Last week I exchanged a few messages with a fellow Bibloblogger, Linda, about healing and God’s purpose. That fellowship encouraged me to post this.
Jesus the Physician
I love the Lord more today than I did yesterday. Why? So many reasons. Below is just one reason that He is so wonderful. I hope this short post will cause you to love Him, appreciate Him, and pursue Him just a little more today than you did yesterday.
In Matthew 9, Jesus was feasting in the house of Matthew with sinners and tax collectors (a.k.a. extortionists). When the Pharisees saw what Jesus was doing, they asked why Jesus was associating Himself with unrighteous people like this. Jesus responded, “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.” He continued, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” What a wonderful answer.
The Pharisees thought that God only deals with man according to righteousness. They thought that what unrighteous people need is a judge to judge them.
The Lord’s wonderful answer shows that their problem was not unrighteousness. Their problem was that they were ill. They were sinfulness was actually an illness. So what they needed was to be healed, not judged. The Lord came to them as a Physician to heal them.
He told the Pharisees, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” The Pharisees wanted to do something for God like offer a sacrifice. They didn’t realize that they were also ill and needed God’s mercy.
So today, do you desire to do something for God or do you desire mercy from Him? Do you realize that you are ill with sinfulness and that you need a Physician? If so, the Lord wants to heal you. He does not want to judge you for your sinfulness but heal you from it.
How does he do this? Jesus, our Physician, heals us by His Word.
But the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not fit for You to enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
Matthew 8:8
Related posts: 3 Ways to Use the Bible to Touch God, How to Not Judge Others
LindaLou
April 7, 2011
Hello Clark. I think this is a wonderful post showing it’s more about what Jesus has accomplished for us than what we could ever possibly accomplish for Him. I for one thank you for writing it so beautifully.
Clark Russell
April 7, 2011
Praise the Lord, Linda. Thanks for your kind comment. What a wonderful Jesus we have.
Clark Russell
April 14, 2011
An additional comment on the subject of healing, a quote in the Life-study of the Bible by Witness Lee (my favorite Bible commentary)
“In order to receive the revelation of Christ, there is the need of the environment created by His ministry. In the continuation of His ministry the King did many signs. He healed the leper, He healed the servant boy of a Roman centurion, and He healed the mother-in-law of Peter. Following this, He healed a great many other people. This was His ministry.”
So as I understand it, Christ’s ministry was healing, but His purpose was to create an environment in which people could receive the revelation of Christ. So I’ll quote another portion from the Life-study:
“If you do not see this ministry in such a way, if you cannot see the environment created by this ministry for the revelation of Christ, and if you cannot see all the items of what Christ is, you may read the Gospel of Matthew a hundred times without receiving anything from it.”
LindaLou
April 14, 2011
So by “Christ’s ministry was healing, but His purpose was to create an environment…” I’m not exactly sure what you mean by that. When I think of the healing power of Christ, I am thinking of His power to heal all things, and to bring peace to all circumstances, if not today, then one day. I think of Him healing the brokenhearted as in Luke 4:18. Everything is broken without Him, not just physical bodies — minds, relationships, you name it, it’s broken. When Jesus says in Matthew 9:12, “those who are well have no need of a physicain, but those who are sick,” it seems he is talking about more than physical sicknesses. What are your thoughts?
Clark Russell
April 14, 2011
I think you’re right. Healing is more than just physical, and the two verses you reference are perfect examples. I’m going to have to spend some more time thinking about this because I don’t quite see it yet, but my initial thought is this:
For the people in Matthew, the healing was outward, so the environment is an outward one too. But like you point out, with us, the healing is usually inward or between us and others. So when I say “environment,” I mean something inward or between people.
So the healing creates the right environment for us to “receive the revelation of Christ:” who He is, what He did. Where I’m seeing this in the scripture is Matthew 4-8 where Jesus begins his ministry and heals (and also gives the constitution of the Kingdom in 5-7). Then in Chapter 9, He reveals Himself as the Physician, the Bridegroom, the new cloth, and the new wine. Jesus couldn’t just give a lecture about how He’s the Bridegroom back in chapter 4. It would only be like “head knowledge” to them. First, He carried out His ministry of healing. Then the environment was right. They were open to receive the revelation that Christ is our dear Bridegroom.
Am I making any sense here? I still don’t see it so clearly. It takes me a while for things to sink into my understanding….