Jesus: Physician

     It seems like a large number of us have been sick lately, doesn't it?  Stop and count how many people you know who have been to the doctor in the past few weeks.  When we are sick, we certainly understand the value of having a good doctor.
     More than 3500 years ago Ancient Babylon was governed by the Code of Hammurabi.  Along with many other regulations, this famous set of laws outlined rules of conduct for physicians.  If a surgeon operated on a person's eye with a copper lancet, for example, and that patient lost his sight as a result of the surgery, the doctor's eye was to be put out with a copper lancet.
     The ancient Greeks sought to be cured by Asklepios, the god of healing.  They would travel to sites such as Epidaurus in Greece or Pergamum in Asia Minor for treatment.  The cure involved special water for drinking and bathing, as well as revelations to heal the mind.  The sleeping chambers were surrounded by passageways.  Workers would place themselves in these passageways and communicate messages of well-being to sleeping patients.
     Medical doctors were certainly not unknown in the Old Testament world.  For example, Job refers to his would-be counselors as, "worthless  physicians," in Job 13:4.
     The New Testament, too, makes references to the medical profession.  In Mark 5:25-34 Jesus heals a woman who has not been cured by the doctors even though, according to the passage, she has suffered much at the hands of many physicians and has spent all of her money on treatments.
     In Luke 4:23 Jesus quotes a saying which obviously was circulating at the time: "Physician, heal yourself."
     Paul's traveling companion Luke, who is also the author of one Gospel account plus the book of Acts, is identified in Colossians 4:14 as, "the beloved physician."
     Of course, Jesus ranks as the greatest healer of all time.  His compassion causes Him to cure every kind of sickness.
     "And Jesus was going about in all Galilee," Matthew 4:23 records, "teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of sickness among the people."
     In Matthew 10:7-8 the Lord commissions His twelve apostles to preach, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons.
     So the Christ is undoubtedly history's greatest healer of physical ailments.  But this is not what we are referring to when we point to Jesus as the Great Physician.  Those who were healed physically by Jesus became ill at other points in their lives.  And even those who were raised from the dead kept a later rendezvous with the grave.
     Jesus is the great physician because of the spiritual healing which He provides.
     Matthew, Mark and Luke all record an incident when a paralyzed man is lowered through the roof on a stretcher.
     "Friend, your sins are forgiven you," Jesus says to the man in Luke 5:20.
     The scribes and Pharisees immediately begin to attack the Lord for claiming to be able to forgive sins.
     "Which is easier," the Master replies, "to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?
     "But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," Jesus continues as He shifts his attention to the paralyzed man, "'I say to you, rise, and take up your stretcher and go home.'"
     Of course, the man does just that.
     This man is healed physically because the Lord has compassion on him and also because Jesus wants to make a point to the Jewish leaders.  But, according to verse 20,  he is healed spiritually because of faith which has resulted in action on the part of the man and his friends.
     What about us?  How is our spiritual health?  What action should we be taking to diagnose our condition and to find healing?  

     "And it happened that as He was reclining at table in the house," Matthew 9:10-13 says of Jesus, "behold many tax-gatherers and sinners came and joined Jesus and His disciples at the table.
     "And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and sinners?'
     "But when He heard this, He said, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are ill.  But go and learn what this means, "I desire compassion, and not sacrifice;" for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"
     First of all, we need to notice something that Jesus is NOT saying in this passage.  He is not indicating that the Pharisees are righteous or sinless.  We know from many statements of the Lord that the Pharisees are among the greatest sinners.
     What the Master is saying is that a doctor is of no benefit to a person who does not think he or she is sick.  And this is where we enter the picture as we consider the Great Physician.
     Once we realize that sin is the cause of spiritual illness, then we must recognize that all of us are sick.  Romans 3:23 and 1 John 1:10 make it clear that we are all sinners.
     Those who do not think they are sick do not seek help.  Another barrier to healing is the belief that we are immune.  This is true physically.  But, even more importantly, it is true spiritually.
     "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall," 1 Corinthians 10:12 warns.
     "I buffet my body and make it my slave," Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified."
     "You therefore, beloved, " 2 Peter 3:17 advises, "knowing beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness."
     No one is totally immune, especially spiritually.
     Still another obstacle to seeking healing is the idea that we are immortal.  Other people die or are killed, but it has never happened to me.
     "It is appointed for men to die once," Hebrews 9:27 points out, "and after this comes judgment."
     We are not immortal.  We are not immune.  We are all sick.  Therefore we all need the Great Physician.
     There are some facts about sickness that we should keep in mind as we consider our condition.  One is that incorrect information can lead to sickness.  Even a superficial examination of the living conditions during the Middle Ages proves that this is true physically.
     "For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep," Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:30 in reference to spiritual problems arising from false attitudes in the church.
     Another fact about sickness is that it always weakens the body.  The spiritual application of this is found in passages such as 1 Corinthians 5:1-6 and Galatians 5:7-9.
     Going one step farther, it is true that all sickness can kill.  In fact, all sickness will kill if it goes unchecked either by natural or induced means.  Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin, the source of spiritual sickness, is death.
     With our physical condition, preventative medicine is the best.  This is even more true with spiritual illness.
     Vaccinations have greatly reduced the number of deaths from a variety of diseases.  In 1 John 1:7 we find that the vaccination against sin is the blood of Christ.
     Cleanliness is good preventative medicine.  1 Peter 1:22-23 tells us that moral purity is effective against spiritual sickness.
     It is easier to stay well if we avoid risk through exposure to germs.  We find in James 4:7-8 that it is best to flee from the devil and draw near to God.
     What do we do when we think we might be sick?  We use tests to determine our condition.  Even a thermometer is a test of our physical condition.  We are instructed in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to test our spiritual condition.
     Once we know we are sick, we try to find a cure.  Revelation 1:5 reveals that the cure for sin is the blood of Jesus.  Passages such as Galatians 6:1-3 and James 5:16 add that fellowship in the church is also involved in the healing process.
     But recognition of the fact that we are sick and knowledge of a cure do no good if we do not take action.  We can go to the doctor.  He can diagnose the problem.  He can prescribe a cure.  But this is worthless if we don't take the medicine.  Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 7:24-27 that He is of no benefit to those who do not act on His instructions.
     And one problem that physicians face is the fact that, although a cure is prescribed for a certain period of time, the patient stops taking the medicine as soon as the symptoms go away.  What this does is allow the remaining germs in the body to develop a resistance to the medicine.
     One of the greatest problems faced by the Great Physician is that people stop their spiritual cure as soon as the symptoms cease.
     "Be faithful until death," Revelation 2:10 promises, "and I will give you the crown of life."
     There is one last thing we must understand.  The longer we wait, the more difficult it is to be cured.
     "And now why do you delay?" Ananias asks Paul in Acts 22:16.  "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name."
     If you have not been immersed for the forgiveness of your sins, then you have not reached the blood of Jesus.  Without the blood of Jesus, you are in your sins.  If you are in your sins, then you are sick.  In fact, you are dead.
     Why don't you listen to the doctor?  Why don't you take the cure?  Why don't you obey the truth and be set free?

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)