Matthew 12:15: Jesus healed them all

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Matthew 12:15

I used to have a pastor who loved to say that the Greek for all is all. I was in seminary at the time, so this bothered me for two reasons. First of all, the Greek for all is Greek, and the Greek word is pan.1 Secondly, the word is sometimes used for emphasis where it takes on a hyperbolic nature. This verse is a good example of that.

The verse tells us that large crowds followed Jesus and then concludes in Greek with καὶ ἐθεράπευσεν αὐτοὺς πάντας (kai etherapeusen autous pantas), which translates to "and he healed then all." However, healing every person in the crowd would require that, in this huge crowd, there was not a single well person, which seems improbable. This is probably why the NIV (and several other modern translations) translates the last part of the verse as "he healed all who were ill."

Hyperbole not withstanding, the emphasis of the verse is on Jesus healing a great many people. Furthermore, given that the sick were—to state the obvious—sick, following Jesus would have required intentionality and effort. I do not know about you, but when I am sick I generally just want to stay at home in bed. In fact, I think it is reasonable to assume that a significant number of the sick mentioned here were seriously ill, ill enough that they were willing to leave their daily work to seek healing from Jesus. They were, after all, following him.

We might also note that Jesus was on the move because his life was under threat. The Pharisees were plotting to kill him, which was why he had left the place he had been immediately prior to this. Not only was Jesus willing to heal the sick who came to him, but he was also willing to do so in the face of some potential peril to his own life. Theologically, of course, we could argue that the sacrifice of his life on the cross was what purchased healing for us, but if we jump to quickly to theologizing we are in danger of missing the implication for us of Jesus' willingness to slow his escape: if that is how our Lord reacted to the needy when his life was threatened, how should we react in a similar circumstance (or when there is no threat to us at all).

For those of us who are not in danger for our lives because of our faith, it may be more pertinent to ask what it is that is preventing us from stepping out in faith in this area. For myself, I can say the fear of an unanswered prayer moving someone further away from God is a significant barrier. However, more people get healed when we pray for them than when we do not. Furthermore, as Todd White points out, "[We] think, what if I pray for somebody and they don't get healed? My question is this: what if you pray them, and they do? What do you do with that?"2

FOOTNOTES
1. Actually, the Greek word has three lexical forms: pas (πᾶς), pasa (πᾶσα), and pan (πᾶν). The word itself, though usually translated as all, is often used hyperbolically. For a fuller discussion on hyperbole in Scripture see my notes on Matthew 9:35.
2. Todd White's very challenging response to the question, "What if nobody gets healed?" is posted on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE96DqEDAfQ. The quote above starts at 2'14".

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