It’s really funny… you read the Word 100 times and on the 101th time, something will pop out at you and it’s like the Lord saying, “HEY! Pay attention to this!”

Matthew 10:1 says,

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Wait. Isn’t “sickness” synonymous with “disease”…?

When in doubt, go to the Greek (or the Hebrew, and sometimes both):

??? pas ????? nosos ??? kai ??? pas ??????? malakia

I’m not a Greek scholar… not by any means. I’m just using the very handy lexicon/concordance found at blueletterbible.com. It’s an easy way for non-scholars to do word studies and get accurate information without being overwhelmed by it all (Greek is a daunting language).

Back to our text:

pas is translated, “all manner” and it means “individually, each and every one“.

nosos is “sickness” and it means, “disease, sickness, infirmity“.

kai simply means “and”.

malakia is “disease” and it means, “softness” and “infirmity, debility, bodily weakness, sickness.” I’m not sure, but I’d guess that we get the English word, “malady”, from this Greek word.

Nosos and malakia are almost the same thing… but not quite.

I’m going to have to dig more… but I’m suspecting that I know the answer: Since Scripture says we are body/soul/spirit and salvation cures our spirit-sickness, “sickness and disease” covers both “body” (all physical ailments: cancer, plague, injuries, defects) and “soul” (mental illness, heartache, rejection, orphan spirit) illnesses. This really illustrates the essence of sozo¹ ministry: to make whole.

This is what Jesus went around doing – He healed sickness and He healed disease. I’m stuck right now in the story of the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9/Mark 5/Luke 8). Yes, I’m going to be teaching on this subject soon but even if I wasn’t, I would be arrested by this story. Here she is… ritually unclean… unable to touch or be touched by anyone… she risks ALL to come and touch the hem – and the heart – of God. When she does, her body was instantly healed… but that wasn’t enough for Jesus. He turned, called her “Daughter“, and also healed her soul. Sozo. Wholeness.  We see this theme repeated in story after story… He restored their bodies… and their souls.

This is the commission that God has given to us: heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Doing so by the power of Holy Spirit, we make manifest the Kingdom of God. We declare the DOMINION of the KING (King’s dominion = Kingdom) and recover territory that has been usurped by satan.  There is no part of us that the enemy has a “right” to – God wants to heal, to sozo, every part of us.  Healing forces a collision between light and darkness and light wins.

¹sozo (pronounced either s?z? or s?d-z?, depending on whose opinion you ask; I say s?z?) is a Greek word that means, “to make whole” and is translated as saved, healed, delivered, and restored in the NT. Sozo is the ministry of the Kingdom, it’s the biblical mandate to do as Jesus did. Sozo is “formally” the title of a ministry begun (I think) by Bethel Church (Bill Johnson’s church in Redding, CA) and is a highly effective healing ministry; we are currently in training to do this ministry and have been through “the process” with wonderful results (many of which have been blogged here).