When Jesus Could NOT Do Miracles (But Could Still Do Therapeutic Cures)

Key idea: Faith and love must both be present for miracle-working power to flow.

The picture I have of Jesus in my mind is that His power was unstoppable! Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons and raised the dead. The miracle-working power of God flowed through Jesus unhindered, and over and over it says everyone got healed (Matt. 4:24; 8:16; 12:15). This was until Jesus returned to His hometown.

Miracle-working dunamis power did NOT flow when faith and love were NOT present

To help us understand the role of faith working by love, let us explore why Jesus could not do any mighty works (dunamis) in His hometown (Mk. 6:1-6). Even though there was the dunamis force/power of the Holy Spirit present in Jesus to do miracles, this force needs something to interact with. That something is "faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6).

Dunamis is released when it interacts with faith and love. Dunamis flows when faith and love are present, and these were NOT present in His hometown. They 1) did not believe and 2) they took offense at Jesus, (i.e. no love) so no mighty works occurred.

1. And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household. And He could do no miracle (dunamis) there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed (therapeuō) them. And He wondered at their unbelief." (Mk. 6:1-6)
2. Therapeuo in the above verses is the word we get "therapeutic" from, which involves various modalities to heal a person. So Jesus could not get dunamis to work because of no faith or love, but therapeutic approaches were still possible. Some remedies mentioned in the New Testament which are found in the verses which have therapeuo in them include: anointing with oil, leaves of the trees, and laying on of hands. I assume this is just a sampling, not an exhaustive list, since other verses in the Bible describe other approaches to getting well – casting out demons, fasting, a merry heart, healing the wounds of the heart, confessing sin, herbs and exercise to name a few.  

Faith and love must BOTH be present for dunamis miracles to occur

• Principle: Faith + Love + Dunamis = the release of a miracle (mighty work) of God.
• Faith working through love (Gal. 5:6).
• Jesus felt compassion for them and healed their sick (Matt. 14:14).
• Jesus could do no miracle (G1411 dunamis – instantaneous healing) there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed (G2323 therapeuō - process healing) them. And He wondered at their unbelief (Mk. 6:5,6).
• Love: So far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men (Rom.12:18).

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