Apostle Dr. Peggy Elliott

THE NEW TESTAMENT MIRACLE WORKER

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"And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."

 

Remember the movie The Miracle Worker, starring Patty Duke? I first saw the movie when I was a child.  Then, once again, as a teenager.  I cannot remember why, as an adult, I felt the need to view it a third time, but I did.  During the third watch, I found myself comparing the Nanny and Patty Duke with Jesus and how we deal with miracles within the body of Christ. I believe that far too many have low expectations for miracles.

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In the movie, Patty was born without the ability to speak and see. She could hear.  Somehow, her parents equated the inability to speak with the inability to be human.  They allowed her to crawl around on the floor like an animal, to walk around the dinner table grabbing food off of family members plates and shoving it into her mouth.  Her family treated her as if she was invisible, yet, she was ever present.  They were disgusted, displeased and ashamed of her very presence. 

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The family decided that the last bastion of hope in teaching her how to appropriately act was to allow a Nanny to come into their home and 'train' Patty.  They had less than a glimmer of hope that this was possible, yet, some hope, none the less. It took quite some time for the Nanny to undo the behaviors that Patty had been allowed to display for quite some time. If you saw the movie, do you remember when Patty became so outraged at the Nanny for trying to make her learn to sit down and eat like a human being, that Patty slapped her?  Much to the shock of all viewing, the Nanny slapped Patty back. Patty slapped the Nanny again.  The Nanny rendered the same behavior, slapping Patty.  The third time Patty slapped her and the Nanny returned a slap, stunned Patty.  All her life, she had been able to control the family by never behaving in a civil manner and now she was no longer in control.

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The Nanny understood enough about Patty's behavior to know that she needed to break her will and not her spirit.  The Miracle Worker changed Patty's life, by changing her behavior.  What was the miracle?  That the impossible became possible. Patty learned how to sit down at the table, eat with a fork and spoon and walk like a little girl and not an animal.

 

I believe that the behavior Patty and her family displayed is much like the behavior we display today toward Jesus, the miracle worker, as it relates to healing.  All too often, we have ailments, physically and spiritually and do not have faith to believe that Jesus can, will or even wants to heal us.  Some believers go along in life accepting their brokenness, their physical or emotional pain, and their suffering.

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A friend of mine was married to a gentleman who smoked. One day I was praying for Harold (not his real name) and the Lord told me to tell him that he must quit smoking, or he would have to suffer the consequences of his disobedience.  He chose to continue smoking and soon had a heart attack. The doctor's told him to quit.  After the second heart attack, the doctors told him if he did not quit, he would continue suffering physically.  Yes, a second heart attack.

 

Harold and I were talking one day and he communicated how difficult it is for him to quit smoking.  He had tried patches, gum, and counseling, but nothing helped.  I asked him if he had prayed and asked God to help him overcome his addiction.  I told him that a doctor once told me that quitting smoking was more difficult than getting off of crack.  I got it.  I understood that.  Yet, I know that all things are possible with God.  The same miracle worker who turned water into wine, the same miracle worker who allowed Peter to walk on water, the same miracle worker who raised dead Lazarus back to life, the same miracle worker who restored sight to the blind, made the lame walk and the deaf hear, that same miracle worker is alive today and still works miracles.

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His response? "Yea, I prayed and He hasn't changed anything yet.  He hasn't healed me.  The desire is still there, so what is the point in asking him again?  It is, what it is."  I told him that God could deliver him from that spirit of addiction, but that he, Harold would have to put in the work,   His response was, "Well, no.  We all have to die from something, so for me, it might as well be this." 

 

When I received the news that Harold had been diagnosed with lung cancer and that they had to cut out a part of one of his lungs, I was not surprised, saddened, but not surprised.  He gave up on himself.  Most importantly, he did not believe that God could work a miracle in his life and heal his body and his heart.  Cancer returned only three months later.   Harold's unbelief in believing that God could and would miraculously heal him, caused him to be gripped by a spirit of depression, and deep grief, both which had been there since he was a child.

