The Power to Save
Prior to the First Century, the Jews had encountered several seasons of oppression and hardship. They were constantly under the reign of higher worldly powers; Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Even after their return from exile, they felt the pains of worldly oppression in their homeland (Neh. 9:36). As a result the Hebrew nation fixed their sight on the prophecies of a mighty ruler who would conquer the nations (2 Sam 7; Dan. 7). They craved the power that the Messiah would bring and they were ready to experience worldly reign.
Unfortunately, the Jews’ perception of power was different than Jesus’ process for ministry. The Lord displayed great acts of power, not to become the mightiest of warlords but to heal and save. Upon witnessing this practice, many discounted the pure power that Jesus exerted. In the next few sentiments I want to challenge how you define power.
Power (δυναμαι) is mentioned some 48 times in the text of Luke’s account. You will see this word appear as “power, able, possible, mighty, and can.” According to the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, we can come to know this concept defined as “potential for functioning in some way through power, might, strength, force, capability” (Bauer 262). What’s especially interesting is the power found within Jesus through His ministry. Note some of the examples out of Luke:
“For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” (4:36)
“Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (5:12)
“…and the power of the Lord was with him to heal” (5:17)
“And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed them all” (6:19)
“… the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen” (19:37)
“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (21:27)
Jesus utilized His power, not to dominate and destroy mankind like previous world rulers. To rule the world with motives of selfish origins is not only guilty of finite thinking, but is also a futile practice. Jesus made it His mission to seek the hurting and the lost, and to provide them with a means of salvation from the world and its sin (Luke 19:10). Power is not merely limited to worldly powers and ruling authorities. Power is the ability to heal and save.