Healing; Common Grace, Matthew 19:1-2
In Matthew chapter nineteen I want to address two things that are going to come up, the doctrine of healing as well as God's common grace. We are going into a new section in Matthew.
Matthew 19:1 NASB “When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.” We see that He is transitioning His ministry to the last period, about five or six months prior to the cross. So this is probably in September or October. This sets up a new direction in the Gospel of Matthew.
What we see in terms of the structure is from 19:1-25:46. We see this last period of His ministry in Jerusalem prior to the arrest and trial. He travels to Jerusalem and along the way He will increase His comments about the legalism of the Pharisees and His condemnation of their religious teaching. Consequently they will react more toward Him and His ministry culminates with His pronouncement of judgment upon Jerusalem and Israel in the Olivet discourse in chapters 23-25.
What see see in the basic division of this section is that as the antagonism and hostility increases between Jesus and the religious leaders Matthew is going to weave into this Jesus' continuing instruction to the disciples. He is preparing them now for their future ministry. Although He is not talking specifically about the church age yet He is preparing them for what will come. We will see that even in this section He will announce His impending death, and they don't believe it. They don't want to believe it, they don't understand it, and they argue with Him about it.
In Matthew 19 through 20 He addresses the disciples in terms of some controversies that are going on, and then in chapters 21-22 He reveals the increasing need for divine judgment on apostate Israel. Chapters 19 through 20 focuses on a framework of His travels and Jesus is headed south toward Jerusalem and the things that are encountered along the way. Then chapters 21 and 22 is more related to His instruction in different situations. In chapters 23-25 we have the set up for the Olivet discourse in chapter 23 and then the Olivet discourse where Jesus answers the disciples' question: “What is the sign of your coming?” In that He predicts the judgment that will come upon Israel for their apostasy. This pretty much sets the stage for Jesus' arrest, His trial and crucifixion.
What we see in the first two verses of chapter 19 is that Jesus is on the road. He leaves Galilee in the north and travels to Jerusalem. When He gets to Jerusalem He will stay in that area. He will teach in the temple, there will be further controversy with the Pharisees, and in this first section in chapters 19-22 He will challenge the religious leaders' teaching on marriage and divorce, and He will also continue private instruction of His disciples.
There are three basic controversies that develop in chapters 19 and 20. The first has to do with the Pharisees' teaching on marriage and divorce. The second relates to children as children are brought to Him for blessing (vv. 13-15), and then there is the inquiry from the rich young ruler about eternal life in 19:16ff. In each of these situations Jesus has to correct certain misunderstandings on the part of the disciples. This leads to further discussion and correction of these misunderstandings.
What we read at the beginning of verse one is a typical phrase that we read in Matthew as he continues the story: NKJV “Now it came to pass.” As we read it from our perspective we have a tendency to say that this is what immediately followed upon chapter eighteen. In comparing this with the Gospel of Luke it appears that some other things (in Luke) intervened between chapter eighteen and the beginning of chapter nineteen. He is not saying that immediately these things happened but that shortly thereafter Jesus made His way to the south and several things would have taken place along that route. His ministry in the north has come to a close and His ministry in the south begins.
When you look at Matthew, Mark and Luke (the synoptic Gospels) you don't get the impression that Jesus went to Jerusalem very often; they don't talk about His ministry in the south. But if you compare with the Gospel of John you will discover that every year Jesus went to Jerusalem as He was supposed to as an adult Jewish male to celebrate Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Some of those sections in John also fit within this.
He came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. The perspective here is a little bit different. It appears that He moved south and then crossed over to the east side of the Jordan, or it is written from the perspective of someone who is writing from the east side of the Jordan.
Matthew 19:2 NASB “and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.”
This is the second to last statement in the Gospel of Matthew about Jesus healing. There are a number of statements made about His healing that are general statements related to the healing ministry of our Lord and we need to stop and take some time to understand the purpose for His healing ministry.
