Fear Not — 150-Day Devotional
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A 150-day journey through Scripture designed to uproot fear and build unshakeable faith. Foundation, Formation, Fortification.
Healing Cross-Reference Library · Group 13 of 18
Healing Continued Through the Church
The Ministry Didn't End at the Ascension
Jesus didn't heal so the disciples could watch. He healed so they'd know what to do after He was gone — and Acts shows them doing exactly that.
Jesus commissioned His followers to continue what He started, and the book of Acts records them doing exactly that — the paralyzed made whole, multitudes healed, the ministry of Jehovah-Rapha carrying on through ordinary believers filled with the Spirit. This group also carries one honest footnote worth knowing before you preach or publish from it, because responsible handling of Scripture means naming a textual question rather than hiding it.
The Scriptures
6 Cross-Reference Verses
1
Acts 9:33-34 KJV
"…Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately."
Peter heals a man paralyzed eight years — in the name of Jesus, not his own.
2
Acts 10:37-38 KJV
"…Jesus of Nazareth… went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
The pattern of Jesus' ministry, summarized by Peter and continued by the church.
3
Acts 5:16 KJV
"There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks… and they were healed every one."
Multitudes healed through the apostles — "every one," echoing the Gospels' scope.
4
Luke 9:2 KJV
"And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick."
The Twelve commissioned to continue the twin ministry of preaching and healing.
5
Matthew 10:1-8 KJV
"…he gave them power against unclean spirits… heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."
The commissioning charge in full — authority delegated, given freely to be given freely.
6
Mark 16:14-18 † KJV
"…they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
Laying hands on the sick named among the signs that follow those who believe.
† Textual note: this passage (Mark 16:9-20) is the "longer ending" of Mark, absent from the two oldest complete Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus). Nearly every English translation still includes it, and its content aligns with the commissioning language in Matthew 10 and Luke 9 — but honest scholarship flags it as a textual-critical question rather than presenting it as uncontested.
The Anchor Verse
Acts 10:38
"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
— KJV
Peter's summary of Jesus' ministry — "healing all that were oppressed of the devil" — becomes the pattern the Spirit-filled church carries forward. The same anointing that rested on Jesus was poured out on His body at Pentecost.
Application
What This Means for You
Acts is the answer to a question people rarely ask out loud: what happened to the healing ministry after Jesus ascended? It did not stop. Aeneas rises after eight years of paralysis; multitudes are healed "every one." The same anointing that rested on Jesus (Acts 10:38) was poured out on His body — ordinary believers filled with the Spirit.
The commissioning was never meant to be a spectator sport. Matthew 10:8 says "freely ye have received, freely give." What the disciples watched Jesus do, He then handed to them to do — and through the church, that mandate did not expire with the first century.
Group 13 also models something important: honesty with the text. The Mark 16 "longer ending" is a genuine textual-critical question, and it is flagged here (†) rather than quietly used. The healing mandate does not depend on that one disputed passage — it stands firmly on Matthew 10, Luke 9, and the plain record of Acts.