“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 9:35 Mean?
Matthew summarizes Jesus' ministry with three comprehensive verbs: teaching, preaching, and healing. He went through all the cities and villages—not just the major centers but every community. His ministry was geographically comprehensive (all cities and villages), functionally comprehensive (teaching, preaching, healing), and socially comprehensive (every sickness and every disease among the people).
The distinction between teaching (didaskō, instructing with content) and preaching (kēryssō, proclaiming with authority) captures two dimensions of Jesus' communication: He informed and He announced. Teaching builds understanding. Preaching demands response. Jesus did both—educating minds and summoning hearts.
The phrase "every sickness and every disease" uses two different Greek words: nosos (chronic disease, long-term illness) and malakia (weakness, infirmity). Jesus addressed both the entrenched and the acute, the long-term conditions and the temporary weaknesses. Nothing was too chronic and nothing was too minor for His attention.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Which aspect of Jesus' ministry do you need most right now—teaching (understanding), preaching (heart response), or healing (physical restoration)?
- 2.Have you been approaching God with only part of your need? What are you holding back?
- 3.Jesus went to every city and every village. Does that comprehensiveness change your expectation about whether He'll come to your 'village'?
- 4.If Jesus healed 'every sickness and every disease,' is there anything in your life that's too chronic, too minor, or too embarrassing to bring to Him?
Devotional
Teaching. Preaching. Healing. Three activities, and Jesus did all three everywhere—every city, every village. He didn't specialize. He didn't choose between intellectual ministry and physical ministry. He addressed the whole person: mind (teaching), soul (preaching), and body (healing). All three. Everywhere.
The comprehensiveness is the point. Every city. Every village. Every sickness. Every disease. Jesus didn't skip the small towns for the big ones. He didn't choose the impressive diseases over the mundane ones. He went everywhere and healed everything. His ministry wasn't selective. It was total.
The three activities together describe what wholeness looks like from God's perspective. You don't just need your mind informed (teaching). You need your heart summoned to respond (preaching). And you need your body restored (healing). Jesus addresses all three because all three are broken. A ministry that only teaches leaves bodies sick. A ministry that only heals leaves minds empty. A ministry that only preaches leaves people without understanding. Jesus' ministry was integrated because human need is integrated.
If you've been approaching God with only part of your need—asking for understanding but not healing, asking for healing but not transformation—this verse describes a Jesus who addresses everything. Every sickness. Every disease. Every village. He's not a specialist. He's a complete restorer. Bring Him everything.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Then saith he unto his disciples,.... His heart being drawn out, and filled with pity to these poor people, upon…
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages ... - That is, in all parts of Galilee, for his labors were, as yet,…
Here is, I. A conclusion of the foregoing account of Christ's preaching and miracles (Mat 9:35); He went about all the…
The Preaching of Jesus. The Harvest of the World
35. See ch. Mat 4:23. All diseases, acute as well as chronic.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture