Bible Study Series: Matthew 4:23-25. Jesus ministered to them with strength and compassion. He healed them.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 4:23-25
23 And he circulated throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every malady among the people. 24 And the report about him went out to all of Syria, and they brought to him everyone having illnesses, various sicknesses and pains—those being tormented and suffering from being demonized and having seizures and paralytics—and he healed them. 25 Huge crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan River. (Matt. 4:23-25)
Comments
This is a summary section or pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea), which we also find in Matt. 8:16-17 and 9:35. So Commentator Turner sees 4:23 and 9:35 as an inclusio or bookends that frame a major section.
23:
“teaching”: this is different in delivery from proclaiming. Jesus will tell his disciples to teach in the great Commission (Matt. 28:20), when Jesus is no longer on earth but ascended into heaven.
“gospel”: it is the Greek noun euangelion (pronounced you-ahng-gee-on, and the “g” is hard as in “get”). It simply combines “good” or positive” (eu) and “report” or “news” or “announcement” (angelion). So literally it means “good news” or “good report” or “good announcement.” The gospel is good news, not bad news. Never forget it, ye old harsh preachers.
“kingdom”: see v. 17 for more comments. Part and parcel of the kingdom coming and being manifested is healing and deliverance. Jesus was ushering it in. Renewalists believe that they too, by the power and authority of Jesus, can see healings and deliverances from demons. They too can pray for the sick and demonized, and they shall recover.
“healing”: the verb means to “make whole, restore, heal, cure, care for.” “This (and ‘all their sick’ in v. 24) does not means he healed every ill person in Galilee but rather everyone who was brought to him. This is an example of hyperbole, so favored in the first century. Moreover, this authority was passed to the disciples in 10:1. The church is to relive the life and authority of Jesus” (Osborne, on 4:23).
“their”: Here we have the first instance of their (see 7:29; 8:34; 9:35; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54; 22:7; 22:16). Why does Matthew keep saying “their synagogue or their city or their teachers of the law? My opinion: his community has moved well past Judaism and must distinguish between the newly formed Christian community and the Jewish community.
It is clear from Matt. 4:23-25 that Jesus’s ministry is holistic. He deals with both physical and spiritual needs, the former sometimes evidently preceding the latter. Although he demands repentance, he does not make repentance the prerequisite for healing. Jesus has compassion on the needy crowds and acts to help them, evidently in many cases before they hear him preach” (Turner in his comments 4:23). Then Turner quotes two other commentators: “The first act of the Messiah is not the imposition of his commandments but the giving of himself.” Perfectly said. Matthew intends this ministry model for the ministry of the disciples (Osborne, ibid.).
24:
Syria is pretty far north, considering that many people had to walk. It is stunning to me that they brought the paralytics all the way from there. They must have rigged up some carts and harnessed oxen to pull them.
“everyone”: this is rhetorical, because if we take it literally, then every sick person in Syria would have swamped his ministry (see Keener, p. 155-56). Maybe we can say he healed everyone who came to him, but not everyone in the entire region.
“having illnesses”; it literally says “having bad or evil.” I decided not to render a literal translation because Grammarian Olmstead says it is an idiom meaning “ill.” However, for the record I believe a Greek listener would have registered the word “badly” in their minds, as really bad illnesses.
“demonized”: the one verb is translated simply. Here are only two main ways in the Greek NT to express demonic attacks to varying degrees, from full possession to just attacks: “have a demon” and “demonized.” The latter term is used often in Matthew: 4:24; 8:16, 28, 35; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22, but only once in Luke (8:36), and Mark four times (1:32; 5:15, 16, 18). John uses the term once (10:21). In Luke 8:26-39, Luke uses both “have a demon” and “demonized,” so he sees the terms synonymously. “Demonized” comes from the verb daimonizomai (pronounced dy-mo-nee-zo-my), which just adds the suffix –izo to the noun daimōn (pronounced dy-moan). It is a very convenient quality about Greek (English has this ability too: modern to modernize). Just add this prefix to a noun or adjective, and it turns into a verb. So it looks like “have a demon” and “be demonized” are synonyms. The context determines how severe the possession was. In this verse it is used generally, without precision as to the depth of possession.
Whatever the case, the answer was the same: deliverance by the power and authority of Jesus.
Bible Basics about Deliverance
How Does New Testament Define Demonic Control?
“seizures”: they could be epileptics. It is sad that kids have seizures, due to a brain malfunction. Parents need to lay hand on their children and pray regularly for them. They should do it every day for ten or more years, if necessary. They need to pray that the loving Father rewires the brain. They need to rebuke any satanic activity lurking behind the physical affliction.
“paralytics”: They were paralyzed in some way. It is so wonderful to see Jesus healing them. I like to picture how Jesus did this. Was it just a word? Did he lay hands on them? Did he rub oil on them? Yes, to all of those ways. Lord, give us more!
25:
Healing is the dinner bell to draw the big crowds. But notice that he preached the gospel of the kingdom, first. Miracles and healings confirm the Word, not the other way around. But sometimes, as noted, miracles happened without the Gospel recording that he taught first. Notice, too, in v. 23, that he circulated around that region. He was not a fly-by-night evangelist. He did not just hold big meetings, heal people, collect an offering, and move on. He kept his ministry within a geographical area at first, and then he will expand it as his ministry goes on.
In short, Jesus was a man of the people, not a holier-than-thou unapproachable healing evangelist. He got his “hands dirty” doing miracle work. It can be rough.
These three verses are summaries. We will read that many people did not repent, even after they saw the miracles. Capernaum, his adopted hometown, will be particularly pointed out as stubborn (11:23-24). Nazareth, Joseph’s hometown and where Jesus grew up, also rejected him, even though they saw the mighty works he did (13:53-58). Mark reports that his mighty works were few because of the hometown’s unbelief; all he could do is heal a few sick people. He marveled at their unbelief (Mark 6:5-6).
We should therefore be careful about over-interpreting these summary verses. On the other hand, let’s not discount them either. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that sometimes people just are not healed down here on earth, so let’s not freak out when the healing doesn’t happen.
Please see my post on why this is:
Why Doesn’t Divine Healing Happen One Hundred Percent of the Time?
GrowApp for Matt. 4:23-25
A.. Jesus had a healing ministry. Has he healed your soul or body? Tell your story.
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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