What does Matthew 9:35 mean?
Matthew sums up the content of Jesus' ministry in Galilee to this point. Jesus did three things as He travelled from town to town around the region: He taught in the synagogues. He proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom. He healed every disease and affliction.Nearly every town in Israel of any size had a synagogue. Jesus often taught in the synagogues, likely from the Old Testament Scriptures. He did this in the town of Nazareth, where He had grown up, teaching those gathered after reading a scroll from the prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:16–30).
Matthew's report on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5—7 includes several proclamations from Jesus about the gospel of the kingdom. In chapters 8—9, Matthew has presented a series of stories about Jesus healing every disease and affliction, as well as casting out demons, controlling the weather, and raising a dead girl to life.
Both Jesus' teaching and His miracles have drawn huge crowds wherever He has gone. In fact, they are following Him from place to place. Watching those crowds, Jesus will express compassion for the people in the following verses.