“As news of Jesus began to spread far and wide,” the Gospel tells us, “crowds came to hear him and be healed” (Lk 5:15).

That’s how people first came to know Jesus during the days of his earthly ministry: as a healer. The promise of healing their wounds of body, mind, and spirit drew them to our Lord in the thousands. In a world that was often brutal and indifferent, Christ’s reputation as a healer set him apart as a figure of mercy, who would show concern, and not scorn, for the vulnerable.

Ironically, his healing power was never something Jesus promoted about himself; what he valued much more highly was the faith people placed in him. Nor was it a power he reserved to himself. Instead, he showed his followers how they, too, could bring healing to others. Even after his ascension, the very name of Jesus invoked by the Apostles would bring healing and wholeness. That same power plays a central role in the earliest stories of the Armenian Church, where figures like the Apostle St. Thaddeus and, later, St. Gregory the Illuminator conveyed Christ’s healing to the Armenian people.

Healing has been a part of Armenian Christian spirituality ever since: exalted in our hymns and prayers, experienced in the historical passage of our people through affliction and martyrdom. Like those earliest followers of our Lord, we too have drawn near him to receive Christ’s healing in body, mind, and spirit.

In the educational resources gathered here, geared towards people at every stage of life, you can deepen your understanding of this critical aspect of Jesus Christ’s ministry. You will learn that the role of Christ as Healer is intrinsic to his role in the universe, as the Son sent by God to redeem the broken world, and renew the fractured human spirit.