THE PHYSICIAN HIMSELF
Matthew 9:12, 13
Mark 2:17
Luke 5:31, 32
John 2:23-25
The description of our Lord as the Great Physician is warranted by the fact that He Himself employed that designation illustratively in reference to the whole fact of His mission. Twice over He used it, once when He was referring to a possible criticism of Himself in His native town: "Doubtless ye will say unto Me this parable, Physician, heal Thyself."
This was, of course, a passing quotation, and might not be considered proof that we have any right to speak of Him in that way. The other occasion, however, recorded by Matthew, and also by Mark and Luke in almost the same words, does give us that right. Let us read the three occurrences. The narrative in each is the same. Matthew thus gives the record: "But when He heard it, He said, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:12, 13.)
The record of Mark is a little briefer, but essentially the same thing (Mark 2:17). "And when Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Luke's report runs thus (Luke 5:31, 32): "And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician; but they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
It is perfectly self-evident that these words of our Lord uttered upon this particular occasion made a profound impression. Matthew doubtless heard Him, for it was in his house that they were uttered. Mark quite possibly was present at the time, though it is not said so. Luke, who gathered his information from eye-witnesses, has carefully recorded the utterance, thus further emphasizing the fact that it had made a deep impression upon the minds of those who did hear it.
The occasion was the feast made in the house of Matthew, and the reason why these words were uttered was that of the criticism of Jesus by the religious rulers, because He was surrounded by sinning people. The meaning of His great declaration is clear. He was conscious of the sickness of humanity, of the fact that men were suffering from moral malady. The implication of the declaration is equally obvious that He was a Physician, confronting that malady, and able to deal with it.
We observe with what carefulness the three recorders have reported His words: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Luke adds the words "To repentance." In the light of the account itself, these words cannot be read without a consciousness of an element of sarcasm for these men who were critical of Him. They did not understand their own Scriptures which revealed the fact that God desired mercy and not sacrifice. It was as though He had said to them, If you are righteous, then I have nothing to say to you. I came not to call the righteous. My mission has not to do with those who are whole and healthy in the spiritual and moral realms. Such have no need of healing. I came to call sinners. I am the Physician. The business of the physician is never with those who are in health. It is always with the sick. Here then our Lord was implicitly claiming that He confronts humanity in its deepest malady, and that He does so as the great Physician.
It is with that particular phase of His mission that we are proposing to deal in our present series of articles. We shall not be concerned in this attempt with His set discourses and discussions as they are recorded for us in the Gospel narratives. We shall rather attempt to watch Him at His work with individuals. How He dealt with people.
The purpose for such a series of articles is twofold. It is first that of attempting to help those who in any sense have committed to them the cure of souls, and this, of course, means preachers and teachers, and all who at any point are coming into contact with human lives with desire to lead them to the place of healing and full realization. That of course is the business of the whole Christian Church (Matt. 28:18-20). The importance therefore of watching our Lord Himself doing this very work cannot be overestimated.
At the same time, such a continued study will constantly have in it the possibility of helping those also who are in need of such healing. Infinite, in the variety in many ways of expression, is this common malady of sin, and nothing is more marked, as we shall see again more fully, than the infinite variety of the methods employed by our Lord in dealing with it. In this opening article therefore we confine ourselves to general statements on the whole subject. Our knowledge of the New Testament reminds us at once of the very many different persons that are seen as we follow our Lord along the pathway of His earthly mission (50 under consideration). By way of introduction to the more detailed study, therefore, we now notice first, the basis of His approach to the human soul; second, the universal recognition in His method; and finally, that to which I have referred, and which is the whole\ theme, His varied methods.
As to His universal recognition we may say that He always approached the human soul in the same way. As to varied methods, we may say that He never approached two human souls in the same way. Such a paradoxical statement is of value, because it at once compels a little close attention. Nevertheless its meaning is surely self-evident. When our Lord approached a human being, there were great facts common to humanity, for always present to His mind; whereas it is equally true that the infinite variety of human needs was so recognized that He never employed the same exact method twice over.
