Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.  So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them.  And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Teaching us was, and still is, a fundamental act for our God.  If most of what he did among us was teach how is it that we let ourselves stop listening and learning?  Perhaps we think we can learn on our own or that we are too old to learn anything new.  Or perhaps we've grown to have a lazy spirit, encumbered by "the riches and pleasures and distractions of life" which can choke off and kill the growth of God's Word in us.

Jesus did not leave unfulfilled the hope of the sick who were brought to him.  He cured them.  To so many today he seems to no longer care or listen.  We have access to both medical care and the knowledge of how to care for our health.  Do we see these as gifts from God?  Or are we to be scandalized by the impoverished nations whose citizens are not so blessed?  Certainly they were there when Christ walked the earth yet he only cured that tiny fraction who were fortunate enough to be brought to him.  Perhaps healing all our physical ills was not a fundamental part of why he came.  Certainly "his word has gone out to all the earth," so the real healing lies with his teaching which has become accessible to nearly the entire planet.

We should not turn aside from asking God to heal our bodies, thinking we ought not bother him with such a selfish (and what we might see as trivial) request.