Quotes About Healings

Three gifts of utterance that say something: • Prophecy • Divers kinds of tongues • Interpretation of tongues Three gifts of power that do something: • The gift of faith • The working of miracles • The gifts of healings Three gifts of revelation that reveal something: • The word of wisdom • The word of knowledge • The discerning of spirits

Clearly, therefore, the preaching is an explanation of the healings. On the one hand, the healings — marvelous as they are — do not explain themselves. They could be misinterpreted — as in fact they were by Jesus' enemies, who attributed his healing works to Satanic power. The works by themselves did not communicate the new fact. That had to be stated in plain words: "The kingdom of God has drawn near.

People often think of "miracles" as the "invasion" of the natural order by a force from outside. That wasn't how the early Christians saw it. For them, dramatic and otherwise inexplicable healings were seen as evidence of new creation, of the Creator himself at work in a fresh way.

The parables, however, and indeed, the miracles and the healings, are all teaching devices, exercises in interpreting the larger principles