With regard to the first of these matters, the passage at the close of the second chapter in the Gospel of John is illuminative. "When He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed on His name, beholding the signs which He did. But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for that He knew all men, and because He needed not that anyone should bear witness concerning man; for He Himself knew what was in man."
The statement at the commencement is in itself interesting, declaring that many believed on His name, but He did not trust Himself to them. It should be observed that the verb variously rendered there in our translation, is nevertheless the same concerning the attitude of the people, and our Lord's attitude. We might render, many believed on His name, but Jesus did not believe in them. Or we might say, many committed themselves to Him, but He did not commit Himself to them. Without dealing further with that, we now observe that John tells us the underlying reason of our Lord's attitude. He did not commit Himself to these people: "Because He knew all men, and . . . needed not that anyone should bear witness concerning man; for He Himself knew what was in man." (John 2:24)
Notice the declaration is that He knew all men, that is, individually; second, that He knew what was in man, that is, He knew human nature. This declaration by John must of necessity be linked with his thought concerning the Lord Himself, and that thought is revealed at the opening of his account. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh."
His knowledge must always be thus interpreted. It was not merely that resulting from observation of men by another Man. It was the knowledge of One Who, in His humanity, bore the name Jesus, and Who in His essential Being, was the Word.
Thus we have the twofold fact, that He knew all men individually and universally; Simon as the son of Jonah; Nathanael as the watcher under the fig-tree; the woman by the well as having had five husbands, and so on, and ever on.
But He not only knew individuals individually, He knew humanity generically. He knew what was in man. On this twofold basis of knowledge He constantly proceeded, and this, let it be said resolutely, accounts for His unique ability in dealing with humanity. He knew perfectly what men are today seeking to understand. All the quest of the psychologist is a search for the ultimate truth concerning human personality or individuality. These things the great Physician knew perfectly. Reverently we may say in this connection, like God, He always remembered that man is dust; and equally like God, He knew that man was infinitely more than dust. That was the basis of His approach, and of course, finally interprets His healing power, His ability to deal with all sorts and conditions of men. We are dealing in these studies with the records only. It is best, however, to remind ourselves at once that whereas they indicate the eternal principles, they do not exhaust the theme, for through all the running centuries that have come and gone, this Christ has been doing the same things, confronting human souls, knowing every one, knowing what was in man; and dealing with man according to the facts of his inherent nature, and of all the facts resulting from heredity and environment. Let it also be said that when today men attempt to study the account of our Lord as of one among a number of teachers, they show they have never really seen Him. It is perfectly true that we may watch Him garbed with the simplicity of a peasant, growing weary in common with human nature, and yet he is seen forevermore coming into contact with other men and women and children, known completely not only the incidental facts concerning each, but the very nature and being of each. He was and is the Great Physician, and the basis of His approach to human nature is that of His perfect knowledge.
Then as we observe Him at His work we discover what we have referred to as His universal recognitions. He dealt with men and women of differing temperaments and different situations, and in a profound way He recognized certain universal facts. In that way He treated them all as being alike. We may at once cover the whole ground here by declaring that He treated all as spiritual in essence, sinning in experience, salvable by grace.
When we say that He dealt with man as spiritual in essence, we are not for a moment suggesting that He neglected either the mental or the physical. It is impossible to watch Him without realizing that His words were forever characterized by intellectual depth and majesty, of such a nature that human intellect fails, even until now to completely apprehend. It was always His method to compel men to the use of their mental powers. He was constantly asking questions, as though He would say, what is your opinion? What do you think? What is your mental activity in the presence of this matter?
He certainly was not unmindful of the physical. He cared for it. This was always demonstrated by the wonders of His healing of bodily powers, and upon occasion in His feeding of physical hunger. Nevertheless neither the mental nor the physical constituted His chief concern. He was always dealing with the spiritual essence, which being at fault, everything else was at fault. The keynote of His preaching was found in the words: "From that time began Jesus to preach, and to say, Repent."
