HEALTH FOR ALL NATIONS
  • About
    • What is Health
    • Mission Statement
    • Our History
    • Beliefs and Values
    • Organizational Structure
  • People
    • Leadership Team >
      • Mike Soderling
      • Daniel W. O’Neill
      • Rebecca L. Meyer
      • Arnold Gorske
      • Grace Tazelaar
      • Greg Seager
      • Bruce Dahlman
    • Global Collaborators >
      • Dr Ravi I. Jayakaran
      • Apolos Landa Tucto
      • Dr. E. Anthony Allen
      • Rufino L. Macagba
      • Vinod Shah
      • Dr Annelies Wilder-Smith
      • Peter Yorgin
  • Initiatives
    • Unstuck Peer Consultations
    • Christian Journal for Global Health >
      • Journal
      • Donate
    • Best Practices in Global Health Missions >
      • Best Practice Documents
      • Consensus Papers
      • Potential Best Practices Topics
      • Primary Author/Facilitator
    • Christian Global Health in Perspective
    • Lausanne Health for All Nations Issue Network
  • Resources
    • All Creation Groans
    • Understanding Health
    • History of Health >
      • Health, the Bible, and the Church Book Access >
        • Quest for Health
    • History of Christianity
    • Integrated Mission
    • Medical Mission Prep
    • Missions in the 21st Century
    • Cultural Transformation
    • Unity in Our Diversity
    • Annotated Bibliography
    • Ralph Winter
    • Conferences
    • Links
  • Contact
  • Donate
    • Health for All Nations
    • Christian Journal for Global Health
    • Best Practices in Global Health Missions

Blog

WHY AND HOW DID JESUS HEAL SICK PERSONS?: WEEK 24 IN “THE KINGDOM OF GOD: WHAT IS IT?” BY DAN FOUNTAIN

6/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Related reading: Mark 1:29-45, Matthew 15:29-31
​Dr Fountain states that “The healing of sick people played a prominent role in the ministry of Jesus. For Jesus, healing, teaching, and preaching went together. I would go so far as to state that for Jesus, preaching, discipling, teaching, delivering people from demons and curing disease were a seamless part of His ministry. (He did all these in the first 24 hours of His ministry as related in the First Chapter of Mark)

Dr Fountain used to refer to this passage in Mark (it was a passage he referred to frequently) as the first open to all “general” clinic in written history. He even states this is when health care as we know it began! The Matthew passage is a bit different in that it says nothing about Jesus doing any preaching or teaching (though we cannot be absolutely certain of this) but that He spent 3 days healing people of all kinds of dis-eases. This He taught to His followers so that they too could save people from the things that destroy life and that mar God’s image in us.

The early Church did indeed carry on this important ministry and became know as a healing community. Rodney Stark in his 1996 work “The Rise of Christianity” explains how this aided in the relatively rapid expansion of the early Church.

What was so unique to this ministry ushered in by a crucified and risen Savior? It was certainly uniquely powerful in the way in which it combined physical and psychological principles of healing with the miraculous power Jesus gave to the Church to carry on His ministry. As Dr Fountain states “He brought healing to the whole person – body, mind and spirit – and He restored people to functional wholeness and the to their community. And modern medicine is coming to recognize the importance of the impact that feelings, emotions, desires, etc can have on human beings. Painful, conflicting and destructive thoughts can, over time, cause damage to many of our organ systems. As God’s word states in Proverbs 14:30: ”A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.” Amp version. Jesus healed people as whole persons, showing concern for their feelings, emotions and social conditions and by doing the same we can help many sick persons resolve inner problems and broken relationships. This is the unique calling of the Church and should set our health care efforts apart from the rest. Healing is a ministry of the whole church as well as of trained medical people. The healing of sick persons is part of the work of the Kingdom and should point people to Jesus as the Messiah.

Relevant questions:
  1. Would you agree with Dr Fountain that the Mark 1 passage discussed represents the first “general clinic” in recorded history? Is it a relevant model for today?
  2. What role did healing sick people play in the ministry of Jesus? Should it be that way for the 21st century Church? How can it be?
  3. What is lacking in modern “medical” care? What can we do about it?
  4. What should our churches be doing to care for the whole person?
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    This is the blog for the Best Practices in Global Health Mission division of the Center for the Study of Health in Mission. It is a space for all who are interested in sharing opinions, ideas and best practices having to do with Christ centered health related ministry.

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    March 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    August 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture



​
​
​© 2023 Health for All Nations
All Rights Reserved
In Partnership with Frontier Ventures
​and the Ralph D. Winter Launch Lab

Picture
Donate

​ABOUT

The mission of Health for All Nations is to engage the global Christian community in the exploration and application of biblical revelation, scientific evidence, and cumulative experience as they relate to health and wholeness. Our mission includes assisting the global Christian church in fulfilling its mandate to promote health and healing among the nations.
​

Learn More
RESOURCES
  • Health, the Bible and the Church book access
  • Quest for Health
  • Understanding Health
  • History of Health
  • History of Christianity
  • Integrated Mission
  • Medical Mission Prep.
  • Missions in the 21st Century
  • Cultural Transformation
  • Unity in Our Diversity
  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Ralph Winter
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • About
    • What is Health
    • Mission Statement
    • Our History
    • Beliefs and Values
    • Organizational Structure
  • People
    • Leadership Team >
      • Mike Soderling
      • Daniel W. O’Neill
      • Rebecca L. Meyer
      • Arnold Gorske
      • Grace Tazelaar
      • Greg Seager
      • Bruce Dahlman
    • Global Collaborators >
      • Dr Ravi I. Jayakaran
      • Apolos Landa Tucto
      • Dr. E. Anthony Allen
      • Rufino L. Macagba
      • Vinod Shah
      • Dr Annelies Wilder-Smith
      • Peter Yorgin
  • Initiatives
    • Unstuck Peer Consultations
    • Christian Journal for Global Health >
      • Journal
      • Donate
    • Best Practices in Global Health Missions >
      • Best Practice Documents
      • Consensus Papers
      • Potential Best Practices Topics
      • Primary Author/Facilitator
    • Christian Global Health in Perspective
    • Lausanne Health for All Nations Issue Network
  • Resources
    • All Creation Groans
    • Understanding Health
    • History of Health >
      • Health, the Bible, and the Church Book Access >
        • Quest for Health
    • History of Christianity
    • Integrated Mission
    • Medical Mission Prep
    • Missions in the 21st Century
    • Cultural Transformation
    • Unity in Our Diversity
    • Annotated Bibliography
    • Ralph Winter
    • Conferences
    • Links
  • Contact
  • Donate
    • Health for All Nations
    • Christian Journal for Global Health
    • Best Practices in Global Health Missions