Jesus Heals All

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

JESUS HEALS ALL

Matt 4:23-25

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching 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.

NIV

Several truths are before us here. At least for now, Matthew does not give us any details about individual encounters with Jesus which would give us specific healings. We do know that Jesus is Jesus and his preaching had to be far better than anything than people had ever heard before. However, it would appear the main reason so many people started to follow him was that he healed everyone who needed to be healed. We are soon going to be at the place where he delivered what we call the sermon of the mount, and what has been happening is the reason there were so many people there to listen to him. He was teaching, preaching, and healing everywhere he went. In the natural realm, he was becoming the shepherd of the people, and of course, we call him the Good Shepherd. We quote the psalmist’s 23^rd song, The Lord is my Shepherd, I will not want. Here the record of Matthew shows us that very reason. He brings us the good news of the kingdom and he heals all our infirmities. What more could we want? He gives us life eternal and heals every disease and sickness. Why then are we sick? Why does it seem every prayer request is for some ailment or infirmity? Is that because we are not being healed? Why are we not being healed if Jesus heals every disease and sickness among the people? Why do we still suffer from various diseases, and severe pain? Questions that we should have the answer for. What seems to be, and that may only be a conjecture, is that if we are not healed, then maybe we are not going to Jesus. Again, maybe just an assumption, that we truly do not believe Jesus will heal us. We cannot know for certain why we have any illness, diseases, ailments, or sickness, but it would seem if Jesus healed everyone, we should be healed. Yes, it may be a natural response to age, that is our aging process, this body begins to wear out and it does not work as well as it did in our youth. But Matthew does not give us the details of the age of people that Jesus healed. Did he only heal the youth, or did he heal all the people which it would seem only right to think there we some older people there as well? Should we expect to be healed even in our older years? Why not? Whoever came to Jesus or was brought to Jesus because they could not come on their own because they were paralyzed, he healed them all. Has he stopped healing people now that he is in heaven? Was that just for then and not for now? It certainly does not seem like they were any more healthy than we are because of the type of foods they ate compared to what we eat, for they were in need of healing from various diseases and infirmities just as we are. Sure, the times were different, but God, Jesus, never changes, and he says that he is the Lord God who heals us and Jesus healed them all. We should expect to be healed and this is not just hoping he will heal us, but we should expect him to heal us and accept it.