermen and tax collectors. They didn't even go to seminary. But they did get to follow Jesus for three years, and watched him minister to people and heal them from their diseases. Diseases can be physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Physical healing is pretty obvious. Emotional healing can be a little more complicated because it can involve trauma from childhood, anxiety and depression, and other mental disorders. Spiritual healing relates to disease of the soul. This can be due to being in toxic spiritual environments and also affliction or possession by the devil and his demons.
There was a man named John Wimber who founded the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in 1982.In Under his leadership it grew to include over 1,500 churches worldwide by today. When he read through the New Testament he saw all that Jesus did and how the disciples did the same things that Jesus did. He grew up in a traditional church, the Quakers, and wondered why he had never heard anything about doing the stuff Jesus did.
He finally came to the conclusion that Jesus was "doin' the stuff", the disciples were "doin' the stuff" that Jesus did, why couldn't he "do the stuff Jesus did". The Vineyard in Anaheim was the first Vineyard church and all kinds of signs and wonders starting happening at the church. They were "doing the stuff" and people could not get enough of it. The Vineyard looked a lot like the church of Acts.
By the time I went to Fuller Seminary in 1991, a lot of my fellow students were going to the Healing Conferences at the Vineyard in Anaheim. A lot of us had never been taught about "actually doing the stuff Jesus". Fortunately at Fuller there was an openness to the Holy Spirit and what He was doing at charismatic churches in all denominations (including Lutheran) across the country including the Vineyard. John Wimber taught classes at Fuller telling his story and teaching future leaders how to do the things that Jesus did! He wrote a book called, "Power Evangelism" and teamed up with C. Peter Wagner and Charles Kraft at Fuller to lead the Department of Church Growth.
I went to a few of these nights and what I saw there shaped my ministry for many years to come.One of the words of knowledge I received at a healing conference was from Zechariah 4:6, "Not by power nor by might, but by my Spirit says the Lord!" I learned early on it is not about me but about the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through me!
I have always wanted to do the stuff that Jesus did. I truly believe when I pray for someone they can be healed in Jesus' name. When John Wimber was asked why not every one was healed when he prayed for them he said, "When we prayed for everyone some got healed. When we prayed for no one, no one got healed." That is why we pray for everyone who asks for prayer and leave the results up to God. It is His will, His way, and in His Time!
If I sense someone is being afflicted by the devil, I will pray for deliverance for them in Jesus' name. After all, in the Lord's Prayer we pray, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one." Note traditionally the church has often said, "Deliver us from evil." But if you look at the original language it is more correctly interpreted, "Deliver us from the evil one."
Short Article on Deliver us From Evil or Deliver Us from the Evil One?
Application
1. Have you ever thought about "doing the stuff" Jesus did?
2. Why would Jesus not give us the power to "do the stuff"? What has changed in 2,000 years?
3. What do you think would happen in churches which were more open to offer a time of healing and deliverance in their services?
4. Why do you think people are so afraid of deliverance ministry when in Mark's gospel it is mentioned all the time with both Jesus and his disciples doing it?
Prayer of the Day
Jesus, thank you for training us how to do the things you did. Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit, which is Your Spirit. Help us to have the courage to do ministry like the first disciples did preaching the gospel, healing and anointing the sick, and delivering people from demons. Amen.
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