It is related in the Gospel of Luke that John the Baptist, while in prison, sent two of his students to Jesus to ask if he was indeed the Messiah of prophecy. It is also recorded that "in that same hour" he healed many of those present of their diseases. Then Jesus, the record tells us, addressed himself directly to the messengers, and told them to tell John what they had seen. "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached."
Clearly Jesus had sent an answer which he felt would satisfy John. Indeed, this reply not only dealt with John's uncertainty, but established the fact that works, rather than words, provided the best answer to those who inquire concerning the power of God to heal. In both teaching and practice Jesus proved that the vitality of Christianity lay in its immediate results, when applied to the problems of those who sought its help. No one who came to Jesus was told that his disease was incurable, or that his sin precluded his recovery from shame and helplessness. No one was told that a problem had gone on too long for help; nor even that because death had occurred, it was too late for him to do something for those who sought his aid. In each case the sufferer was made whole, the sinner was restored to sanity and usefulness; and grief and tragedy were eliminated when those who had died were restored to life and health.
These great works were not mere exhibitions of some mysterious power, of which Jesus alone had the secret. They were the natural result of his intelligent understanding of God, a knowledge which he not only possessed himself, but imparted to his students and taught them to use with assurance. Luke, in the ninth chapter of his record of the Master's life, leaves us this significant picture of what Jesus demanded and received from his disciples: "Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.... And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where."