There is so much confusion among Christians today because of the so-called healing movement, the healing revivals and evangelism that came out of the aberration—really an aberration that came out of the Charismatic movement--back in the late 40s and early 50s that has caused a tremendous amount of trauma among a lot of Christians. One of the things that happens in this aberration, this false teaching about healing today, is the guilt complex that is put on so many people—that if you are not healed it is because you don't have the right kind of faith, you don't have the faith of a child. It is all because there is a distortion and a misunderstanding of healing in the Scriptures.
Healing occurs in the Old Testament in a few places, it occurs in the ministry of Jesus, and it occurs in the ministry of the apostles. But it was not expected to be something normative in any age, even in the church age. It is a distortion that we find within the Charismatic teaching, a distortion of what the Bible teaches about the role of suffering and the role of adversity in the life of a believer.
In the New Testament during the time of the life of Christ and the period of the disciples healing was something that was not that He did everywhere. It was not the primary focus of Jesus' ministry; it was not the primary focus of the apostles' ministry. It served as establishing their credentials as having a ministry from God. 2 Corinthians 12 tells us that the signs of the apostles included signs and wonders and healing. It gave evidence of their calling from God, and it functioned in much the same way in Jesus' ministry.
As we have gone through Matthew we have seen some specific instances where Jesus healed but there are a number of statements that are made related to Jesus just generally healing the masses. When Jesus healed in these environments it was not a situation that was predicated on the faith of the recipient of the healing. A person may or may not have faith in Jesus. Sometimes a person was brought to Jesus by someone who did have faith (but they did not have faith; it had nothing to do with their faith at all) and it was a manifestation of the common grace of God, God's goodness to all mankind without regard to their status as being saved or unsaved. It is God's grace initiating its outreach towards the human race.
At the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Matthew 4:23 NASB “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. [24] The news about Him spread throughout all Syria ...” This is going outside of the land into the land of the Gentiles. These are general statements that describe the outreach of Jesus to a vast number of individuals. It is just a summary that He healed all kinds of people from all kinds of diseases. As a result, as His fame spread people brought to Him those who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, including those who were demon possessed.
Matthew 8:16 NASB “When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.” There are two categories of people here, those who were afflicted with demon possession and those who had physical illnesses. And Jesus heals all who were sick, there is no condition placed.
Matthew 9:35 NASB “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages [in Galilee], teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.” That verse connects back to the summary statement in chapter four where it connects His preaching of the gospel of the kingdom with healing. That is important when you understand the messianic prophecies that one of the ways you would know and identify the Messiah is that He would come and He would heal diseases. This is a sign of His messianic stature.
Matthew 10:1 NASB “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness … [8] Heal {the} sick, raise {the} dead, cleanse {the} lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”
What we see here are four instances of general gracious ministry to the people in Galilee where Jesus or His disciples were healing people. What is interesting structurally in Matthew is that there are four statements of general healing ministry prior to the confrontation with the Pharisees in Matthew chapter twelve. Then there are going to be four more general statements after Jesus is rejected by the Pharisees. That emphasizes the fact that even in an environment of increasing hostility you see Jesus' grace in healing the people without regard for their faith in Him, and that is not made a condition or issue.
Of course, the issue of His confrontation with the Pharisees and their rejection of Him as Messiah, and claiming that He cast out demons in the power of Beelzebul, is seen in chapter twelve, verses 10ff, and there are three statements here related to His healing (vv. 10, 12. 15). Verse 12 gives us a general statement in the midst of that confrontation and the lead up to that confrontation with the Pharisees: “Many followed Him, and He healed them all.” Then in v. 22 there is the healing of the one who is demon possessed, blind and mute. That is the occasion that set off the opposition from the Pharisees.
Then we have additional statements made: Matthew 14:14 NASB “When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.” Matthew 15:30 NASB “And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them {those who were} lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them.” Matthew 19:2 NASB “and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.” Matthew 21:14 NASB “And {the} blind and {the} lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.”
