Jesus Heals

The following pictures are by
nubiagroup.blogspot.com

The pictures are by http://nubiagroup.blogspot.com/

Trust in an Imperfect World

Trustworthy Under Test

Jesus was tested by Satan the Devil in an effort to break his integrity. He had to maintain his integrity through hardships and suffering, in contrast with Adam, whose obedience as a perfect man was tested simply by his being instructed to obey a divine law. In addition, Jesus had the pressure of knowing that upon his integrity rested the redemption of the human family. - Hebrews 5:8, 9.

Satan, determined to break Jesus' integrity, approached him when Jesus was at his weakest-after he had spent 40 days meditating and fasting in the wilderness. Three times he tempted Jesus-to turn stones into bread; to jump off the temple battlement, presuming that angelic intervention would save him and thus give a miraculous sign to prove his Messiahship; and to accept rulership of all the kingdom of this world in exchange for just one "act of worship" toward Satan. But Jesus rejected each temptation, maintaining his integrity to Jehovah. -Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.

Next time: The Integrity of Job

Watchtower, 1997

God Does Answer Prayers

Modern-Day Examples

A young woman in India was in serious need of comfort. Married at 21, she had two children. But soon after the birth of the second child, her husband died. Suddenly, at the age of 24, she was a widow with a 2-month old daughter and a 22-month old son. No wonder she needed comfort! Where could she turn? One night. In deep distress, she prayed, saying, 'Heavenly Father, please comfort me through your Word."

The next morning, she had a visitor. He was one of Jehovah's Witnesses. That day, his house-to-house ministry had been difficult because few had opened the door to him. Tired and rather discouraged, he was about to go home, but somehow he felt impelled to visit just one more house. That was where he met the young widow. She invited him in and accepted a publication that explained the Bible. The woman drew great comfort from reading that publication and from her discussion with the Witness. She learned of God's promise to raise the dead and of God's Kingdom, which will soon make the earth a paradise. Most important, she came to know and love the one true God, Jehovah, who had answered her prayer. Nora, who lives in the city of George. South Africa, set aside a month to share in the full-time evangelizing work. Before starting, she earnestly prayed to Jehovah to help her to find someone who was genuinely interested in studying the Bible. The territory she was assigned to work included the home or a person who had been very rude to Nora on previous visits. Courageously, Nora called at that home again. To her surprise, she found that a new tenant, named Noleen, had moved in. Moreover, Noleen and her mother had been praying to god for help to understand the Bible. "When I offered them a Bible study," explains Nora, "they were delighted." Noleen and her mother progressed quickly. In time, they both began to share with Nora in the spiritual healing work.

Another example showing the power of prayer is that of a couple who live in the South African city of Johannesburg. On a Saturday night in 1996, Dennis and Carol's marriage reached the breaking point. As a last resort, they decided to pray for help, which they repeatedly did until late into the night. The next morning, at 11 o'clock, two of Jehovah's Witnesses knocked at their door. Dennis answered the door and told them to wait until he called his wife. Dennis then warned Carol that if she invited the Jehovah's Witnesses in, it might be hard to get rid of them. Carol reminded Dennis that they had been praying for help and that this might be God's answer to our prayers. So the Witnesses were invited in, and a Bible study was started in the book Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life. Dennis and Carol were thrilled with what they learned. That same afternoon, they attended their first meeting at the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. By applying the knowledge they had learned from the Bible, Dennis and Carol found solutions to their marital problems. They are now happy, baptized praisers of Jehovah and regularly share in their Bible - based beliefs with their neighbors.

Next time: What if You Feel Unworthy to Pray?

Watchtower, 2000

The Power of Prayer

In his unselfish ministry, Paul suffered from what he described as "at thorn in the flesh." (2 Corinthians 12:7) This could have been the mental and emotional distress caused by oppossers and "false brothers." ( 2 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 2:4) Whatever the case, this "thorn in the flesh" had a weakening effect on Paul. "I three times entreated the Lord that it might depart from me," he wrote. However, Paul's request was not granted. It was explained to Paul that the spiritual benefits he had already received from God, such as power to endure trials, were sufficient. Furthermore, God said: "My power is being made perfect in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:8, 9.

What do we learn from the examples of Eliezer and Paul? Jehovah God indeed listens to the prayers of those who humbly seek to serve him. But this does not mean that he always grants their requests because God has a long range view of matters. He knows better than we do what is in our best interests. More important, he always acts in harmony with his stated purpose as recorded in the Bible.

