CHRISTIAN WALK
The Ministry Model of Jesus:
How We Are to Minister
By Frank A. DeCenso
Guest Writer
CBN.com –
Empowerment for Mission
37You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning
in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—38how
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,
and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under
the power of the devil, because God was with him. (Acts 10:37-38)
Jesus’ mission required power that could only come from
God. No super-prophet could have done the job; no well-educated
scribe had the necessary equipment. Only someone empowered by
God would have been up to the task. Jesus was. He came to earth
in the likeness of men, laid aside His divine attributes, and
lived among men and women as a man under the anointing and power
of the Holy Spirit. He was the example of One who could fulfill
the task of reaching an immensely hurting world by bringing them
God's presence, power, and love.
The disciples in Acts understood the need for this supernatural
empowerment.
29Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your
servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30Stretch
out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders
through the name of your holy servant Jesus." (Acts 4:29-30)
For them, performing the missional works of Jesus required something
special – a divine partnership with God in bringing His
gospel to the world. The anointing and power Jesus had been given
wasn’t just for Him. All believers who desired to do the
works of Jesus needed it, and as a result of humble prayer, received
it.
12The apostles performed many miraculous signs and
wonders among the people. (Acts 5:12a)
14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed
in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As
a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid
them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might
fall on some of them as he passed by. 16Crowds gathered also
from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those
tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. (Acts 5:14-16)
8Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power,
did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. (Acts 6:8)
6When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous
signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
7With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and
many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8So there was great
joy in that city. (Acts 8:6-8)
32As Peter traveled about the country, he went to
visit the saints in Lydda. 33There he found a man
named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years.
34"Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus
Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Immediately
Aeneas got up. 35All those who lived in Lydda and
Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. (Acts 9:32-35)
3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there,
speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his
grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. (Acts 14:3)
11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so
that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were
taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil
spirits left them. (Acts 19:11-12)
God’s power was more than sufficient for the task of reaching
the needs of the sick and demonized. A result of the anointing
and power of the Holy Spirit poured out through those believers
was that multitudes also came to the Lord for salvation. As Jesus
had the Father “with Him,” the disciples had God the
Holy Spirit, Who greatly empowered them for the mission in which
they were engaged.
Likewise, we can cry out to God for the same anointing of the
Holy Spirit and power that Jesus had and the believers in Acts
received, and when God answers our prayers, we will reach this
hurting and dying world in ways that mere words and counsel never
can.
With so much pain in this world, how can we know those to minister
to and how to minister individually to them? This question brings
us to the third component.
Method of Empowered Mission
19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the
truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what
he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the
Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and
shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him
even greater things than these. (John 5:19-20)
Couched in the context of these statements in John 5, an important
element in Jesus' ministry model is revealed. Jesus was at a pool
that had many sick people around it.
2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate
a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded
by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number
of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. (John 5:2-3)
Out of the crowd of the ill, Jesus healed one man. His statement
in verse 19 indicates He followed the direction of the Father
and only did what He saw the Father doing. Jesus didn’t
minister under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and power randomly,
nor did He clear out this pool of all the sick people. He followed
the Father's lead and proclaimed what the Father was doing or
had already done. There were times multitudes came to Him and
He healed them all (Luke 4:40; Matthew 4:23-24; 9:35; 15:29-30;
19:1-2; 21:14). But based on Jesus’ own words in John 5:19,
we can assume it was the Father’s will to heal all those
individuals on those occasions. But for some reason, not at the
Bethesda pool.
An interesting word is used in verse 20 for “loves.”
It is the Greek word phileo and it means to be friends,
to be fond of, perhaps even to kiss. Jesus, in essence, said that
the Father and the Son are friends working together to accomplish
the mission the Son came to do. An important principle emerges
here—divine friendship leads to divine partnership.
As we become fond friends of God through intimacy with Him, He
will begin to lead us to folks that need to be healed, delivered,
and saved. In those times, His anointing will give us the power
we need to proclaim the kingdom of God to them, and not only will
their visibly apparent needs be met, but they will also come to
know the God of the universe in a greater way than they would
have had we simply counseled them with wise words.
Embracing Jesus’ mission, being empowered by God for the
mission, and following the Father's leading in the mission together
constitute a model of ministry that will enable us to be much
more effective in advancing God’s kingdom in this pain-laden
world.
© Frank A. DeCenso. All Scripture references
are NIV unless otherwise noted.
Frank has been teaching the Bible in churches
and other venues for more than 20 years. He is currently the Ministry
Resources Director at Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Virginia
Beach, Va. He is an employee at Regent University in the Information
Technology Department. Frank is married and lives in Virginia
Beach.
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