Editorial December 2, 1972 Issue

Authority to Heal

Naomi Price

When Christ Jesus sent out his disciples to preach the gospel, he left no doubt of their authority to heal through his teaching, and when they returned, they came "with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name."^{Luke 10:17;} Throughout all time, followers of the Master have the right to display confidence in good, and to command the situation wherever they are—at home, in the street, in connection with business affairs, and in the sickroom when seeking to help others. They should always feel able to walk with firm step and to heal with Christian authority, knowing with certainty that, as the Psalmist declared, and Jesus demonstrated, "power belongeth unto God."^{Ps. 62:11;}

The disciples had good reason to believe they could heal when Jesus instructed them to do so. They had been inspired by his preaching; they had felt impelled to accept the truths he taught of God's nature as the divine Father of all, and had glimpsed, through him, the perfection of man as God's son. They had witnessed with awe the great power Jesus himself exercised over disease to heal it. How could they fail to fulfill the commission he gave them personally, or to accept his further assurance on their return: "Behold, I give unto you power... over all the power of the enemy"!^{Luke 10:19;}

Today, in this age when we do not see Christ Jesus in the flesh, nor hear his spoken word, more than blind faith in his personal assurance handed down through the years seems needed to enable us consistently and with certainty to cast out devils and heal the sick in his name. We need understanding—the twofold scientific understanding that was the basis of the Master's own authority. We need the realization of the impotence and unreality of matter, evil, sin, discord, disease, death, as well as the conviction that God, divine Spirit, infinite Love, eternal Life, is all-power, all-presence, and all-substance. We need to be sure that man is God's son, or idea. He is not mortal, material, subject to change and discord. He is unchanging in perfection as God's image, the manifestation of divine intelligence.

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