Jesus was the doctor needed

JESUS WAS THE DOCTOR NEEDED
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 9:12 They that are whole have no need of a
physician, but they that are sick.—Matthew9:12.
GreatTexts of the Bible
The Physician
1. One of the best known scenes in the gospelstory is here placedbefore our
eyes, and the same picture, in all essentials,meets us more than once in the
Gospels. Onthe one side stands Jesus, who satat meat with publicans and
sinners as their friend; and on the other side the Pharisees,who murmured
and found fault with our Lord for so doing. On another day Jesus replied to
the murmuring of the Pharisees by the three parables of the Lost Piece of
Silver, the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Son. The same opposition was manifested
when He satat meat as the guest of Simon the Pharisee, and, to the
astonishment of those who were eating with Him, alloweda womanthat was a
sinner to washHis feetwith her tears, and to wipe them with her hair. To all
sorts of people Jesus cried, “Follow Me.” There were the honest fishermen by
the Lake of Gennesaret;there was the faithful son who wanted first to go and
bury his father; and to-day it is a publican who is sitting at the receipt of
custom at Capernaum. He is named Matthew, and he is the Apostle whose
name stands at the head of the Gospelfrom which the text is taken. The
publican must not be missing from the inner circle of Jesus’disciples, from
those whom He invited to give up their former calling and become His fellow-
workers. He was not only tolerated but even drawn by Jesus to Himself, and
brought forward by Him that all might know why Jesus came into the world.

If we ask in amazementhow it was that a publican could immediately respond
to such a call, and give up the whole course ofhis life, a satisfactoryanswer
will occurto eachof us. The publican Matthew, like many more of his order,
must have heard Jesus preaching more than once, and possibly he may even
have listened secretlyto the preaching of John the Baptist. This powerful
preaching had opened a new world to him, the very opposite of the world in
which he had hitherto lived; a world of righteousness, ofgrace, and of peace.
Hence sprang his implicit trust in the Man who offered Himself to him as a
guide to a new life and a new life-work. He celebratedwith a feastthe hour in
which Jesus made him a sharerin His own work. On the same day he invited
many of his own class to a meal in his house. And as they felt drawn to Jesus,
so Jesus also seems to have felt at ease in their company. But what a company
that was!Even those who know but little of the conditions of the Holy Land at
that time, of the fearful pressure of taxation under which the Jewishpeople
had long groaned, of the habitual embezzlements and extortions of those who
farmed out the taxes and of the officials under them, canunderstand that
publicans and sinners were almost interchangeable words. Jesus Himselfdid
not speak ofthem in any other way. The publicans were branded as sinners;
for they were solemnly excommunicatedfrom the synagogue as traitors and
renegades, andmost of them were, according to Jewishlaw, beatenwith forty
stripes save one, before they were castout, by order of the rulers of the
synagogue. Thus branded as traitors and sinners, they were shut out from all
decent society, and were compelledto herd together, corrupt and corrupting.
Despised, they became despicable, extortionate, base. We cannotwonderthat
the Phariseessneeredand shook their heads when they askedthe disciples of
Jesus, “Whyeateth your Masterwith publicans and sinners?”
There was nothing in Roman tax-gathering which made vice in that calling a
necessarything. In point of fact, the vice came from the outside. The master-
publicans were men of rank and credit; but they put their work into the hands
of subordinates who were often takenfrom the slums. The vices these
exhibited in their professionwere brought with them into their profession;

they came from the previous corruptions of human nature, and no trade is
chargeable with them. We cannot morally label Matthew by calling him
“Matthew the Publican.” The truth is, the obloquy with which Matthew was
regardedby his countrymen did not proceedfrom the fear that he was a bad
man, but from the certainty that he was a bad Jew. The most galling fact to
the Israelof later days was the fact that she paid tribute to another land.
Ideally she claimed to be the mistress of the world—the nation into whose
treasury all tribute should flow. That such a nation should pay taxes to a
foreign people, a Gentile people, was an awful thought. It was a pain worse
than laceration, more cruel than a blow. But there was the possibility of a pain
more poignant still. It was bad enough that the tribute of homage from Israel
should be collectedby a Roman. But what if the man who gatheredit should
be a son of Israel herself!What if the man who taunted her with her
misfortunes should be one born within her pale, bred within her precincts,
shelteredwithin her privileges—one from whom was due the veneration for
her sanctuaryand the reverence for her God! Now, this often happened; and
it happened in the case ofMatthew. Here was a Jew who had lostthe last
shred of patriotism. He had forgottenthe traditions of his ancestors!He had
not only acceptedwithout a blush the domination by the stranger; he had
takenpart with the strangerin his domination! He had attachedhimself to the
enemies of his country—had become a collectorof their tribute from his own
conquered land! The man who actedthus was bound to be execratedby his
race. He was execratedon that ground alone. No amount of personalvices
would in the eyes of his countrymen have added to the enormity of his sin, and
no amount of personalvirtues would in the slightestdegree have minimized
that sin. His deed was itselfto them the acme of all iniquity, from which
nothing could detract and which nothing could intensify. The blackness of
Matthew’s characterin the eyes of the Jew was the factof his apostasy.1
[Note:G. Matheson, The Representative Menof the New Testament, 188.]
2. It seems as though the disciples of those times were embarrassedby the
question. Jesus Himself was obligedto give the answerin their stead. He
replied with the proverb: “They that are whole have no need of a physician,
but they that are sick.” He sheltered His work as a healerof men’s souls

