Meditation
THE GREAT PHYSICIAN Dr. Joseph Stowell
Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Matthew 9:12
Of all the titles given to Jesus, I have to admit that I am taken with the thought that He is the Great Physician. Doctors are highly respected and their advice and counsel carry great weight. When we have a medical problem, where do we go to find help? The doctor. We are willing to undergo great pain and inconvenience to follow his orders. We even go to the edge of death’s door in surgery because we trust his wisdom and skill.
And so it is with Jesus…all of the above. Yet Jesus often gets less respect and cooperation from us than our M.D. In His day, people were amazed by His healing power and continued to come to Him as He preached from one city to the next. Jesus recognized their needs, both physical and spiritual, saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13).
Here was a Doctor who offered more than a temporary escape or a purely physical solution to their problems. He offered healing and understanding that probed far beyond their physical ailments. He cured the most troubling problem of all. He came to save us from our sins, to bring eternal life and contribute hope where before there was hopelessness and utter despair.
He was unique. He was not what people expected–from His humble entry into the world, to His victorious triumph as He conquered the grave; He was a Physician who could not only heal the masses but who Himself conquered death and secured eternal life for everyone who would believe. Is there any doubt that our world today is in desperate need of the Great Physician? That our lives on a daily basis still need His healing, His direction and advice?