“…they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.” - Matthew 4:24 (NASB)

Matthew describes the five types of infirmities of people Jesus healed during his ministry on the earth.  These different healings give a deeper understanding of the five-fold ministry in God’s project.  Because Jesus – as our great High Priest – had all five ministries, it is interesting to see how He used each of them in healing people.  The five ministries are listed in Ephesians 4:11.  The Lord appoints apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and the doctrine of the ministry is provided in other teachings.  For the sake of understanding the infirmities Jesus healed, it is only necessary to understand the general focus and purpose of each of the five ministries.  

The people Jesus healed were (1) those who were ill, (2) those suffering with various diseases and pains, (3) demoniacs, (4) epileptics, and (5) paralytics.  Each infirmity represents something in the Works that is healed by a fully functioning ministry.  Let’s look at each one in closer detail:

Those who were ill.  Jesus came for the spiritually ill.  He said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Luke 5:31)  Jesus brought the Gospel to the spiritually ill. Spiritual illness is when one’s spiritual life is not functioning properly.  Physical illness has a variety of symptoms, but almost always includes tiredness, lack of energy, and loss of appetite.  We can sport spiritual illness because the believer becomes lethargic and lazy, apathetic and unconcerned; they lose their hunger for spiritual food.   Every heart that had a place for this Gospel was a heart healed from its spiritual illness.  The establishment of the Gospel was Jesus’ goal in the life of everyone He encountered who was ill.  The establishment of the Gospel is also the ministry of the apostle.  Just as the Lord uses Apostles to establish churches – to establish the Gospel – Jesus, in His apostolic ministry, established the Gospel in the lives of those who were ill, healing them of their illness, and making them servants in His project.

Those suffering with various diseases and pains.  In Jesus’ life on the earth, He never encountered a problem that He didn’t know how to solve, and He never encountered an infirmity that He didn’t know how to heal.  He was able to heal blindness, leprosy, hemorrhaging, and all other types of diseases and pains that the people brought to Him.  But despite the wide array of needs, He discerned the need of the individual and operated healings that addressed the individual.  Spiritual diseases and pains speak of specific problems and injuries in our spiritual lives, and the prophetic gifts address these specific wounds and needs.  This is the operation of Jesus’ prophetic ministry.  The Lord uses Prophets to discern the need of the individual that will be touched by the Work, and since Prophets are frequently used to guide the Church on a global level, the need of the individual may vary greatly.  It requires the wisdom and discernment of the Prophet to understand and to heal these various diseases.

Demoniacs.  Jesus encountered various people who were possessed by unclean spirits, and He was always able to cast them out.  Demoniacs are enslaved to the forces of darkness; they are like spiritual prisoners.  These are people in need of salvation, to be set free.  It was Jesus’ evangelistic ministry that cured the demoniacs, and it is the evangelistic ministry of the Body today that brings the message of salvation to those possessed by an unclean spirit.  We do not have a ministry of exorcists.  Everyone who is unsaved is a captive of sin, and needs to be set free through salvation.

Epileptics/those with seizures.  Epileptics are those who are thrown into seizures at various times.  They lack the ability to maintain control over their own bodies, because something malfunctions in their minds.  Spiritual seizures refers to a lack of self-control and a lack of integration into the Body.  It is through salvation as a process – the sanctifying process performed by the Holy Spirit – that we are able to overcome this.  This is the challenge each of us faces personally, in the trenches with our local churches, and this is the process that a Pastor helps with.  Jesus’ pastoral ministry was to shepherd His flock and assist each individual sheep through the long and sometimes painful process of sanctification.  Pastors help integrate us into the flock, the Body, where we learn to function properly and have self-control and discipline.

Paralytics.  Paralysis is the lack of ability to move.  Paralytics are unable to move certain body parts, like legs or hands, and in the spiritual sense, this is symbolic of someone who is unable to walk with the Lord or serve Him in the Work of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus encountered many people who were paralyzed, and He healed them.  This speaks of the healing in the Body of people who are paralyzed spiritually.  People who are unable to move spiritually are healed through teaching.  The ministry of teacher helps the member to see new aspects of God’s Work so that they can have more complete movement and activity in their spiritual life, instead of having certain areas lie dormant and unused.

Jesus had all five of the ministries, something that we have not seen in the life of any single individual in this Work.  Yet the collective group of pastors in the Work – the Presbytery – does have all five of the ministries.  It is only through the proper functioning of all five ministries in the Body that all five infirmities can be cured in the lives of those who are reached by the Work.  By the healing of these infirmities, the Body is made complete and is able to proclaim the same testimony that the individuals in the Bible proclaimed when Jesus healed them.  In this, the Work of the Holy Spirit moves forward, and the Lord is glorified.