Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that he departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. Matthew 19: 1, NKJV.
Heavenly Father and Creator, as we enter Your Presence, we ask that Your Holy Spirit will take full control of our minds and teach us the things that we need to learn, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Today we will look at Jesus, the Great I Am, as our Healer. You might be surprised that even though our verse speaks in rather general terms, “great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there” that as we read on, we will discover many sick situations, as well as sick people.
The religious leaders were obviously very sick. Instead of feeding the “sheep” and the “lambs” (John 21: 1-17), they were busy “testing” Jesus.
The disciples, among others, were also sick. Their sickness was manifested in several ways. They did not understand the concept of marriage as defined by God (4-6). They too had become affected with the “hardness of the heart” disease (10).
They obviously shared the same misconception, as many of the people of their day, that children were not very important; they began to dismiss them along with their mothers (13), until Jesus stopped them (14).
They were quite concerned about, what they would receive for having “left all” to follow Jesus (27). Apparently they had not paid any attention to Jesus’ Words as he instructed them on what it meant to be His disciple (Matthew 10: 29-42). Some even used their mothers to try to secure for themselves, the best position in the new kingdom that they thought Jesus was about to establish (20: 20, 21)!
The Rich Young Ruler was among those who Jesus tried to heal (19: 16-21). Unfortunately, he went away “sorrowful” (22).
These were only some of the sicknesses that are visible in this narrative. I am sure there were many others. The “Good News” is, that Jesus is still the Healer par excellence! When His disciples became concerned about “who” could be saved Jesus responded: ” ‘ “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” ‘ ” (26). Therefore, fear not, little flock! Come to Jesus with all of your infirmities: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. He has the cure. He is our Healer (Isaiah 53: 5)! Besides, it is our “Father’s good pleasure to give [us] the kingdom[,]” where no one will ever be sick (Luke 12: 32)!