Objection: John 14:12 Does Not Mean That We Can Heal as Jesus Did Because NO ONE Has Ever Duplicated His Ministry
By this logic, no one can ever have the dramatic healing ministry that Jesus did, because NO ONE has ever duplicated it so far. So we should throw up our hands and say that healing as Jesus did is unattainable.
By this same logic, we can’t expect to be as loving and compassionate as Jesus is, because NO ONE has ever shown as much love and compassion as He did so far. So shall we throw up our hands and say that having the mind of Christ is unattainable because no one has followed in His steps perfectly in the areas of love and compassion? Based on this objector’s logic, yes!
By the same logic, we can’t expect to walk in total victory over sin, because NO ONE has ever duplicated Jesus’ sinless earth walk so far. So shall we throw up our hands and say that the promise of sin having no dominion over us is not really for church people today because no one has followed in His steps perfectly when it comes to resisting sin? Based on this objector’s logic, yes!
Even though NO ONE so far has ever measured up fully to Jesus’ example, His example should still be our goal. We are supposed to be conformed to Christ’s image (Romans 8:29). He left us an example, that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:20-23). We have the same Holy Spirit who did miracles through Jesus. Why would we not expect Him to do them through us?
The fatal weakness of this objection, shared by many other objections, is that it is experience-based. Rather than seeking to elevate our experience to the standard of God’s Word, we lower the standard of God’s Word to match our experience. If the people in the days of Azusa Street reasoned that no one around was speaking in tongues, so therefore it must not be possible today, there would have been no great revival of the Holy Spirit back then. If Martin Luther reasoned that no one around was getting born again, so therefore that promise was unattainable, there would have been no Protestant Reformation, and the standard today would still be buying indulgences to try to ransom deceased loved ones out of a nonexistent place called Purgatory.
If the reformers of old didn’t take the status quo and decide that Scripture was good with it, why should we? It doesn’t matter if we’ve EVER seen a church person heal ANYONE in our day – it would still be right to lay hands on the sick in faith because Jesus said we can do it. His word has to be more convincing to us than human experience so far.
Ministering like Jesus may seem to be a tall order. God doesn’t expect someone called to the business world to go around in full-time ministry like Jesus. That individual may not reflect the full ministry of Christ, but corporately, we are to fully represent Christ and all that He did. Not everyone will be called to be a biblical evangelist and travel around healing the sick as a primary profession. But Christ’s Body on the earth is the “fullness (not the partiality) of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:23)! Collectively we should present nothing short of what Jesus presented to the world. We should proclaim that the Kingdom of God is here NOW and demonstrate it.
I would rather aim at the stars and at least get to the moon than aim at nothing and successfully get there.
While no single person has yet demonstrated the ministry Jesus had, I daresay that His Body on the earth today is collectively getting more sick people healed every day than He did when He walked the shores of Galilee.
Another thing you have to realize is that in Jesus’ day, the rule was that “the common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37). The best meetings I’ve ever done are in places that were not part of American mainstream culture, where the people heard me gladly. When people hear the Word gladly, there can be all kinds of miracles. But at places like Nazareth, there will be NO miracles, no matter how good or anointed you are. If Jesus COULD NOT do miracles in a place like Nazareth, neither can you, but that does not negate Jesus’ promise. Many places today have become such modern-day Nazareths that Jesus Himself would not get any miracles accomplished there. Sometimes it amazes me that ANYONE gets healed given how much unbelief walks around the church world today (at least in some countries) when it comes to healing. Healing is easier in countries and cultures where people are more receptive.
NEVER get your doctrine from other people’s experience, even collective experience that is so below the Bible that it seems ridiculous that it could ever change to match Scripture. Scripture, not experience, should give us the sole target to aim at. You may find that God raises up modern-day Luthers to “raise the bar” of Christian experience – in this case, in the area of healing. Better still, perhaps you will be one of those people He raises up!