Matthew 9:35,36 - Workers

9:35,36

This verse gives a brief, but complete, summary of the ministry of Jesus. He went through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues. He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, i.e. the rule of God. He healed every disease and sickness. Teaching and healing went together in the ministry of Jesus, yet we seem insistent on separating them. There will be good Bible teaching churches, but not much, if anything, in the way of healings. There will be churches that focus on healings but whose teaching is limited. Neither is following a Biblical pattern.

Jesus was fully aware of the sinfulness of man, and was not afraid to speak about it, but He did not see humanity as “a bunch of dirty rotten sinners”. Instead He had compassion on the crowds, and He has compassion upon us. Matthew tells us why He had compassion, it was because the people were “harassed and helpless”, like sheep without a shepherd. We see here the importance of good leadership. We need good leadership within the church, and within the civic structures within society. Israel had neither, and the same applies to us today as well.