Again and again we see this statement. Now why does this take place? We must understand that this takes place as a result of establishing His credentials as the Messiah. It is an outworking of God's common grace.
Common grace is one of several categories of grace summarized by theologians. There is common grace which is for all mankind without regard to their soteriological status, witho9ut regard to whether they are saved or not. This is God sending the rain upon the good and the evil alike. It is God's general revelation of Himself, reaching out and initiating to all mankind with the non-verbal evidence of His existence. And one of the important words that we have learned about grace. Grace is God's initiative towards mankind. God is the one who is always initiating grace, and it starts with His common grace which is related to His general revelation. Psalm 19:1 NASB “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” This is the non-verbal witness of general revelation.
There are two categories of revelation that we have seen: general revelation and special revelation. General revelation is non-verbal. As we look at the creation we see the evidence of a creator. We see His fingerprints on everything. Romans 1:18ff is another key passage for understanding God's general revelation. Paul is developing why God is judging the human race. The wrath of God is the expression of God's justice in condemnation of the human race.
Romans 1:18, 19 NASB “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” That means every human being has an internal witness that reflects and echoes the external witness. The most profound atheist, like Christopher Hitchens, knows in the core of his soul, in the bowels of his heart, that God exists; but he is suppressing that truth in unrighteousness.
Romans 1:20 NASB “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” There is enough of a witness and evidence in creation itself to hold every human being accountable for the knowledge of God. They cannot say they never heard, they never knew. The Scripture says they did. [21] “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
That is how God initiates His common grace towards mankind in terms of providing a witness for who He is and of His person and of His grace. That is the foundation of Paul's argument.
There is another way in which God's common grace is also expressed towards the human race in terms of initiating grace towards salvation and the understanding of the gospel. This is seen in John 16:7-11.
This is the conclusion of the upper room discourse on the night before Jesus goes to the cross. John 16:7 NASB “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. [8] And He, when He comes, will convict the world [the inhabited world, mankind] concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” The Holy Spirit is sent to convict the world. This would primarily focus on unbelievers because believers would have already understood this and responded to the gospel. This is the initiative of God's grace. God is seeking all mankind to respond to the gospel. When we respond it is because God has already initiated that outreach.
The next stage in terms of the expansion and narrowing the focus of God's grace comes from John 6:44. In the five points of Calvinism this is the “proof” text they go to for what is called efficacious grace or irresistible grace. In Calvinism what that means is that no unbeliever can come to the Lord unless God specifically draws them, that He will only draw the elect and it is an irresistible drawing. But this ignores an important aspect of this context, and that is a real problem.
John 6:44 NASB “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” Again, it is emphasizing the priority of God's grace initiating itself in calling and bringing a person to Himself through the cross. But how does He do this? In Calvinism, in efficacious grace, this not done through a secondary means. It is interpreted to mean that God the Holy Spirit [the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in the passage] will only draw the one who is elect.
How does the Father draw him? You don't stop at the end of this verse, you have to go to the next verse to understand fully what Jesus is saying. John 6:45 NASB “It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” How will God teach him? If we look at the context we see that He teaches through His Word. When we put this together what we see is that the way the Father draws people to Himself is through the teaching of His Word and the proclamation of the gospel. So what we see is a broad sense of God's common grace where He is giving general revelation of Himself to every human being so that they are without excuse. And it is clear to every human being that He exists.
Then the focus is narrowed more in the church age for God the Holy Spirit has come, and He convicts the world sin, judgment and righteousness.
There is a specific work of the Holy Spirit drawing people to the cross through the proclamation of the gospel, but there is nothing within this passage that is saying that this applies only to the elect. It clearly states the initiative of God that is prior to the response of the believer. God is the one who is reaching out into a fallen world. That is John 3:16; 16:6ff.
