What Matthew 4:23 Reveals About God’s Healing Power
Throughout the years, I’ve had the privilege of seeing much in the way of healing.
I’ve been in meetings where people have been prayed for who walked for the first time, or whose hearing was restored. I’ve seen arthritis disappear, legs lengthened, epilepsy healed. (It’s not that I prayed for most of these people—just that I witnessed these things firsthand.)
I used to have a heart arrhythmia that would occur several times per day. Once it went on for so long I nearly went to the emergency room. Although we were living here in the United States at the time, I was back in London at a meeting where Paul Cain (a prophet) was speaking. In the middle of the meeting he asked anyone who had a heart condition to stand up. I, along with several dozen others, stood. He prayed a brief prayer and we all sat down again. I’ve never had that arrhythmia again!
I know Jesus still heals today.
In my current study of healing, I’ve been examining some of the conditions that Jesus healed when He walked this earth. Here are some of the definitions I’ve found from the Greek words that are used:
Noson: translated as sickness or disease
Malakion: a softness or weakness, a disease that weakens the victim, loss of muscle
Kakos: bad, evil, inwardly foul, rotten, poisoned
Basanos: a touchstone used to test metals, examined by torture, torment
Seleniazonemous: one being “moonized,” lunatic, epileptic
Paralutikos: paralytic (palsy)
So take a verse like Matthew 4:23-24:
“Jesus went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness (noson) and all sorts of diseases (malakion) among the people. His fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought to Him all sick (kakos) people who were taken with various diseases (noson) and tormented with pain (basanos), those who were possessed with demons, those who had seizures (seleniazonemous), and those who had paralysis (paralutikos), and He healed them.”
As a doctor (in a previous life), I find this fascinating. Jesus healed every kind of disease.
I long to see that happen again.
Adapted from Felicity Dale‘s blog, Kingdom Women. Felicity Dale is an author and an advocate for women in the church. She trains people to start simple, organic house churches around the world.