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Harold's mother and father, his brothers and one sister, all rejected him.  He had never experienced unconditional love.  Therefore, if his family, who he could see, didn't care about his welfare, why would God care?  I'm quite sure at some point Patty Duke felt the same way.  Why would this Nanny come in here, a woman, she did not even know, and not only take time to teach her right from wrong but never gave up on her.  Why would Jesus, the true miracle worker care and love him enough to heal him?

 

God’s fullest self-revelation as Savior came in the person of Jesus Christ—God in human flesh. The incarnation itself was an expression of sympathy and identification with our weakness (Heb. 4:15). In Christ, we can see countless expressions of divine compassion towards us. Though sinless Himself, Jesus suffered all the consequences of sin in the infinite measure—and in so suffering, He identifies with the misery of all who feel the pains of human anguish. This was the whole reason God the Son became a man: “He had to be made like His brethren in all things so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:17–18).

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Jesus Christ chose to bear all of our weaknesses. He knew all too well how Satan tempts Believers, trying to make us think that we will never overcome our faults, our issues in life. “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (4:15).

 

Those verses in Hebrews 2, show that divine mercy extends far beyond empathy merely for our physical sufferings. I believe that Patty's parents and other family members did not know how to love, how to teach Patty, so they gave up.  They minimized any expectation that she could ever act like a human being. The Nanny's love and concern for Patty limited itself to her emotional and physical welfare.  The loving-kindness of God includes a heartfelt concern for our temporal, earthly, and physical welfare—but it is infinitely more than that. Jesus Christ is concerned about the salvation of our soul.  Nevertheless, because illness, disability, pain, and all other forms of physical suffering are effects of the fall and fruits of the curse of sin, God’s sympathy for the human plight includes a special grace toward those who suffer physically.

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Over and over again, we see throughout the Word of God, tangible evidence of the healing ministry of Jesus. Though His central concern was (Luke 19:10)—redemption and eternal life for sinners and calling sinners to repentance (Matt. 4:17) and along with the promise of eternal rest for weary souls (11:29) He healed all who were sick.

He gave sight to the blind.  That's a miracle.  The lame in His presence being able to get up and walk?  That's a miracle.

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He healed “every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people” (Matt. 4:23; cf. 15:30–31), including congenital disabilities (John 9; Mark 7:32–35); chronic, medically hopeless cases (Luke 8:43–47).

 

The true miracle worker is Jesus Christ, through God His father. He has all the faith to know He can heal the sick, even if one's faith is weak.   The healing ministry of Jesus was illustrative of the gospel message, a true expression of divine compassion, and a definitive verification of His healing power.

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The gospel, then, proclaims the way to forgiveness, redemption, a right standing with God, and the gift of eternal life. The gospel is not a guarantee that earthly suffering will be banished from our experience. It does not promise immediate or automatic healing from every physical affliction. In fact, suffering itself can be a blessing by which we are perfected—molded into the perfect likeness of Him who suffered in our place (1 Peter 1:16–17). “To you, it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil. 1:29). And “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).

 

Eighteen years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to experience the healing power of Jesus Christ as it related to a husband diagnosed with multiple myeloma, cancer of the bones and blood.   God called me to the healing and deliverance ministry more than forty years ago.  He graced me with the gift of miracles, one of the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I am charged by God to have the faith to believe in miracles and pray for the same.  I have been used to pray for the miraculous healing of those with cancer, leukemia, Lupus, lung disease and more.  So, when my husband was diagnosed with cancer, I knew with certainty that God would allow me to anoint him with oil, lay hands on him and pray for his healing and that he would be healed.

 

Jesus, the miracle worker, was certainly going to heal my spouse. As his condition worsened, I became disheartened.  If God would allow me to lay hands on others who were sick and they were healed, why wasn't my husband healing?  Months before taking him home to glory, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "I always heal.  Always.  I either heal here on earth or in heaven, but I always heal (10:38).  “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (4:16–18).

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God never changes.  We can say with absolute certainty that He is a saving God whose heart is full of compassion for those who suffer. Our lives and ministries should reflect that compassion as well—especially toward those who are burdened with relentless physical agony in this life.  I believe that the body of Christ today needs to increase their faith in believing that Jesus still works miracles.  Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  Malachi 3:6  "For I the Lord do not change..."

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