Mark 1:32 commentary: all that were diseased

32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.

Now you notice here that “all that were diseased” is separated by “them that were possessed with devils” by an “and” plus a comma. There are two distinct groups of people here. There are people who are sick as in gout, cancer, fevers, bloody issues, etc. etc. and those who were possessed with devils. Everyone who is sick is not necessarily possessed with a devil. We live in fallen bodies and in a fallen world. The whole creation itself is groaning like a woman giving birth.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

As we do, waiting for our hurting, physical bodies to be redeemed, which is called the adoption.

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Notice in the following verses Matthew with the wisdom the Holy Spirit has given him even separates the mentally ill from the demon possessed.

Matthew 4:24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

Christ is healing people that are sick, with real diseases. He is really healing them, not like Benny Hinn or some modern, wicked and fake faith healer. It is sickening to see even Baptists who should know better following this evil and uplifting Benny Hinn’s name in prayer services as if he was genuine. I don’t want to get into a discussion at this point about whether or not the gifts of healing even exist in the post-Apostolic age. Leave it to say that Christ can heal you and He doesn’t need a third party to do it, particularly one that is not found in the children’s hospitals but rather having rallies at the local civic center and making a ton of money doing it.

We have devolved from the beginning when diseases aren’t mentioned through the time of Christ when they are a prominent threat to today where some scientists suggest that genetically each generation has an increase in deleterious genetic mutations, another argument against a long existence of mankind on earth. With our improved sanitation, understanding of infection, and more advanced healthcare in First World countries we have improved, through the knowledge God has allowed us to have, the lifespan of all individuals who have access to these things. Now, although severely handicapped people are not likely to reproduce, many people who would have never had the chance to produce survivable offspring are now not only able to do so but to actually thrive with the help of welfare and other collective machinery.

More people in the western world with the diseases that faced the population of Judea in the time when Christ walked the earth are able to survive and even to produce offspring than ever before. Symptoms of some diseases can be treated even if the disease itself can’t be cured. Our traditional, superficial Christian culture encourages mercy and care for the sick and the weak, unlike some other cultures. We replace some diseases with disease producing conditions like obesity and a sedentary lifestyle and things such as antibiotic resistant bacteria due to our overuse of antibiotics thwart our efforts to fight some diseases. As most of us know by now, the older we get the more likely we are to develop some type of cancer where our very cells rebel against our bodies. This is the natural state of mankind and all creation. Death was brought into THIS world of creation by sin. The only remedy is the Lord Jesus Christ. It may be all of our fates to die once but it is your choice whether or not you will face the second death of eternal agony in a lake of unquenchable fire, which is also mankind’s natural fate. Choose Christ.