Knowing The Word in Matthew 4:23-25

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis [a Gentile confederacy to the northeast of Jerusalem, dominated by high Greek culture], and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. [This is a summation of Jesus’ early ministry without the detail Matthew will provide in the following chapters. It is a teaching, preaching, and healing ministry. Matthew is concerned with geography, telling us the extent of Jesus’ influence.]