Found just over forty times in the New Testament, the Greek verb “therapeuo” meant “heal,” “care for,” “serve,” “to give help.”  Aside from Acts 17:25 where this term describes “serving God,” therapeuo means “to heal” or “to cure.”

This verb first occurs in Mt. 4:23 where it describes the Lord “healing” all types of sickness and disease.  Jesus gave His apostles the power to also “heal” sickness (Mt. 10:1).  Jesus was able to heal multitudes of sick people (Mt. 19:2).  Some who came to Jesus had spent great sums of money for medical care but had not been healed (Lk. 8:43).  All these healings were miraculous instead of the result of medical treatment.  Jesus once asked some critics if it was lawful to “heal” on the Sabbath day (Lk. 14:3).  The book of Revelation uses this term in Rev. 13:3, 12.