Next time: A Time for Spiritual Healing

Watchtower, 2000

The Power of Prayer

ELIEZER believes in the power of prayer. With remarkable, childlike faith, he makes this humble request: "Jehovah the God of my master Abraham, cause it to happen, please, before me this day and perform loving-kindness with my master Abraham. Here I am stationed at a fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. What must occur is that the young woman to whom I shall say, 'Let your water jar down, please, that I may take a drink,' and who will indeed say, 'Take a drink, and I shall also water your camels,' this is the one you must assign to your servant, to Isaac; and by this let me know that you have performed loyal love with my master." -Genesis 24:12-14.

Eliezer's confidence in the power of prayer is not in vain. Why, the very first woman who comes to the well happens to be the granddaughter of Abraham's brother! Her name is Rebekah, and she is single, morally chaste and beautiful. Remarkably, she not only gives Eliezer a drink but kindly offers to quench the thirst of all his camel. Later, after a family consultation, Rebekah willingly agrees to go back with Eliezer to a distant land to become the wife of Abraham's son Isaac. What a dramatic and clear answer to Eliezer's prayer back at a time when God occasionally intervened miraculously in events!

We can learn much from Eliezer's prayer. It showed his outstanding faith, humility, and unselfish concern for the needs of others. Eliezer's prayer also showed his submission to Jehovah's way of dealing with mankind. No doubt he was aware of God's special attachment to Abraham as well as His promise that future blessings would come to all mankind through Abraham. (Genesis 12:3) Thus, Eliezer started his prayer with the words: "Jehovah the God of my master Abraham.

Jesus Christ was the descendant of Abraham who would be the means for blessing all obedient mankind. (Genesis 22:18) If we want our prayers to be answered today, we need to show humble recognition of God's way of dealing with mankind through his Son, Jesus Christ said: "If you remain in union with me and my sayings remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will take place for you." -John 15:7.

A follower of Christ who experience the truthfulness of these words of Jesus was the apostle Paul. His belief in the power of prayer was certainly not in vain. He encouraged fellow Christians to take all their anxieties to God in prayer and testified: "For all things I have the strength by virtue of him who impart power to me." (Philippians 4:6, 7, 13) Does this mean that all of Paul's prayers requests to God were granted? Let us see.

Next time: Not All Requests Are Granted

Watchtower, 2000

ARE YOU MOVED TO ACT AS JESUS WAS?

None of us would view the mind of Christ as unique to the first century-to Jesus and the early disciples of whom the apostle Paul wrote: "We do have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:16) And we would readily admit that we are obliged to preach the good news and to make disciples. (Matthew 24:14; 28:19, 20) Yet, it is beneficial to reflect on our own motives for doing that work. It should not be out of a mere sense of duty. Love for God is a primary reason why we share in the ministry, and truly being like Jesus includes being moved by compassion to preach and teach. -Matthew 22:37-39.

Granted, it is not always easy to feel compassion for those who do not share our beliefs, especially when we encounter apathy, rejection, or opposition. Yet, if we were to lose our love and compassion for people, we could lose a vital motivation for sharing in the Christian ministry. How, then, may we cultivate compassion? We can try to see people as Jesus saw them, as "skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36) Does that not describe many today? They have been neglected and blinded spiritually by false religious shepherds. As a result, they do not know of the sound guidance found in the Bible nor of the Paradise conditions that God's Kingdom will soon bring to our earth. They face the problems of daily life-including poverty, family discord, sickness and death- without having the Kingdom hope. We have what they need: "the life-saving good news of God's Kingdom now established in heaven!

When you thus ponder the spiritual needs of those around you, does not your heart move, you want to do all you can to tell them about God's loving purpose? Yes, ours is a work of compassion. When we feel for people as Jesus did, it will be evident in our tone of voice, our facial expression, our manner of teaching. All of that will make our message more appealing to those who are "rightly disposed for everlasting life." -Acts 13:48.

Our love and compassion should, of course, be manifest in our whole life course. This includes our being kind to the disadvantage, sick and poor-doing what we reasonably can to relieve their suffering. It encompasses our efforts in word and deed to dispel the grief of those who have lost loved ones in death. (Luke 7:11-15; John 11:33-35) Yet, such manifestations of love, kindness and compassion must not become the main focus of out good works, as they are with some humanitarians. Of much more lasting significance are efforts motivated by similar divine qualities but manifested in sharing in the work of Christian preaching and teaching. Recall what Jesus said about the Jewish religious leaders: "You give the tenth of the mint and the dill and the cumin, but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, namely, justice and mercy and faithfulness. These things it was binging to do, yet not to disregard the other things." (Matthew 23:23) With Jesus it was not one or the other-either helping people with their physical needs or teaching them the life-giving spiritual matters. Jesus did both. Still, it is clear that his teaching work was foremost because the good he thus accomplished could be of everlasting help. - John 20:16.

How grateful we can be that Jehovah has revealed the mind of Christ to us! By means of the Gospels, we can come to know better the thoughts, feelings, qualities, activities and priorities of the greatest man who ever lived. it is up to us to read , meditate upon, and put into practice what the Bible reveals about Jesus, we must first learn to think, feel, and evaluate matters as he did, to the best of our ability as imperfect humans. Let us, then, be determined to cultivate and demonstrate the mind of Christ. There is no better way to live, no better way to treat people,and no better way for us and others to draw close to the one whom he perfectly reflected, our tender God, Jehovah. -2 Corinthians 1:3; Hebrews 1:
3.

Next time: The Power of Prayer

Watchtower, 2000

ARE YOU MOVED TO ACT AS JESUS WAS?

He Urged Others to Witness

Priority put on preaching and teaching-as an expression of love and compassion-was not for Jesus alone. He urged his followers to imitate his motives, priorities and actions. For instance, after Jesus selected his 12 apostles, what were they to do? Mark 3:14, 15 tells us: "He formed a group of twelve, whom he also named 'apostles,' that they might continue with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to expel the demons." Do you see any priority for the apostles?

In time, Jesus did enable the 12 to heal others and to expel demons. (Matthew 10:1; Luke 9:1) He then sent them on a tour to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." To do what? Jesus directed them: "As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.' Cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons." (Matthew 10:5-8; Luke 9:2) What, in fact, did they do? "So they set out and [1] preached in order that people might repent; and [2] they would expel many demons and grease many sickly people with oil and cure them." -Mark 6:12, 13.

Since teaching is not in every instance mentioned first,is noting the above sequence reading too much into the matter of priorities or the motives involved? (Luke 10:1-9) Well, we should not discount the frequency with which teaching is mentioned before healing. Consider the context in this case. Just before sending out the 12 apostles, Jesus had been touched by the condition of the crowds. We read: "Jesus set out on a tour of all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom and curing every sort of disease and every sort of infirmity. On seeing the crowds he felt pity for them, because they were skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples: 'Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.' " -Matthew 9:35-38.

By being with him. The apostles could absorb some of the mind of Christ. They could sense that their being truly loving and compassionate toward people included preaching and teaching about the Kingdom- that was to be a principal aspect of their good works. In line with that, the fine deeds of a physical nature, such as healing the sick, did more than help the needy. As you can imagine, some people might be drawn by cures and miraculously provided food. (Matthew 4:24,25; 8:16; 9:32, 33; 14:35, 36; John 6:26) Beyond being of physical help, however, those works actually moved observers to recognize that Jesus was the Son of God and "the prophet" that Moses had foretold. -John 6:14; Deuteronomy 18:15.

Why was it significant that Jesus was "the prophet?" Well, what was the key role foretold for that one? Was "the prophet" to be famous for performing miraculous healings or compassionately producing food for the hungry? Deuteronomy 18:18 predicted: "A prophet I shall raise up for them from the midst of their brothers, like you [Moses]; and I shall indeed put my words in his mouth, and he will certainly speak to them all that I shall command him." So even as the apostles learned to have and express tender feelings, they could conclude that the mind of Christ was to be evidenced also in their preaching and teaching activity. that would be the very best that they could do for his people. By that means, the sick and the poor could gain permanent benefits, not just those limited to a shore human life span or a meal or two. -John 6:26-30.

Next time: Develop the Mind of Christ Today

Watchtower, 2000

ARE YOU MOVED TO ACT AS JESUS WAS?

Moved to Respond to Spiritual Needs

Jesus felt pity for those around him primarily because of their spiritual needs. those needs were of chief importance, more so then physical needs. Consider the account of mark 6:30-34. The incident recorded there took place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, close to the time of the Passover in 32 C.E. The apostles were excited, and for good reason. Having just completed an extensive tour, they came to Jesus, no doubt eager to tell him their experiences. However, a crowd gathered. It was so large that Jesus and his apostles could neither eat nor rest. Jesus told the apostles: "Come, you yourselves, privately into a lonely place and rest up a bit." (Mark 6:31) Boarding a boat, probably near Capernaum, they sailed across the Sea of Galilee to a quiet place. But the crowd ran along the shore and arrived ahead of the boat. How would Jesus respond? Was he upset that his privacy was disturbed? Not at all!

