Jesus’ Method of Ministry is Not Always a Model for Us to Follow Today

In the following 11 examples, we see three common things:
1. A need existing then and now
2. Jesus met the need with a miracle then
3. We meet that need in a more ordinary method now

Need # 1 - Paying Taxes
Jesus / Then - Coin in mouth of fish (Mt 17.24-27)
Believers / Now - Work, payment, stewardship (Mt 22.16-22, Rom 13.1-7)

Need # 2 - Catching Fish
Jesus / Then - Huge number with little effort - in daylight (Lk 5.4, Jn 21.3-6)
Believers / Now - If we want to eat, we must work (2 Thess 3.10)

Need # 3 - Water Transportation
Jesus / Then - Jesus (& Peter) walked on it (Mt 14.24-33)
Believers / Now - Faith seen in going “through deep water” (Isa 43.2)

Need # 4 – Feeding the Hungry
Jesus / Then - Small amounts of food multiplied for many (Jn 6.5-14)
Believers / Now - Feed others through their hard work (Ephes 4.28)

Need # 5 - Speaking with God’s Authority
Jesus / Then - Jesus authority “I say unto you” (Mt 5.22,28; 7.28,29)
Believers / Now - We speak Scripture by the Spirit (2 Tim 1.7,13,14)

Need # 6 - Call People to Ministry
Jesus / Then - Saul blinded & broken to become Paul (Acts 9.6)
Believers / Now – Careful examination of life & teaching (1 Tim 3.1-7)

Need # 7 - Forgive Sins
Jesus / Then - Dies to Accomplish Forgiveness (Jn 12.31-32)
Believers / Now – We receive & apply what He did (Eph 4.32)

Need # 8 - Confront & Curse Sin
Jesus / Then - Immediate, final judgment (Mt 23, Mk 11.21, Acts 5.1-11)
Believers / Now - We offer forgiveness & grace (Titus 3.4-7)

Need # 9 - Raise the Dead
Jesus / Then - Power to raise dead (Lk 7.14, 8.54, Jn 11.43)
Believers / Now - Preach Him who is Resurrection & Life (Jn 5.24, 11.25)

Need # 10 - Control the Weather
Jesus / Then - His Word quieted the storm (Mk 4.35-41)
Believers / Now - Prayer for protection & provision (James 5.17,18; Lk 11.3)

Need # 11 - Heal the Sick
Jesus / Then - Immediate Word of healing and life (Mt 4.23,24; 12.22)
Believers / Now - James 5.14-16: 1) Personal, pastoral, care; 2) Counsel, teaching, confession; 3) Medicine (oil); 4) Fervent prayer to God our Healer

Conclusions -

1. God sometimes intervenes immediately today in the way He did through Jesus. But this is unusual. Walking by faith is to trust His will for His glory and our good. We trust that He as our Heavenly Father sees the big picture.

2. Jesus is “the same today” (Heb 13.8). But in this era of salvation history He reigns in heaven, we have the Spirit and the Scriptures, and we anticipate His coming. (In a similar way, OT saints changed their behavior from collecting manna in the wilderness to cultivating their crops in the Promised Land.)

-developed from “Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare”
by David Powlison (Baker Books), 1995 / ISBN: 0-8010-7138-0