| Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. |
| —Matthew 4:23-24 |
Our society uses specialists in virtually every branch of medicine and mental health. No one doctor can be expected to have developed an expertise in every aspect of healing. Yet, our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ—as He was called in Scripture: “the Great Physician”—was said by Presbyterian pastor, Matthew Henry (1662-1714), to have “a salve for every sore.” 1
In his commentary on the Scripture passage quoted at the beginning of this blog post, Matthew Henry refers to Jesus as a “panpharmacon.” We can see similarities in the English transliteration of this Greek word to ones we use in our common language of today—pan: across; pharma: drugs; con: with. Putting these three word segments together, we could say that Jesus acts as a “drug” that brings cures across the gamut of all diseases.
Yet, with all the healing of diseases of the body and mind that Jesus did during His life here on earth, He had an even greater mission in performing these miracles of healing. As the one and only Son of God, Jesus came to earth in order to cure us from the disease of sin, the original congenital malady inflicting us all.
According to Malachi 4:2, God speaks to the people of Israel about His Son, Jesus, and declares:
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
According to Matthew 9:12, Jesus is criticized by the religious leaders for eating with sinners. In response, this passage records these words of Jesus:
But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”
Throughout the New Testament, we find many examples of Jesus bringing healing to those in need. Jesus used every opportunity of physical healing to preach His cure for the sin-sickness of the soul.
In her book, Portraits of Devotion, Beth Moore reflects on Matthew Henry’s insight and her own experience with the Great Physician, especially through His written Word: 2
His Word was a “panpharmacon.” Ah, yes. I have yet to have an ailment God had no salve to soothe. What may be even more peculiar is that I have yet to have an ailment of soul that God’s Word was not the first to point out, diagnose, then heal … That’s the nature of His Word. As Psalm 107:20 says, “He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the pit.” How often God has had to send forth His Word and begin the healing to get me healthy enough to face the diagnosis! … Every time God has prepared us with His Word and gotten us to a point that we can receive a hard “pill” to swallow from Him, healing has already begun.
Have you had a check-up lately? Has God’s written Word come to you with a diagnosis of your need? Please know that not one malady with which we struggle, including the soul-sickness of our sins, is so wretched that our God does not have the power to heal that malady.
God lovingly waits to bring healing and wholeness, vigor and new strength, to His people everywhere. Let us pray and trust His written Word in that healing, and expect great things to happen.
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| 1 Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible – Vol. 5. McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, 1980. Pp. 44-45 |
| 2 Moore, Beth. Portraits of Devotion. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2014. p. 141 |
