The Healthy Don’t Need a Physician –
Jesus the Special General Practitioner
Cardiologists are specialists. Many insurance companies require that patients be referred to a specialist by their general practitioner because opening the door to see a specialist also opens the door to spending a lot of money. Insurance companies have grown in their appreciation of preventative care, in order to prevent critical care and associated costs. That means that annual physicals and well-visits are often paid for by the insurance company.
Jesus mentioned “physicians” a couple of times in His ministry. One reference in particular is well- known, and it is recorded in three of the Gospels. Early in His ministry, when He was beginning to call His disciples, Jesus called Matthew/Levi , the son of Alpheus, to be one of His twelve. No doubt Matthew was overjoyed – without hesitation he left his job, and he also threw a “great banquet” (Luke 5:29) for Jesus and all Levi’s friends… including colleagues – many tax collectors.
Interestingly, some Pharisees must’ve been at the banquet also. [Earlier in the chapter, Luke had mentioned Pharisees at this time were following Jesus from “every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem…” (Luke 5:17)]. It is quite poignant that Matthew invited these Pharisees, because as a Jewish tax collector, the following Pharisaical judgments were directed towards Matthew and his kind: “he could not serve as a witness or as a judge, he was expelled from the synagogue, he was considered a disgrace in the Jewish community and treated as an outcast.” (Paraphrased from the Concordia Self Study Bible) How much emotional effort do you think it took for Matthew to invite the Pharisees?
The Pharisees, whose name means “separated ones,” would’ve had some problem sitting next to people like Levi or his many friends. So they questioned the disciples about the obvious: “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (Luke 5:30) Aware of their concern, Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31, 32)
According to these spiritually blind practitioners, the Pharisees appeared to be really good at diagnosing the obvious. Yet they didn’t offer cures, but rather quarantine. They had diagnosed Matthew as having several spiritual maladies, but they would not offer the medicine of mercy. When Matthew records the episode, he also records a statement of Jesus which Luke omits, “But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13) Piercing truths stand out about this episode: the quote from Jesus about “mercy” is taken directly from the book of Hosea. As you may recall, Hosea was ordered by God to marry a prostitute. In this potent visual incongruent image, God was showing His people what He had done when He made a covenant with Israel. He got Himself “hitched to a whore.” And if we follow the story line, it is obvious that God remained faithful to His wandering wife. He showed her mercy, just as Hosea had done with his wife. The Pharisees knew the text; the point was not lost on them.
Jesus reveals that He is a general practitioner – He will see anyone about any “sickness.” But He is a very special general Practitioner. With the perception of a specialist, He diagnoses specifically what our maladies are. And by His mercy, He offers the cure – forgiveness and fellowship with God!
The word “sick” that Jesus used was a general word to describe both physical and moral illness. Self-righteousness is a systemic illness, which mimics “perfect health.” The Pharisees, because of their separateness, believed they had kept themselves from contracting spiritual illnesses like poor Matthew had. Unbeknownst to them, their sickness of self-righteousness was preventing them from the final and ultimate healing – offered by Jesus the Specialist, the supreme Cardiologist.
The beauty with Jesus… There is no bill. His diagnosis and treatment are free. He paid the bill for us on the cross. How’s that for insurance?!
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, we are unhealthy. You have told us that “out of the heart come adulteries, murders, fortifications…” All of us are sick with these sins and more. Yet in Your mercy, You are married to us. Help us see our sickness and remain faithful to Your love, always merciful in our own practice. In Your Name we pray. Amen.
