NOTES for Mat 12:15-21

Crowds of people followed Jesus, and the evangelist notes that He healed them all. Notice that this passage does not speak of healing all the sick, but of healing all who followed Christ. It is hard to imagine that none of them had any complaints about their physical condition; after all, even those who wanted their earthly desires fulfilled could also have had other needs. But healing is not only deliverance from illness. First of all, it is the restoration of the wholeness of the human person. And Christ is able to give such healing to all of us, even to those who have not yet been freed from bodily ailments. Contrary to the pagan saying "a sound mind in a sound body," Christ makes it possible to be spiritually healthy even in an unhealthy body.

It is here that the evangelist cites Isaiah's prophecy and calls it fulfilled. The bond between the times does not break, and the Messiah, according to the fulfilled prophecy, comes without outward spectacle. His presence is unobtrusive; He constantly asks people not to advertise Him as a healer. But the expectations of those who imagined the Messiah's coming as a fearsome event, radically changing the course of history, cannot be called unfulfilled either. For although His impact on the world seemed minimal, and to this day remains unclear to many, it was He who brought the possibility of the radical healing of the distorted Creation.