what Jesus did not say

Spiritual resource to share: speaking the truth

Jesus' healings hold a never-ending fascination with me. One aspect of his healings involve his dealings with evil (or the devil). What he did say was always powerful and effective, sharp and dismissive.

But as I was reading, it also occurred to me what Jesus did NOT say in these types of healings. And this gave me some insight into looking at how subtle and silly our arguments with the devil can be! For instance, this story:

Luke Chapter 4: 33-37 (From The Message)

In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!"
Jesus shut him up: "Quiet! Get out of him!" The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn't hurt him.
That set everyone back on their heels, whispering and wondering, "What's going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?" Jesus was the talk of the town.

So Jesus said less than five words. What Jesus didn't say was:

• Why are you attacking this man?
• Did he not study enough? Is he weak and vulnerable? Did he do something wrong?
• Why are these demons doing all these bad things? The world is going bad!

So the demon obviously recognized Jesus' authority. What Jesus didn't say was:

• Thank you for recognizing who I am. I am trying to be the Holy One of God as best I can.
• Why are you challenging my authority? Do I need to be more convincing?
• Thank you for recognizing my authority. Would it be all right if you didn't hurt this man so much?

Jesus' authority stemmed from his unshakeable understanding of God's supreme authority and God's relation to man. His example helps us to see how we can - in MBEddy's words - "speak the Truth to every form of error" and how we can "rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man."

In our healing work, we can stop trying to figure out or accommodate the problem, and claim our dominion over evil of every type.

To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.