23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 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. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Read Matthew 4:23-25 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew’s gospel, Matthew shares with us a broad overview of what Jesus did. While Jesus would ultimately face death on the cross, there was much more to His ministry than simply slowly traveling towards the cross. In Jesus’ mind, there was likely a sense of urgency that there was too much to do and too little time to do it in.
In this broad overview passage we are focusing on, we see a simple three part plan for Jesus’ ministry. “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (v. 23)
Jesus taught in the local synagogues in the places He went. This would be like saying He was a traveling preacher or evangelist. But Jesus’ message was not to be only confined to a one day a weekend activity, because He also preached and taught in all the other places He went during the week as well.
Jesus shared with everyone He met about the good news about God’s kingdom. He wanted people to know that God loves each of us personally, and that we are all valuable to Him.
And most notably, Jesus healed every disease and sickness among the people.
This three part ministry, with the healing people being one of the foundations, had some side effects. The passage continues by saying, “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.” (v. 24)
The miracles and healing attracted people who were hurting to Jesus. They came to be healed, they stayed to be loved on; Jesus first healed their physical bodies, then He healed their minds by sharing and showing people what God was really like.
Most people in that culture had a twisted idea of what God was like. Whether it was from the Roman and Greek influence with dozens of gods that controlled different aspects of life and death, or whether it was from the demanding legalistic Pharisees and Sadducees who were suppose to be representing the Jewish God, the one thing that nobody demonstrated was a God filled with love for His people.
Jesus came to change the stereotypes. He first loved by healing people, then He loved by teaching them about what God was really like. Jesus is our best example of who God is, and how He ministered to people is a model for us today: Love people and help them first, then teach them afterwards what God is really like.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.