behind the example of those who healedmen’s bodies. “Physicians go where
they are needed” (so ran His argument). “Theydo not haunt the houses of the
healthy. They go where the disease is, and you honour them for their devotion
to duty. Even so I also go where I am needed. And if there be any cases
speciallyserious, speciallyhopeless, speciallyfriendless, there, above all, must
I go. There My work calls Me, and there My heart leads Me.” It was a great
argument, simple as the common speechofmen, yet deep as the Everlasting
Love.
In 1842, whenDr. Hutchison Stirling was a young man and uncertain whether
to follow medicine or literature as a profession, he wrote to Carlyle, who, in
course of his reply, said: “Practically, my advice were very decidedly that you
kept by medicine; that you resolvedfaithfully to learn it, on all sides of it, and
make yourself in actual fact an Ἰατρὸς, a man that could heal disease. I am
very serious in this. A steady course of professionalindustry has ever been
held the usefullest support for mind as well as body: I heartily agree with that.
And often I have said, What professionis there equal in true nobleness to
medicine? He that can abolishpain, relieve his fellow-mortal from sickness, he
is the indisputably usefullestof all men. Him savageand civilized will honour.
He is in the right, be in the wrong who may. As a Lord Chancellor, under
one’s horse-hair wig, there might be misgivings; still more perhaps as a Lord
Primate, under one’s cauliflower;but if I could heal disease, Ishould say to all
men and angels without fear, ‘En ecce!’ ”1 [Note:James Hutchison Stirling:
His Life and Work, 57.]
3. The proverb Christ employed was in common use both by the Hebrew
Rabbis and by the heathen historians and poets. We find it in the Talmud, and
in Greek and Roman authors. It was one of that kind of sayings—the
gnomic—whichthe Rabbis spent their lives in making, learning, repeating.
And on our Lord’s lips, as they would instantly feel, it took a tone of rebuke.
They professedto be healers in Israel. They professedto have a vast store of
medicinal words with which they could minister to the mind diseased, and

give saving health to the distempered soul. But what kind of healers were
those who administered their remedies only to the hale and robust, who
shrank from the sick lest they should expose themselves to infection? Yet this
was preciselywhat these professed“healers”were doing. They had wisdom
for the wise, but none for the foolish. They would explain the secrets of
righteousness to the devout, but not to the sinful. They taught the spiritually
healthy how health might be preserved, but left the sick multitude, the people
altogetherborn in sin, to languish and perish in their iniquities.
That was not Christ’s conceptionof the Healer’s art and duty. The true
Healer was he who dreaded no infection, who went fearlesslyamong the
diseased, and soughtto make them whole;who gave eyes to the blind, ears to
the deaf, feet to the lame, vigour to the decrepit, life to the dying. The Healer’s
duty lay, not with the few strong and hale, but with the greatmultitude lying
sick unto death, no man caring for their souls.
In this proverb, therefore, Jesus virtually announced Himself as the true
Healer, the GoodPhysician, as caring for the weak more than for the strong,
for the sick more than for the whole. And, if in that announcement there was
rebuke for the Rabbis and doctors of the law as untrue to their vocation,
unfaithful to their professedart of healing, there was plainly comfort and
hope for the weak and sick who reclined at Matthew’s table.
Natural Religionis basedupon the sense of sin; it recognizes the disease,but it
cannot find, it does not look out for the remedy. That remedy, both for guilt
and for moral impotence, is found in the central doctrine of Revelation, the
Mediation of Christ. Thus it is that Christianity has been able from the first to
occupy the world and gain a hold on every class ofhuman societyto which its
preachers reached;this is why the Roman powerand the multitude of
religions which it embracedcould not stand againstit; this is the secretofits
sustainedenergy, and its never-flagging martyrdoms; this is how at present it

