In Matthew 10, Jesus gives his disciples two instructions as he sends them out: preach the good news and heal the sick.
Preach the good news. Jesus says tell them the kingdom of God is at hand. What’s the good news? The short answer is that to anyone who observes it, the world is in a terrible state. Scan the news headlines any day on the internet. Talk with people about the brokenness of their lives. It doesn’t take a genius to see we’re a long way from Eden when humanity and God lived in peaceful unity! The good new is that our Father has a plan to set the world right and he sent Jesus to make it happen. Jesus then left us, as his people, the responsibility to work with him to continue his work. The good news is that the world can be set right and that others can join in working alongside our Father to restore the earth.
Heal the sick. Jesus gave his disciples power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper and cast out demons. He must have known that they would need that power to accomplish his will so he gave it to them. In fact, he said, freely you have been given so freely give. It is a generous response to the need of his disciples to work in power and a generous response to those to whom the disciples would preach. Healing combines the elements of setting things right in the world (healing illness) and participating with Christ in saving the world (we are given the power to heal and so we can work along with Jesus to effect the change that the world so desperately needs).
What to do? Talk to others about how their lives and the world can be set right in Christ. Reach out boldly and in love to pray with the sick and those in distress. Yes, we can.
