Miracles' Characteristics Tabulated

Matthew's Gospel
Colors indicate closely grouped verses relating to miraculous healing. Click on asterisks by references for associated study notes.
Reference Number Healed Issue Explicit Faith Touch or Declaration Action Required Demons
Matthew 4:23-25* Many "Every kind of disease and sickness."
"Various illnesses and afflictions, those who had seizures, paralytics, and those possessed by demons."
- - - -
Matthew 7:22 Jesus warns that performing miracles, including casting out demons (which I would suggest implies some kind of healing), does not guarantee a person is in good standing with God (a sentiment he repeats in Matthew 24:24).
Matthew 8:1-4* 1 Leper "If you will..." Touch After healing No
Matthew 8:5–13* 1 Paralysis and suffering Yes (servant's master) Declaration No No
Matthew 8:14-15* 1 Fever No Touch No No
Matthew 8:16-17* Many Possessed and sick - - - "drove out the spirits with a word"
Matthew 8:28-34* 2 Possessed No No No He said to them, "Go!"
Matthew 9:1-7* 1 Paralysis Yes No Before healing No
Matthew 9:18-19;9:23-26* 1 Dead Yes (girl's father) Touch No No
Matthew 9:20-22* 1 Hemorrhaging Yes Touch (of robe) Declaration No No
Matthew 9:27-31* 2 Blindness Yes Touch & Declaration No No
Matthew 9:32-34* 1 Mute - - - Yes
Matthew 9:35* Many Jesus healed "every disease and sickness." - - - -
Matthew 10:1-8 These verses do not directly contain any healing accounts, but they are pertinent to what it means to be a disciple. Jesus taught his disciples to preach and demonstrate the kingdom, and in Matthew 28:18-20, he tells those disciples to make other disciples with the same mandate he gave them: "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." If he told his disciples to make more disciples with all the same instructions he had given them, it would logically include this last command—for these new disciples to make more disciples too, also instructing them to do all Jesus had command the initial disciples to do. If we follow that chain to it's end, it includes even those disciples living 2000 or so years subsequent to Jesus' Great Commission. In other words, if you're a Christian, this includes you.
Matthew 11:5 Another verse does not directly contain any healing accounts. That said, it does attest to them: "the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." What is particularly interesting is the statement that the dead are raised, which is plural in the Greek and in the English rendering of it, indicating that more resuscitation miracles had occurred than just the one reported in Matthew 9:25.
Matthew 12:9-14* 1 Shriveled hand No No Before healing No
Matthew 12:15* Many Jesus "healed all who were ill." - - - -
Matthew 12:22-24* 1 Demonized, blind, and mute No - - Yes
Matthew 13:54-58 In Matthew's Gospel, there is no direct reference to healing in the account of Jesus visiting his hometown. Even so, it is frequently included in discussions about healing—or more specifically, it is used to explain a lack of healing. Lack of faith, it is argued, is the reason many are not healed. However, this is hard to argue from Matthew's Gospel as Jesus has no problem healing the boy in Matthew 17:14-21, even though he explicitly points to lack of faith on the disciples part as being at least part of the reason they could not deliver the child. In that situation, the onus was placed on the "healer" not the sick person, and Jesus had no issue driving the demon out. It seems more likely that Jesus was not able to do any miracles in his home town because no one was willing to ask him than it does that a lack of faith among the sick left Jesus without the ability to perform miracles.
Matthew 14:14* Many Sick - - - -
Matthew 14:34-36* Many Sick - Yes (of robe) - -
- Matthew 15:21-28* 1 "horribly demon-possessed" (MOUNCE) Yes (girl's mother) Declaration No Yes (according to mother)
- Matthew 15:29-32 Many "the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others" - - - -
Matthew 17:14-21* 1 "seizures and is suffering horribly" Yes (boy's father) - No "Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him."
Matthew 18:18 The verse is often used to support the activity of "binding demons," but that does not fit its context. Craig Keener gives a clear explanation of the verse in context. He writes that the terms binding and loosing "have to do with imprisoning or releasing people, and Jewish teachers used these terms to describe their legal authority." The implication in the verse in context is that "the church must discipline its erring members, removing them from participation in the church if they continue in unapologetic sin." Keener goes on to point out that while "binding demons" is not supported by this text, "it does appear in some ancient magical texts, which makes this practice even more suspect." Keener's full blog post can be found at http://www.craigkeener.com/tag/bind-and-loose-demons/.
- Matthew 20:30-34 2 Blind Yes Touch No No
- Matthew 21:14 Many Blind and lame - - - -
Matthew 21:18-22 The statement here that "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (NIV) is frequently used to identify the sick person's level of faith as the reason they are or are not healed. However, in Matthew 17:14-21, Jesus points to the disciples' lack of faith as the reason they were unable to heal the boy. Jesus himself had no such problem, and healed the boy by simply rebuking the demon causing the seizures. If people seeking to heal the sick wish to apply Matthew 21:22, they need to do so evenhandedly. If the disciples' lack of faith was the issue then, it is probably at leas an issue now.
Matthew 25:36 This verse is included here because of its admonition to look after the sick. Although spoken in the context of the parable the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), it is in the middle of the list: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Why would we accept the other admonitions but decry this one? That being the case, we need to incorporate this verse into our thinking about healing. If nothing else, it may cause us to conclude that Jesus, for from promising healing for all, gave us instructions regarding what to do when healing was not forthcoming. I response to any argument that the word doesn't mean "caring for" or "visiting", verse 39 uses that same word where the righteous respond, "When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

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