Here I analyze all the references to healing in the book of Luke. We do not know much about Luke, except that he was a physician and a Gentile, and the only Gentile to write any part of the New Testament.
Jesus begins His public ministry
Jesus was preaching at the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day. He opened the scroll of Isaiah and said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord (Luke 4: 18-19).” Therefore Jesus, among other important things, came to heal us. Notice Jesus said He came to heal the blind, not some of the blind or some of the people.
He then predicted to them that they would ask that He heal people in His own country (His hometown of Nazareth) as they had heard that He had done in Capernaum (Luke 4: 23-24), but that no prophet is welcome in his own country. Why? Because lack of faith prevents the healing from happening.
Jesus heals a man in Capernaum
Back in the synagogue of Capernaum, also on the Sabbath, Jesus cast out and healed a man that had an unclean spirit. The spirit recognized Him, calling Him Jesus of Nazareth and the Holy One of God, but Jesus rebuked him and ordered him out of the man. The unclean spirit came out of the man without injuring him in any way. People were amazed by the authority and the power He had to command unclean spirits (Luke 4: 31-37).
Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law and others
From the synagogue He went to Simon’s house where He found that Simon’s mother-in-law had a high fever. Jesus immediately rebuked the fever, and the woman got up and served them food (Luke 4: 38-39).
Later in the day at sundown, people brought to Him their loved ones that had various diseases. Jesus laid His hands on them, and they were healed. The demons came out of many saying, “You are the Son of God.” Jesus rebuked them and did not allow them to speak. Again, we find here a close association of diseases with demons (Luke 4: 40-41).
Jesus heals a leper
Jesus was in a city when a man with an advanced case of leprosy came to Him and fell on his face. He asked Jesus, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean and well.” Jesus touched him and said, “I am willing, be cleansed.” The leprosy immediately left him. Jesus told him to tell no one, but the word got around because other people were being also healed of their illnesses (Luke 5: 12-16).
Jesus forgives a paralyzed man and heals him
One day Jesus was teaching in the presence of Pharisees and teachers of the law that had come from many parts of Israel. Luke says that the power of God to heal was present in Jesus (Luke 5: 17). Next, some men bring a paralyzed man in a stretcher, and they try to bring him into the house where Jesus was preaching but could not, so they removed some tiles from the roof and lowered the man through the opening. This is the same event described by Mark (Mark 2: 1-12). Jesus saw the faith of the men, forgave the paralyzed man of his sins, and healed him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law that were present were appalled. Jews at the time considered this a blasphemy because they believed that only God could forgive sins.
Jesus read their thoughts and asked them why they were questioning these things in their hearts. He then asked them which would be easier, to say to someone ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’. This is another situation where Jesus wants us to go out on a limb with our faith. Anybody can say to someone ‘Your sins are forgiven’; the results are not apparent immediately. However, if you say to someone ‘Get up and walk’ the people present will expect to see the results of the healing in short order.
Jesus explained that in order that they may know that the Son of Man (the Messiah) has authority and power on earth to forgive sins, He ordered the paralyzed man, “I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” The man immediately stood, picked up his stretcher, and went home glorifying and praising God. Everybody was astonished (Luke 5: 17-26).
Jesus heals on the Sabbath
One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, where a man was present whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus was aware of their thoughts and told the man to get up and come forward, and then asked them if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it. Nobody answered Him. Then He said to the man to stretch out his hand, and when he did so his hand was fully healed. The scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and started plotting against Jesus (Luke 6: 6-11).
Jesus chooses the Twelve and heals
After choosing the twelve apostles (an apostle is a special messenger, a personally chosen representative) Jesus stood where there was a large crowd of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. The people had come to listen to Him and to be healed of their diseases. This passage tells us that even those who were troubled by unclean spirits, demons, were being healed. A distinction is made here, that not all the people that sought His healing had unclean spirits. It goes on to say that people were trying to touch Him, because healing power was coming from Him and healing them all of them (Luke 6: 17-19).