That is a call to a mental but He was addressing Himself to the spiritual essence which had a mind. Or again, when He said: "Seek ye first His Kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you," the ultimate thought was undoubtedly that of the spiritual. As one of the apostles wrote later: "The Kingdom of God Is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Rom. 14:17) One other illustration is climacteric in this regard. To His disciples He one day said: "I say unto you, My friends, Be not afraid of them which kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do." (Luke 12:4)
On the level of much of our ordinary thinking, we should say that if the body is killed, there is no more to be said or done. The words of Jesus constitute a tender but definite mockery of that very stupid idea. If a man kills my body, he has paralyzed his own arm, and can no further harm me, but I am still there. My body lies dead, but I am not dead. From that standpoint He forever approached man, coming with a clear recognition that their chief glory, the central fact concerning them was not the body which dies, nor the mind that blunders, but the spiritual which is central.
Then it is equally self-evident that He dealt with man not only as spiritual in essence, but as sinning in experience. He saw humanity missing the mark, failing at the center, and consequently suffering in all the circumference.
"When He saw the multitude, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd." (Mark 6:34)
So He saw them, failing to be what God meant them to be, failing to be what was possible within the mystery of their own personality. In the words in which He spoke of Himself as the great Physician, He made it perfectly clear that His mission was concerning such, and in dealing with man He treated him as sinning in experience.
The final word is that He treated humanity as salvable. That is a great old theological term, and is incapable of being improved. In spite of all the dereliction, He saw man as salvable, capable of the highest in spite of having passed to the lowest. It is impossible to follow our Lord upon the pathway of His service, and watch Him thus dealing with individuals, and then to speak of hopeless cases. All those who are engaged upon this selfsame sacred service are very conscious that there are occasions when we are inclined to feel that the case is indeed hopeless. Resolutely we declare He never did this. When no one else believed in the possibility of the recovery of a human soul, He did. We say, and we say correctly, that according to these records, men and women were saved or made whole through their faith in Him. It is perfectly correct to look more deeply, and if we do we find that their faith in Him was created by His faith in them. Thus He approached humanity, recognizing it as spiritual in essence, sinning in experience, salvable by grace.
And so we pass to the other matter where the interest, of course, is enormous, and which is to occupy the whole of our subsequent articles. Here we summarize briefly by saying that we never find our Lord dealing with two different persons in exactly the same way. To take one or two brief illustrations, to which, of course, we shall return for more careful consideration later. To Andrew and John He said, "What seek ye?" To Simon He said, "You shall be rock." To Philip He said, "Follow Me." To Nathaniel He said, "Before Philip found you, I saw you." To Nicodemus He said, you must be "born from above."
With that last illustration we pause a moment to remark that it is at least arresting that He is never recorded as having said that to anyone else. It is true that He so said it as to show that it applies to every human being; but it is equally arresting that He is not reported as having said it to anyone else personally. He was employing the method necessary in the case of the man, and this He forever did.
At the commencement of this article we declared that one purpose of this series would be that of helping those who have the cure of souls. We then showed that He proceeded upon the basis of His perfect knowledge. Here then for a moment we are halted, because we cannot, of ourselves, have any such perfect knowledge. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that we should remember that all who are called to that work are called a fellowship with Him in and through the Holy Spirit. It is only by such living, maintained fellowship, that we can only do this work. That is a subject which surely needs no argument. It may be stated, however, with reverence and reticence, that the measure in which those called to this sacred business are living in true fellowship with Him, will be found to be the measure of their understanding of men and women, and their ability to deal with them, in order to their saving.
In “the cool of the day” – (Gen. 3:8) every day meet with Him, talk to Him, ask Him questions concerning His perfect will for you for He said He would be with you to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20). And read His instruction manual that His Spirit makes use of and brings meaning to.
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