An Empathetic Doctor
The word “heart” occurs in Scripture hundreds of times, in some translations as many as 652. The first use of the word actually refers to God’s “heart.” Soon after the rejection of God as the One from Whom Adam and Eve would receive their image and His “breath of life” into their very soul, Scripture would say that the Lord was “grieved in His heart.” Being omniscient and knowing ahead of time what was coming may have softened the blow a bit for the Lord, but to witness His crown of creation choose to reject Him/His Word in His presence delivered to Him a deep pain.
A person can actually die from a “broken heart.” Among cardiologists, the deadly malady is simply called “broken heart syndrome.” But the technical term is “Takotsubo cardiomyopathy,” after the Japanese physician who discovered the syndrome.
One time early in Jesus’ ministry, when He was in His hometown Nazareth where He grew up, Jesus went to preach at the synagogue. He read from Isaiah 61, a prophecy which described the coming “Christ,” which means “The Anointed One.” Part of that prophecy was that the Messiah would bring good news, freedom, healing…“recovery of sight for the blind….” When Jesus sat down after reading in his hometown synagogue, He said that that prophecy was fulfilled that moment as He read the passage.
His next words were, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’” (Luke 4:23) It appears Jesus mentioned this proverb because His own neighbors, once again, had rejected Him as in the garden. They did not believe Him, and not many minutes later they were trying to murder Him.
As I thought about this comment, “Physician, heal yourself!” I thought about the empathy of Christ with each of us. Jesus cries over the city of Jerusalem. He weeps over His friend Lazarus who has died. According to Isaiah, He was “a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.” So intimate is His connection with us that when He heals us, the Bible tells us that “power went from Him…” and that “our sickness He Himself bore, and our pains He carried.” (Isaiah 53:4)
When it comes to the ability of Jesus to heal, of course, He did not need to get close to the sick. The Centurion knew that (Matthew 8). But it is the heart of God to get close to His people. This is why Christ was “born of the Virgin Mary.” He wants to get close to us. We are so close that the Church is called “the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 2 & I Corinthians 12). To carry the metaphor a bit further, His Body (the Church) was sick, with a mortal illness, so He did, in a sense, “heal Himself.”
When the Great Physician “heals” our sicknesses – He does not snap His fingers from afar, but He becomes mortal and carries them. He loses power to bring healing… even in healing there is sacrifice. Every time we sin, He is grieved by yet another burden to carry.
A sympathetic doctor is usually described as having a “good bedside manner.” To have an “empathetic doctor” means the doctor has experienced what we have experienced. “He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5:21)
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, we praise You for getting close to us, for carrying our burdens, for grieving when we fail to be faithful to You. We thank You for healing us. We thank You for being close. Amen.
