Objection: Luke 5:17 Says That the Power of the Lord Was Present to Heal Them, Proving That the Power to Heal Is Not Always Present
Luke 5:17:
And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
When you think about this verse, it certainly begs the question, “Is the power of the Lord NOT always present to heal? Otherwise, why would Luke say this?” And someone can take this and run with it to try to prove that God’s healing power is not always available.
However, many people elsewhere received healing just by touching Jesus’ clothes, even when He didn’t know who was touching Him. They believed He was the Christ, which literally means the Anointed, so they believed that He has the anointing they needed to be healed. Jesus noticed that power flowed out of Himself.
Mark 5:30:
And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue [power] had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
Therefore, the power of the Lord was ALWAYS present to heal wherever Jesus was. This same anointed Jesus who healed the sick lives in you as a believer. Therefore, the power of the Lord is always present to heal you today. That settles the issue of whether the power of the Lord is like a third world country power grid that goes on and off. His power is always “on.” Regardless of how you answer the question about what Luke meant, it doesn’t affect your ability to receive healing from the Lord at YOUR will. HIS will is already settled because Jesus paid the price for your healing. You can receive it at any time just as a sinner can be born again at any time. The timing is up to you, not God. NOW is the day of salvation, which includes healing (2 Corinthians 6:2).
This still leaves the question of what Luke meant. Was he just emphasizing that the power was present to heal even though it was always present to heal? That idea makes Luke’s statement seems misleading.
I believe Luke referred to a special manifestation of the anointing. While anyone can receive healing from Jesus today (as it was back then), there are times when “gifts of healings” manifest. At such times, there is often tangible power in the room, and people can receive from that power rather than everything being a faith transaction. Such services are wonderful to be in (or conduct!), but the minister does not control when there will be a special manifestation. When gifts of healings are in manifestation, people can be healed with limited or nonexistent knowledge of divine healing because it is not their faith that is making them well. Of course, if I had my way, I would ALWAYS want to minister through gifts of healings, but this is only as the Spirit wills (see 1 Corinthians 12:8-11). I think it is safe to say that the scoffing religious people were not in faith, yet the anointing was there to heal them if they would have only tapped into it.
It is ALWAYS God’s will to heal. However, I learned that a special anointing can be present in the room for the gifts to manifest. When I used to play the piano for other healing ministers, it got to the point that I knew when they were going to change the order of the service and start flowing in the gifts because something spiritually tangible suddenly manifested in the room and I picked up on it. I believe this is what Luke would describe as the power of the Lord being present to heal people. That particular anointing was not always in manifestation; I knew when it was and when it wasn’t.
As a pastor, sometimes I would be leading worship (with a piano, still!) and I sensed that the Holy Spirit wanted me to cut the song service short and immediately begin ministering healing to those who needed it. How did I know? That same tangible anointing that I sensed when I used to play the piano for other ministers would suddenly be present. I knew it was time to change the order of the service and flow in the gifts of healings, just as the other ministers did. I could describe this situation as the power of the Lord being present to heal. His power is always available by faith, but when there is a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit, it is wise to drop whatever you’re doing and flow with it. People will get healed through gifts of healings who might not have been healed by their own faith. You could wait until the end of the service, but then it would be strictly a faith transaction. When the power of the Lord is present to heal in this way, that is the time to act, not later.
So I agree in part with the objection in that there IS a sense where a special anointing is there to heal, and that special anointing is not always present. However, that does NOT mean that that power of the Lord is not available to heal you whenever you want it or that God arbitrarily turns His healing power on and off. God cannot wihthhold what is already legally yours.