The Impact of Effective Ministry

This morning I am continuing to work my way through Luke and came across these verses - Luke 6:17-19 NIV:

[17] "He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, [18] who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, [19] and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all."

I like when there are specific towns and cities listed, for that helps me understand the scope of Jesus' impact.  The area listed above is close to 10,000 square  miles depending on how you measure it!  I live in Kansas City, and this metro area is about 8000 square miles.  While KC is not so well known, this area would be larger than the Dallas/Ft. Worth,  Atlanta or Denver metro areas (all less than 9000 sq. miles). That is a huge area, and people were coming to Jesus, traveling for days to find Him.  It is also clear that the whole region must have taken notice of Him.  I was wondering why it seemed that there were always pharisees present, but when I think about the regional impact He was having, it makes sense.

I was also thinking about the drive that these people had to see him.  There was no fast way to travel back then, maybe if you were really rich and had a chariot, but otherwise camel or donkey, or walk were the common methods of travel.  A healthy human might be able to cover 20+ miles in a day, armies of fit and trained men in the Roman army were required to be able to march 25 miles with a quick march while carrying a load, but we are talking about sick people, people who needed healing.  I imagine it took many of them a week of travel to catch up with Jesus.  I imagine that for many of them, this type of travel drained their health further and their savings every bit as much.  They were desperate, and willing to do what they needed to do to be touched by God.

It is also interesting that Luke states they came to hear Jesus AND be healed of their diseases.  As I have mentioned previously, Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom and then demonstrated the reality of the Kingdom by healing the sick, casting out the demons, etc.  We see this same pattern alluded to here. The people were hungry for both, and His teaching was unlike anything they had heard before (Matt 7:28, Mark 1:22, Luke 4:32).

Finally, as described in some of my recent journaling, by this point, the power flowing out of Jesus, just by touching Him, was enough to heal people.  This was not an increase in the power of Jesus, but an increase in the faith of the people.  It was also much more expedient.   I also find it interesting that other than the sending out of the apostles and the 72, we don't see any indication that the healing ministry was accomplished by anyone other than Jesus when the huge crowds gathered.

I was rereading some of the stories about William Branham who was a healing evangelist here in the US during the 40s and 50s.  He used to have thousands gather nightly for his revival meetings, and there were several stories of people who followed him from meeting to meeting, stretching over weeks of time, trying to get into his healing lines.  He would pray for people 4-5 hours straight, night after night and still was unable to pray for everyone who needed healing.  I imagine that for Jesus it was much the same, for we see, over and over, thousands of people gathering around Him. By this time in His ministry, power was flowing out from Him and healing people without His active interaction, other than hosting the presence of the Holy Spirit.  People were being ministered to  in the thousands, and ALL were being healed.

Oh, for these days to return to the church.  Oh, for the Lord to be glorified in this way.  That whole cities, whole metro areas might be ignited with hunger for the Lord, and thousands would flock to those places where His presence is manifest, where the Kingdom is proclaimed and people are healed by the thousands.  Lord, please visit Your church with this type of effective ministry once again!