Rev. Brian Johnson
Scripture: Mark 1:21-34; Matthew 4:12-13; Luke 4:18-19; James 5:7-20
The ministry of Jesus really gets rolling as he does two related things: proclaim Good News to the poor and practice a ministry of healing. These are two sides of the same coin – when he is healing the sick and casting out demons, he is embodying the Kingdom that he says God is bringing – a world in which there will be no more sickness, no more suffering, no more pain. And so, his healings, in addition to really improving the lives of real people, are also a way of pointing to what God is doing – transforming the world, and especially bringing hope to the hopeless. One of the key questions for Christians to ask ourselves is always: “Is our ministry – the way we live – Good News to the poor and suffering? Do our lives help to point to and embody God’s coming Kingdom? And if not, what can we do about it?”