Jesus' heart was touched by the sight of this crowd of thousands, including sick ones, who eagerly awaited him. (Matthew 14:14; Mark 6:44) Focusing on what aroused Jesus' compassion and how he responded, Mark wrote: "He saw a great crowd, but he was moved with pity for them, because they were as sheep without a shepherd. And he started to teach them many things." (Mark 6:34) Jesus saw more than a mass of people. He saw individuals having spiritual needs. They were like sheep straying helplessly, having no shepherd to guide them to green pastures or to protect them. Jesus knew that the cold hearted religious leaders, who were suppose to be caring shepherds, actually despised the common people and neglected their spiritual needs. (Ezekiel 34:2-4; John 7:47-49) Jesus would treat them differently,doing the greatest possible good for them. He began teaching them about God's Kingdom.

Notice the sequence and the suggestion of priority evident in a parallel account. This was written by Luke, who was a physician and keenly interested in the physical well-being of others. "The crowds . . . followed [Jesus]. And he received them kindly and began to speak to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those needing a cure." (Luke 9:11; Colossians 4:14) Though it is not so with every account of a miracle, in this case,what did Luke's' inspired account note first? It was the fact that Jesus taught the people.

This actually agrees with the emphasis that we find at Mark 6:34. That verse clearly shows how Jesus was principally moved to express his pity. He taught the people, responding to their spiritual needs. Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had said: "To other cities I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sen forth." (Luke 4:43) Still, we would be mistaken, if we though that Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom message out of mere duty, as if he perfunctorily went through the motions of the preaching work that he had to do. No, his loving compassion for the people was a key motivation for his sharing the good news with them. The ultimate good that Jesus could do-even for the sick, the demon afflicted the poor, or the hungry-was to help them to know, accept, and love the truth about God's Kingdom. That truth was of central importance because of the role of the Kingdom in vindicating Jehovah's sovereignty and providing permanent blessings for humans.

Jesus' active preaching about the Kingdom was at the core of the reason why he came to earth. Near the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus told Pilate: "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is on the side of truth listens to my voice." (John 18:37) We have noted in the two preceding articles that Jesus was a person of tender feelings-caring, approachable, considerate, trusting and above all, loving, We need to appreciate those aspects of his personality if we truly want to understand the mind of Christ. It is equally important to realize that the mind of Christ includes the priority he placed on his preaching and teaching work.

Next time: He Urged Others to Witness

Watchtower, 2000

ARE YOU MOVED TO ACT AS JESUS WAS?

DOWN through history many individuals have manifested admirable qualities. You can understand why. Jehovah God possesses and displays love, kindness, generosity and other qualities that we esteem. Humans were created in God's image. So we can appreciate why many would show a degree of love, kindness compassion and other divine qualities, even as most reflect a conscience. (Genesis 1:26; Romans 2:14, 15) You may realize, though, that some display these qualities more readily than others.

Probably you are acquainted with men and women who often visit or aid the sick, show compassion to the handicapped, or give generously to the poor. Think, too, of individuals whose compassion moves them to expend their lives working in leper colonies or orphanages, those who do volunteer work in hospitals or hospices, or people who strive to assist the homeless or those who are refugees. Likely, some of them feel that they are imitating Jesus, who set the pattern for Christians. We read in the Gospels that Christ healed the sick and fed the hungry. (Mark 1:34; 8:1-9; Luke 4:40) Jesus' displays of love, tenderness and compassion are reflections of "the mind of Christ," who in turn was imitating the heavenly Father. - 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Have you observed, though, that today many of those touched by Jesus' love and compassion overlook a key feature of the mind of Christ? We can gain insight into this by a careful consideration of Mark chapter 6. We read there that people brought the sick to Jesus to be healed. In the context, we also learn that upon seeing the thousands who had come to him had grown hungry, Jesus fed them miraculously. (Mark 6:35-44, 54-56) Healing the sick and feeding the hungry were outstanding displays of loving compassion, but were they the primary ways in which Jesus helped others? And how can we best imitate his perfect example of love, kindness and compassion, even as he imitated Jehovah?

Next time: Moved to Respond to Spiritual Needs

Watchtower,2000