What do we learn about the healing ministry of Jesus? This again reflects God's common grace, because He is healing everyone without excluding unbelievers.
In terms of understanding Jesus' ministry, first of all we must recognize that during the first advent Jesus was proclaiming the kingdom. He is presenting Himself as the Messiah of the Old Testament and that the healings were a sign giving credibility to His claim that He was the Messiah. We see the prophecies that the Messiah would come (Isaiah 42:7): “To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in [spiritual] darkness from the prison.”
Isaiah 29:18 NASB “On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of {their} gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”
Isaiah 35:4-6 NASB “Say to those with anxious heart, 'Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come {with} vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you'. Then [when Messiah comes and establishes His kingdom] the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.”
So when Jesus comes and heals people from all of their sicknesses, etc. He is giving His credentials and a preview of coming attractions if they will accept the kingdom.
Jeremiah 8:22 NASB “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?” It would be restored when the kingdom was established.
Jeremiah 33:6 NASB “Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.” This is what would characterize the kingdom.
The first thing we should see in terms of healing in Jesus' ministry is that it was never done for the sake of healing. There was discrimination in His healing. He only healed in specific circumstances and situations.
In Matthew 8:17 we are told that this was the fulfilment of a passage in Isaiah 53:4. So this fulfils a messianic fulfilment. In Matthew 9:6, the healing of the paralyzed man was demonstrating the Jesus had the authority to forgive sin. In Matthew 11:2-19 the healings referred to were to confirm His identity to John the Baptist when he was in prison. Matthew 12:15-21 is quoting from Isaiah 42:1-4, foreshadowing His identity as the Messiah. In John chapter 9 He heals the blind man, giving sight to the blind, demonstrating that He is the one who will bring light to Israel. Only Jesus could heal the blind. In John 11:4 He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead and that is designed to demonstrate the glory of God. In John 20:30, 31 the healing is to demonstrate the various miraculous evidences that verify Jesus' messianic claims. Then when we get on into Acts chapter two we learn from Peter's sermon that God the Father was authenticating Jesus' claims through these miracles of healing.
We can see examples of two kinds of things with Jesus' healings. The first is, these are situations where the faith of the recipient was not present at the time of healing. There are numerous examples of that, e.g. the nobleman's son. The nobleman came to Jesus, not the son. The cripple at Bethesda was not a believer, but afterward he became a believer. The demon possessed man in Capernaum who was healed on the Sabbath was not a believer. The paralyzed man was healed. His friends had faith and brought him to Jesus; he did not have faith. The centurion's servant—the centurion had faith, not the servant. The blind and mute man in Matthew 12:22 did not have faith either. The deaf mute, the demon possessed man in Matthew 9:32, 33 did not have faith. The Canaanite woman's daughter—the mother had faith, not the daughter. The deaf mute in Decapolis did not have faith. The demon possessed boy in Matthew 17 did not have faith. When Malcus the temple servant had his ear chopped off by Peter he didn't have faith. The two blind men in Matthew 9 did not have faith. Nine of the ten lepers Jesus healed did not respond in faith, only one did. So we have many examples in Scripture that demonstrate that faith was not the condition for healing.
But there are also examples where faith was present in the recipient. The healing of the leper, the healing of the crippled hand in Matthew 12:9-13, the man born blind, the healing in John 9, restoring sight to the blind in Matthew 20, the woman with the haemorrhage in Matthew 9:20, and one of the ten lepers who responded in faith. These all had faith and trusted in Jesus.
So what we see in the first two verses of Matthew 19 is that Jesus is demonstrating the grace of God, that the grace of God has been initiated to reach out to man—not as a response to man's faith or positive volition, but to reach out to the world of fallen sinners in order to bring them to Himself. It is God who is initiating, God who is seeking, God who is reaching out to all mankind. God does this through various means, through general revelation, through the preaching of His Word and through the verbal witness of believers who are giving testimony to those who are lost.