The Healing Power of Jesus

“And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and He healed them. And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan,” (Matthew 4:23-25). 

The three verses of Matthew 4:23-25 are three verses that are often overlooked. Afterall, they come from an action packed chapter. Chapter three of Matthew ends with the baptism of Jesus with the heavens opening and the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” (Matthew 3:17). Then, in chapter four, Jesus is tempted by the devil. Additionally, right before these verses, Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John, a story that is reflected upon regularly. So much goes on right before these verses that often, readers do not always pay much attention. 

This is the first passage in which Jesus truly begins His ministry. Jesus goes throughout Galilee and He begins to heal all of the sick that are there, regardless of what their illness may be. This is pretty common knowledge among all those who have heard of Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus healed many people. However, the amazing thing that can truly be seen from this passage is the preview of what was to come. 

While being able to heal these people was great, in view of the whole picture, this was a small act when compared to the true healing that Jesus had come to perform. 

In Luke chapter nineteen, Jesus had entered a city named Jericho. Now, Jesus was just passing through the city but as you would expect from a person with the popularity that Jesus was gaining, there was a crowd forming. However, there was a man who desperately wanted to see Jesus. His name was Zacchaeus. As the story goes, Zachaeus was not a man of large stature and as a result, the only way he could see Jesus was to climb a sycamore tree to get a better view. Well, Jesus saw this and wanted to stay with Zacchaeus. However, when people saw this they said “He has gone in to be a guest of a man who is a sinner,” (Luke 19:7). Jesus replied to this comment by saying “today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” (Luke 19:9-10). 

While today Jesus is not on earth healing people’s physical infirmities, Jesus heals spiritual infirmities. The ultimate example of giving and love was Jesus which was first shown to us in Matthew 4:23-25.

Rejoice For the Healing Power of Jesus!