The Ministry of Jesus
- Larry Kutzler
- Sep 10
- 3 min read
Scripture teaches us that our desire is to be like Jesus:
Luke 6:40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
So recently, I wrote a Facebook post that stated the obvious difference between the ministry of Jesus and the ministry we see most often in the Church today. Ministry today and the ministry of Jesus, was completely different. Today we educate our ministers, earning PhD’s, and becoming professors of New and Old Testaments teaching us the cultural, historical, and refined theology. Today the difference in ministry style we educate ministers, but Jesus gave His disciples authority over demons and diseases. (Matthew 10:1) In fact, if you read Matthew 10, you see Jesus telling His disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure leprosy, and cast out demons. We don’t train to do ministry like Jesus; we are more subdued and professional in our approach. I mean who wants to be known for casting out demons, raising the dead and healing diseases? I think we fear stuff like that, and it doesn’t make a good impression on Sunday morning. ~Facebook Post, Larry Kutzler
Ministry in General is Different Today
Okay, that was a snarky ending, but the idea is still true. People speak how Jesus is our objective, but for some reason we are afraid to do as He did. It is true that Jesus would feed the poor, but He did that far less than casting out demons and healing the sick. Today, our ministries do a lot of feeding the poor, we do evangelism to some degree, and we teach. However, the major emphasis in the ministry life of Jesus was teaching, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, healing, and casting out evil spirits. His fame initially grabbed the attention of people because of Hid results of healing and deliverance.
Ministry today is quite different than that, at least in most Churches. I had one fella respond to my Facebook post and said that ministry like Jesus was happening in some of the Churches he was familiar with, which was probably true, but the percentage of Churches who do ministry like Jesus did, are few and far between.
I realize that we live in a different day than Jesus did, so obviously some things will be different. My point is that when it comes to healing or deliverance … we usually shy away from these in our modern Churches. I believe most Christian leaders believe in healing and in deliverance from evil or casting out demons, but they aren’t equipped or familiar with either one to practice them in their Churches. Some would say that Matthew Chapter 10 is more historical and not a mandate for us today. However, Jesus dealt with the demonic many times, and then gave authority to His disciples to do the same. So, can we assume that we too would receive that same authority? Notice the admonition from Jesus to His disciples about how to do ministry:
Matthew 10:8-9 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.’
This is a different kind of ministry than what we experience today in most of our Churches.
What Does It All Mean?
Well, it means that we have moved away from addressing healing and deliverance. Again, I realize not all Churches are devoid of these things, but many Churches have little to no interest in it at all. I propose that what we read what Jesus was doing during His ministry years was unique, and He was also controversial in His day. He was misunderstood by most religious leaders, yet crowds followed Him wherever He went, primarily because He had results in addressing the needs of the people through healing and deliverance. Is there something here we may be missing in the modern Church?
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler