The Good News

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.
Matthew 4:23–24

There are two sides to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a message of forgiveness of sins, of everlasting life, but also a message of opposition to human misery. Not only is an end to sin proclaimed, but also an end to suffering and death. All suffering shall cease! Just as sin is overcome through the blood of Christ, so suffering will come to an end at the resurrection. When Jesus performed signs and wonders, he was proclaiming the gospel against suffering.

With this gospel we can be certain that the wretchedness of this world will cease, just as we are sure of everlasting life. We cannot separate these two sides of Christ. We must not one-sidedly emphasize the cross and forgiveness, while ignoring the resurrection and the overcoming of our misery. It is Satan’s trick to try and make us waver so that the Savior does not receive a full and complete hearing.

Faced with the world’s longing for redemption, it is obvious that we can never bring real comfort through the gospel as long as we stress only the one thing – that the Savior forgives our sins – and otherwise the world can go its own way. Similarly, we would be unable to bring real comfort through the gospel, if we represented the Savior only as a miracle-worker and proclaimed, “Be comforted, you can be healed through the Savior.” Then repentance and forgiveness would be utterly forgotten, and no fundamental change would ever take place in men.

Jesus allowed the sick to come to him, just as he did sinners. He was ready to forgive sins and ready to heal. There were times when very few sinners came, only sick people. And Jesus welcomed them all. Oh, that the nations would hear the good news! That the sick would come, and that sinners would come –all are welcome!

Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

Foreword

Anyone facing serious illness or death must ask themselves: “What am I going to do about it?” Will you allow it to change you? Or will you resist and avoid God’s will for your life?

There comes a time when each one of us has to face eternity. When this happens, your whole life is laid out before you. I have experienced this personally. When I was confronted with terminal cancer several months ago, I saw – as I never had before–my sin, how human my past efforts were, and how much I needed repentance and forgiveness. I see starkly now, also as a shepherd of God’s flock, how confiding all of one’s burdens to someone else has eternal consequences and tremendous blessings.

The Blumhardts did not shy away from medical help. They also believed and personally witnessed that God can heal the body as well as the soul. But above and beyond this they saw and understood how true healing can be found only through repentance and forgiveness. This is the message of the gospel and why Jesus came. For them, what mattered most was the kingdom of God. Ultimately, healing is given when people repent and in unity believe that God hears their prayers.

I have experienced this tangibly. When people are fully united, not only is assurance of faith granted, but the kingdom of God draws near. May these words from Johann Christoph and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt help the reader truly experience the power of redemption. What these two men express comes from what they experienced of God’s kingdom, which I have experienced too.
Richard Scott