The Healing at Sundown 

In January, 28 CE, Jesus and his apostles were preparing to begin their first open and public preaching tour of Galilee. They arrived in Capernaum on January 13, making their headquarters at the home of Zebedee, as was their usual practice. On the Sabbath of that week, Jesus spoke in the Capernaum synagogue. Following this sermon, Jesus ministered to a young man with epilepsy, whose family believed that he was possessed of an evil spirit. And he also happened to be present when Amatha, Peter’s mother-in-law, experienced some lessening of her symptoms of malarial fever.

By the time Jesus and his apostles were having dinner that same day, scores of people in Capernaum and the surrounding area were making preparations to go to Zebedee’s home in Bethsaida. The news of the epileptic boy in the synagogue and Amatha’s sudden reversal of fever had reached far and wide. The belief that these were miracles had influenced many. So, all who were sick or afflicted were either walking by themselves or being carried by friends or relatives just as soon as the sun had set, hoping to experience their own healing.

When Jesus came out of the house to see what all the commotion was about in the front yard, he saw nearly one thousand people gathered there. Not all were sick; some had been carried or accompanied by friends. But most of them were stricken by disease or other afflictions. Jesus’ human heart was greatly moved by the sight of so many sick people. He knew that performing a miraculous work of healing now would send the wrong message; he knew he could not build a lasting spiritual movement on the basis of miracles. Not since the events at Cana had he used his miraculous powers. But his sympathetic heart and understanding nature awakened his sincere affection for the multitude.

Someone from the front yard exclaimed: “Master, speak the word, restore our health, heal our diseases, and save our souls!” And when this was said, a vast host of angels and other spiritual beings that always attended Jesus made ready to act, should Jesus give them the signal.

When Peter asked Jesus to listen to this cry for help, Jesus appealed to his heavenly Father for direction, saying to Peter: “I have come into the world to reveal the Father and establish his kingdom. For this purpose, have I lived my life to this hour. If, therefore, it should be the will of Him who sent me and not inconsistent with my dedication to the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven I would desire to see my children made whole—and—” but the rest of his words were lost, as the yard erupted in an uproar.

When Jesus called on his heavenly Father to decide, the Father evidently did not object. The celestial personalities that had assembled went into the crowd of the afflicted and in a moment of time, 683 men, women, and children were perfectly healed of their various diseases and disorders. Counted in this number of healed individuals was the young epileptic man from the synagogue and also Peter’s mother-in-law, who was cured of her malaria. Such a spectacle of healing was never seen on earth before that day, or since.

Even though Jesus was, once again, surprised by this turn of events, it was inevitable that it happened the way it did. He sincerely desired to see this multitude of suffering humanity made whole, provided that it was within the Father's will. The indwelling spirit of Jesus immediately judged that such an act of creative energy at that time would not violate the will of the Paradise Father, and by such a decision – in light of Jesus' previous declaration of healing desire – it was. What a Creator Son desires and his Father wills becomes reality.