Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4 Vs. 23

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

 

Matthew 4:23 “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

And Jesus went... First traveling evangelist and missionary (cp. Mat. 9:35; Mark 6:6). Note His threefold work as He "went about" (see, Mat. 9:35; Acts 10:38).

healing all manner... Greek: therapeuo, to wait upon menially, to relieve of disease. Translated "heal" 38 times and "cure" 5 times.

Jesus was about the Father’s business. He taught, preached, and healed in their churches and wherever people had needs, the three main aspects of Christ’s public ministry.

There were a number of little towns in Galilee. Many miracles were done in these cities.

Jesus stated that if the miracles that were done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom, they would have repented and been saved. In Capernaum, they believed that Jesus was the carpenter’s son, not the Son of God.

By Deeds

The work of the Lord was not limited to preaching. His deeds were as important as His words, for a great question in the minds of the Jews would be, “Can this One claiming to be Messiah perform the works of Messiah?” Mat. 4:23 is an important summary statement crucial to Matthew’s theme (cf. Mat. 9:35, almost identical to Mat. 4:23). Several important elements are included in this verse. (1) Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. The ministry of this One who claimed to be King of the Jews was conducted among the Jews. He ministered in synagogues, places of Jewish gatherings for worship. (2) This One was involved in “teaching” and preaching. He thus was involved in a prophetic ministry for He is “the Prophet” announced in Deut. 18:15-19. (3) He was proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. His message was that God was moving to fulfill His covenantal program with Israel and to establish His kingdom on the earth. (4) He was healing every disease and sickness among the people (cf. “teaching,” “preaching,” and “healing” in Mat. 9:35). This authenticated that He is indeed the Prophet, for His words were backed up by authenticating signs. All these actions should have convinced the Jewish people that God was moving in history to accomplish His purposes. They were responsible to get ready by repenting from their sins and acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah.