Jesus is the Same?

Last week, we heard that a person we had known for many years has been in hospital dealing with cancer in the lungs and liver. She is a Christian and belongs to a good church. The generally response is that it is sad for someone of her age to have such a serious sickness. I was not sad. I was just angry, wondering what has gone wrong with our gospel.

I have been reading through Luke’s gospel. That evening I arrived at Luke 6.

Jesus 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, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the crowd all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all (Luke 6:17-19).

I was struck by the huge different in Jesus’ gospel from what we have today. A great multitude of people had come and he healed all their diseases. He was able to do this because power was going out from him. I presume this was the Holy Spirit who had anointed him. We like to quote the promise that Jesus is the same, yesterday today and forever, but we do not believe it. Our Jesus cannot do what Luke’s Jesus did.