Lenten Perspective: Clashing Kingdoms

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Clashing Kingdoms

Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a large area of level ground.  A great company of his disciples and a huge crowd of people from all around Judea and Jerusalem and the area around Tyre and Sidon joined him there.  They came to hear him and to be healed from their diseases, and those bothered by unclean spirits were healed.  The whole crowd wanted to touch him, because power was going out from him and he was healing everyone.

Luke 6:17-19 (CEB)

I'm gonna pray until they tear your kingdom down

Pray until they tear your kingdom down

I heard the voice of Jesus say

Satan, your kingdom must come down

From "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down," a traditional spiritual

In the Gospels, we read that, as Jesus traveled throughout Galilee and Judea, proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God, He performed many miraculous healings and exorcisms.  Eventually, He started sending out His followers to do the same things they had been watching Him do.  Giving them "power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases," He instructed them "to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal."¹

Many Christians like to separate faith and works, but, in the Gospel story, the proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God was to be accompanied by healing.  For Jesus, the two were inextricably linked.

So what exactly is the connection between evangelism and healing?

Jesus once sent seventy of His followers to the places He planned to visit.  He instructed them to cure the sick as they proclaimed, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."²  It is important to realize that the coming of one kingdom means the downfall of another.  In Jesus' day, things like disease and mental illness were attributed to demons.  The coming of the Kingdom of God meant the downfall of demonic kingdoms.  Proclamation of the Good News must have been accompanied by healing, because, if people were to truly believe that the Kingdom of God had come near, then they needed to see that the kingdoms of darkness were crumbling.

When some of those who were sent out by Jesus reported back to Him, they said, astonished, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!"  Jesus replied, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning."³

When Jesus began His ministry, He paid a visit to His hometown of Nazareth.  On the sabbath day, when He attended the synagogue, He stood up to read a certain passage from the Book of Isaiah.  He read,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Jesus then sat down and said to the congregation, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."  Basically, the coming of the Kingdom that Jesus announced means good news for the poor, release for prisoners, sight for the blind, and freedom for the oppressed.⁴

The demonic is oppressive by nature,

but the Good News of the Kingdom of God is liberating.

Nowadays, we don't typically attribute diseases and mental illnesses to evil spirits, but people still face oppression in many forms.  Demons of greed and bigotry still run rampant in our society, but the coming of the Kingdom of God means the end of such things.  People still need to hear Good News, and it's not enough to promise them everything will get better "some bright morning when this life is over."⁵  They need to see kingdoms of oppression crumble in their sight.  Modern-day evangelism must still be accompanied by the healing of illnesses, be they physical, mental, or societal.

Maybe this time of repentance known as Lent is a good time for us to rethink how we've been sharing our faith.  If it doesn't set people free, it isn't the Gospel.  Christ calls His followers to reflect His light into the world.  Light drives away darkness, so, if the world around us seems dark, then maybe we haven't been shining.


Notes:

1. Luke 9:1-2 (NRSV)
2. Luke 10:1, 9 (NRSV)
3. Luke 10:17-18 (NRSV)
4. Luke 4:16-21 (NRSV)
5. From the hymn "I'll Fly Away" by Albert E. Brumley

Christ Healing the Blind Man was painted by Eustache Le Sueur in the 1600s.