And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4:23-25)

The Fame Of Jesus

Early in Jesus’ ministry, the man from Nazareth was causing quite a stir among the people. Never had the multitudes seen such power as Jesus exhibited. He healed all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. There was nothing that Jesus could not do. Everyone who came to Jesus with whatever crippling malady, cancer, broken bone, or chronic disease was healed and the disease taken away by the hand of the Lord. It was so incredible that swarms of people flocked to Jesus for relief from their suffering.

During the ministry of Jesus, God allowed demons to possess men to show the power of His Son over Satan and the demonic world. Jesus healed all the demon-possessed. He cured those who had epilepsy. The people with paralysis were given new life. No one came to Jesus to be healed who was not healed instantly. The healing of Jesus was not a gradual recovery. His power flowed in the bodies of the disease and brought soothing relief to the sufferings of those afflicted. Great multitudes followed Him. They came from hundreds of miles for healing. Jesus healed them all. Robertson observes, “Jesus had a moving hospital of patients from all over Galilee and Syria.”

The fame of Jesus went throughout all Syria. When people heard a man could heal any and every disease known to man, they dropped what they were doing and made the pilgrimage to where Jesus was. This was no easy task. Leaving families behind. Work was left unattended. Traveling long distances while ill made the journey arduous. It was a monumental effort to find Jesus and await the healing. They were rewarded for their effort as the healing power of the Holy Spirit flowed through Jesus to heal them. Everyone went home a new person, whole, relieved, and rejoicing. Jesus was famous for healing. He took away their pain, sorrow, grief, and torment. The man from Nazareth was famous for healing the multitudes.

Jesus performed miracles without number. He proved He was the Son of God. What the diseased multitudes overlooked was the greater healing Jesus had, which would get Him killed. Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Being cured of leprosy was a life-changing gift from the hand of Jesus, but it did not change the sinful nature of man. Coming to Jesus to be healed of sickness, disease, torments, demon-possession, epilepsy, and paralysis did not take away the scourge of sin. They went home healed of body, but what about the spirit? The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom healed men of sin. Healing from the disease was only temporary.

People went to great lengths to find healing from the hand of Jesus. The world takes little interest in Jesus’ teachings. They take little or no notice of what He teaches. If Jesus were on the earth, healing every disease, the sick would fly from every part of the world to be healed. The gospel of Christ is ever powerful today in the word of God, but few take the interest or effort to know what it means to be healed of sin. There is no interest in the Savior Jesus. The fame of Jesus was remarkable when He healed the multitudes and fed the masses. They killed Jesus because of His teachings. The world has remained unchanged. Jesus is famous only as a good man who lived long ago.

The fame of Jesus was well deserved for the relief He gave the multitudes. As His ministry drew nearer the time of the cross, His miracles diminished, and His teaching increased. Jesus came to preach and save souls. Washing sins away is the greatest miracle man can know, made possible by the greatest miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. He rose from the dead to be the one miracle that would lead all men to the Father. Jesus is famous today, but for many of the wrong reasons. The fame of Jesus must spread in the hearts of men who hear the word of the gospel and obey. Death will end disease, but eternal death will never be cured. The gospel does not heal disease; it removes the blight of sin. Make Jesus famous for what He came to do: seek and save the lost.