Article November 14, 2016 Issue

No pink slips from God

Jae-Bok Young

In reading the Bible, I have noticed that Christ Jesus’ disciples did not always measure up to his highest expectations. In one case, they could not heal a disease because of their lack of faith (see Matthew 17:14–20). In the garden of Gethsemane, they fell asleep when Jesus asked them to pray with him (see Matthew 26:36–46). They cried out for help in the middle of a storm, which Jesus then stilled (see Luke 8:22–25).

Despite their shortcomings, though, Jesus didn’t dismiss them from discipleship. He embraced them with compassion and infinite patience, based on his understanding of man as God’s spiritual, perfect creation.

What was the end result of Jesus’ persistence and compassion inspired by spiritual understanding? The disciples began to understand more about Christ’s healing power, and they grew in their ability to perform wonderful healings.

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