"it is the name of Jesus which, through faith in him, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in him that has restored this man to health, as you can all see". One should first understand that the name is never meant to be used magically. As a 5 letter word Jesus has whatever connotation a person puts on it.
In Bible Tools we read that "In biblical thought, a name does not merely identify; it expresses the essential nature of its bearer." It was by living the 'essential nature" of Jesus that the power to heal came through Peter.
He made it clear that this healing faculty is present with anyone who has been able to "live into the essential nature of Jesus". Unfortunately the faithful almost uniformly ignore this promise:
"Who, me? Little me?" That's the usual response of the 'faithful' when such a thing is mentioned. We don't try to 'live Jesus' nature' because we don't believe that God has the power to put those kind of gifts within our ability. We're not belittling our own power; we're belittling his.
2 comments:
Hi Larry. That's really interesting about the power of the name of Jesus. I read an article, What's in a Name, by a Luteran minister about the power that's found in naming things, including God and Jesus.
Ooh. Good stuff.
Jesus said we'll do "greater things than this" and what you just said... that is why most Christians are not doing greater things.
If anything can keep us from God, then the blood of Jesus is not as strong as advertised...
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