The faith of the centurion
One of my favorite passages of the New Testament, the faith of the Roman centurion (Matthew 8: 5-13), is also described by Luke. The difference here is that in Luke explains that the Centurion sends friends to talk to Jesus rather than talking to Jesus himself (Luke 7: 1-10). Otherwise, the result is the same: Jesus healed the centurion’s servant from afar (See what I wrote about the faith of the centurion in Matthew).
Jesus raises the son of a widow
Soon afterward, Jesus was in a town called Nain which is near Nazareth. At the town gate, a large crowd from the town was carrying a dead person presumably to be buried. The dead man was the only son of a widow. Jesus was moved and told the widow not to cry. Jesus went to the dead man and said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to talk. The people were filled with awe and praised God. The news about this miracle spread throughout Judea and surrounding areas (Luke 7: 11-17).
Jesus meets the disciples of John the Baptist
John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the one who was to come (the Messiah), or should they expect someone else. This happened at “the very hour Jesus healed many people of sicknesses and infirmities and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.” He said to John’s disciples, “Go and tell John about everything you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news. Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me (Luke 7: 18-23).”
Women among the disciples
Jesus traveled from one town and village to another, and with Him are the twelve disciples and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases, including Mary Magdalene who was delivered from seven demons (Luke 8: 1-2).
Jesus restores a demon-possessed man
Jesus sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. There he was met by a demon-possessed man who did not wear any clothes and lived in the tombs. When asked, he told Jesus his name was “Legion,” because many demons had gone into him. They begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go off the cliff. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into a nearby herd of pigs, and he gave them permission. The herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned (Luke 8: 26-33).
People then saw the man restored to his health, dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Notice Luke treats the incident as a disease. People of the area were so afraid of what they witnessed that they asked Jesus to leave them, which He did. Jesus ordered the cured man to return home and tell how much God had done for him (Luke 8: 34-39).
Jesus raises a dead girl and heals a sick woman
A synagogue leader came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. Jesus was on his way, but a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years but could not get healed came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped (Luke 8: 40-44).
Jesus wanted to know who had touched Him. Peter suggested that the people were crowding and pressing against Him, but Jesus said, “Who touched me? I know that power has gone out from me.” The woman fell at his feet trembling and said that as she had touched him, she had been instantly healed. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace (Luke 8: 45-48).”
Someone came and told the synagogue leader that his daughter had died. When he heard this, Jesus told him to do not be afraid; to just believe, and that his daughter would be healed (Luke 8: 49-50).”
Jesus went to the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. People were wailing and mourning, and Jesus told them to stop wailing because the girl was not dead but asleep. He took the girl by the hand and told her to get up. Luke tells us the spirit of the girl returned, and she stood up immediately. The parents of the girl were astonished, but He ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened. I am not sure why Jesus performed miracles and sometimes told the people around Him or His disciples not to tell anybody (Luke 8: 51-56).
Jesus commissions the Twelve
Luke tells us that Jesus commissioned the Twelve apostles and “he gave them power and authority to drive out all the demons and to heal diseases. Then He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to perform healing (Luke 9: 1-2).” Notice that right from the get-go, curing diseases was one of the main tasks of the apostles. He then says that “they began going from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing the sick everywhere (Luke 9: 6).”
When the apostles returned, they went with Jesus to the town of Bethsaida where He spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed to be healed (Luke 9: 10-11).
Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy
A man in a crowd called out to Jesus and asked Him for help with his son, who was demon-possessed. He also told Him that His disciples had not been able to drive the spirit out. Jesus rebuked them for not being able to do so and asked the man to bring the boy. Jesus ordered the impure spirit, healed the boy, and returned him back to his father (Luke 9: 37-43). Again, here you will notice the close association between evil spirits and disease.
This same healing event is given with more detail in Mark 8: 17-25, but there the boy’s father told Jesus that His disciples had not been able to drive the spirit out of the boy. Did not the disciples have enough power to heal the boy? No, they had enough faith, but their unbelief hindered their healing.
Not only the apostles can drive out evil spirits (and heal)
John told Jesus that they had seen someone driving out demons in His name and they had tried to stop him, because he was not one of the disciples. Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for he who is not against you is for you (Luke 9: 49-50).” This passage destroys the argument that some Christians have, that the power to heal and drive out evil spirits ended at the end of the apostolic age.
Jesus sends out the Seventy-Two
The Lord appointed seventy-two other apostles and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go (Luke 10: 1). He ordered them, “When you go into a city and they welcome you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.’ (Luke 10: 8-9).
“The one who listens to you listens to Me; and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me (Luke 10: 16).” The word of God (and therefore His power) is passed on from God to Jesus Christ, from Jesus Christ to His followers, and from His followers to the people. When you talk to people about the word of God, you are doing this.
When the seventy-two returned they told Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” He replied to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Listen carefully: I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will harm you (Luke 10: 17-19).” You may think, “But Jesus gave this authority to his disciples, not to us!” Then read verse 16 again.
Jesus and Beelzebub
Jesus drove out a demon that was causing a man to be mute. The people around were amazed but some said that Jesus was driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub (a major demon, sometimes used as another word for Satan). Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is doomed to destruction; and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand and continue to survive (Luke 11: 14-18)?
Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath
Jesus drove out a demon that was causing a man to be mute. The people around were amazed but some said that Jesus was driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub (a major demon, sometimes used as another word for Satan). Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is doomed to destruction; and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand and continue to survive (Luke 11: 14-18)?
Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath
Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath where there was a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up, but Jesus saw her and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Immediately she was healed, and she praised God. In this case, disease was associated with a spirit. The synagogue leader complained that Jesus was healing on the Sabbath (Luke 13: 10-17).
Jesus at a Pharisee’s home
Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee on a Sabbath. As usual, these religious zealots were carefully watching him. There was a man present that was suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees if it would be lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not, but they did not respond. Jesus healed the man and then asked them what they would do on the Sabbath day if a child or an ox fell into a well. Would they not immediately pull it out? Again, the Pharisees did not answer (Luke 14: 1-6).
How much faith do we need?
The apostles thought they did not have enough faith do the things Jesus wanted them to do, so they asked Him to increase their faith. Jesus replied to them, that if they had faith in God as (small as) a mustard seed, they could say to a mulberry tree to be pulled up by the roots and to be planted in the sea, and it would obey them (Luke 17: 5-6). This is another example of Jesus telling us to talk to our problems and command them to go away, to be solved.
Jesus heals ten men with leprosy
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem when he met ten men who had leprosy outside of a village. At a distance, they asked Him in a loud voice to have pity on them. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests, and as they did so they were cleansed of their disease. One of the men, a Samaritan, came back to Jesus and started praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at His feet and thanked Him. Jesus asked him what had happened to the other nine men. Had they also been healed but only one of them had returned to give praise to God? Jesus told the Samaritan (a foreigner) to rise and go on his way, and then added, “Your faith has restored you to health (Luke 17: 11-19).” Again, Jesus tells us that it is our faith that heals us, and that this works with Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) alike.
A blind beggar receives his sight
Jesus was coming into Jericho when a blind beggar was by the roadside. He heard the crowd following Jesus, and people told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He yelled, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” People rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he kept shouting. Jesus stopped and told the people to bring the man to Him. Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He told the Lord he wanted to see again. Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; your faith has made you well.” He immediately was able to see and followed Jesus, praising God (Luke 18: 35-43). Notice that Jesus told the beggar that it was his faith that had healed him. Faith heals.
Jesus heals before He was arrested
A crowd came to arrest Jesus while He and His disciples were on the Mount of Olives. His disciples asked, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” Without getting an answer, one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. Jesus stopped him and he touched the man’s ear and healed him. This healing miracle was obviously performed to stop the actions of His disciples, who were starting a battle that would interfere with the coming events (Luke 22: 47-51).
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