A Biblical Example of a “Healing Service”

Did you know there is a healing service in the Bible? Actually, it is a healing and deliverance service and it is even Pentecostal. You have probably read the passage dozens of times but have never thought about it as an example of a healing service.

The possibility that the first idea of a “healing” ministry or service you ever came across was something you saw on TV or in your neighborhood doesn’t help the matter. You probably know or attend a church that has regular “healing and deliverance” services. These are special services where people suffering from various “physical, social or psychological” ailments come to church and they are prayed over and get healed. It is a time when people struggling with various addictions and generational curses come to get deliverance and freedom.

But the biblical story of something close to this looks quite different. It begins with a man seated near a gate. The name of the gate is “Beautiful”, and the man is anything but. He is poor, dirty and lame. You can find the story in the third chapter of Acts. The gate leads to a temple, and the lame man is a beggar. Peter and John are going to the temple to pray when this lame beggar asks them for money.

As the story goes, the two men have no money, but they offer the beggar something else. That’s when Peter says these famous words: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” The man jumps to his feet – healed – and follows Peter and John into the temple – praising God.

People who knew the man and knew that he was a cripple see what has just happened and they follow the trio into the temple. Of course the people are curious. Peter notices this and he turns towards them and says, “Who else wants to be healed like this man? Bring your lame and your sick people and I will show you what my God can do.” Okay, he didn’t say that. But what he said seems quite counter-intuitive and unexpected:

“Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” [Acts 3:12-15]

Instead of inviting them for more miracles, Peter accuses the masses. Instead of inducting them for an hour of power, he indicts them for disregarding God’s power. He points out their sins and their role in the crucifixion of Jesus. Instead of capitalizing on the new-found clout, Peter begins to offend the people. Instead of sustaining the “supernatural atmosphere” he preaches the Gospel.

“By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.” [Acts 3:16]

Peter uses the miracle as an entry-point to a different message, a deeper message. He uses the miracle as a hook and bait into a greater message of healing and reconciliation.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” [Acts 3:19-20]

In other words, Peter turns this single spectacle of healing into a sermon on true healing – the redemption of souls separated from God by sin. The healing and deliverance that comes from turning away from our sin and believing on the salvation that comes through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter is saying that what they just saw was a shadow, a glimpse, a picture of something more real and lasting.

Of course, there were people in the crowd who were physically sick and lame and suffering. There were people who wished and prayed that they, too, could get a portion of the healing that the crippled beggar had received. Some of these people might have turned away disappointed, because Peter had instead focused on the message of soul redemption instead of the magic of bodily healing.

I bet many people walked away disappointed that the “healing and deliverance service” they expected isn’t what they got. They walked away never realizing that it is better to be without an arm or a leg or an eye than to lose their souls because they never believed on the one who could save both the body and the soul.