is so mysteriously potent, in spite of the new and fearful adversaries which
besetits path. It has with it that gift of staunching and healing the one deep
wound of human nature, which avails more for its success thana full
encyclopedia of scientific knowledge anda whole library of controversy, and
therefore it must last while human nature lasts.1 [Note:J. H. Newman, The
Grammar of Assent, 480.]
I
Christ the Healer of the Body
“Theythat are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.” This
saying serves two purposes—animmediate apologetic purpose, and a
permanent didactic one. Viewing it first in the former aspect, we remark that
the point of the saying lies not in what is stated, but in what is implied—in the
suggestionthat Christ was a Physician. That understood, all becomes plain.
For no one is surprised that a physician visits the sick rather than the healthy,
and visits most frequently those that are most grievously afflicted with
disease. Nordoes any one dream of making it an occasionofreproachto a
physician that he shrinks not from visiting those whose maladies are of a
loathsome or dangerous nature, offensive to his senses,involving peril to his
life. That he so acts is regardedsimply as the display of a praiseworthy
enthusiasm in his profession, the want of which would be reckoneda true
ground of reproach. RegardChrist as a physician, and He at once gets the
benefit of these universally prevalent sentiments as to what is becoming in one
who practises the healing art.
1. Jesus Christis the GoodPhysician as well as the GoodShepherd. His public
ministry proves that He recognizedtwo deadly enemies of mankind. The arch-
enemy is sin—the dread evil that afflicts man’s soul, againstwhich He

directed the whole forces of the spiritual world. But there was another enemy
againstwhom also He wageda hearty and persistent warfare—disease,which
afflicts man’s body. He thus proved His love for man’s nature as a whole, and
laid down the redemption of the race on that double basis, without
recognizing which the world can never be fully saved. Forman’s life is a unity
with two essentialsides;he is a compound of matter and spirit, clay and
divinity, perishable body and immortal soul. Salvationmeans restoredhealth;
and the old proverb, Mens sana in corpore sano, is thus the condition of that
perfect well-being which it is the will of God that we should all normally
enjoy. In our actualexperience we seldom attain to this happy condition; but
that we were meant for it, and that we should strive hard for it, is shown
beautifully and convincingly in the attitude which Jesus took towards sin and
disease throughout His public ministry. He treated them as enemies, and He
recognizedtheir close connexion;He did what He could in forgiving men’s
sins to heal their sicknesses;and in healing their sicknessesHe never failed to
emphasize the darker evil of which disease is fundamentally one of the most
persistentsymbols. “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath powerto
forgive sins (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, and take up thy bed,
and go unto thy house.”
Memory and imagination linger lovingly over the external ministry of healing
which filled the land with the name of Jesus. He was not the only healer: in
these words there is an evident reference to physicians in general, men who
embodied such skill and knowledge as were then possible. Luke is called“the
beloved physician,” and no doubt there were many beloved for their own
sakes andhonoured for their work’s sake. Butof exactscience there was, of
course, little or none, and every chance for quackery, for empiricism, for
superstition. That is a terribly suggestive phrase in the story of the woman
who touched the hem of Christ’s garment: she “had suffered many things of
many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered,
but rather grew worse.” So is the proverb quoted by our Lord: “Physician,
heal thyself.” So also is another ancientJewishproverb: “Even the best of
doctors deserves Gehenna.”And all who have seenanything of native
medicine among primitive tribes know how often the cure is truly worse than

the disease.It was into all that chaos and crudity that the Son of Man came
with Divine power flowing from Him. Surely there never was a more beautiful
story more exquisitely told! The main incidents are written on all our hearts.
Yet perhaps we do not estimate largely enough the amount of His work in this
direction, nor the physical and nervous strain it causedHimself as virtue went
forth from Him in His manifold acts of healing. “Whithersoeverhe entered,
into villages, or city, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought
him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as
many as touched him were made whole.”1 [Note:J. M. E. Ross, The Self-
Portraiture of Jesus, 8.]
Christ’s healing of the sick canin no way be termed againstnature, seeing
that the sickness whichwas healedwas againstthe nature of man, that it is
sicknesswhichis abnormal, and not health. The healing is the restorationof
the primitive order. We should see in the miracle not the infraction of a law,
but the neutralizing of a lowerlaw, the suspensionof it for a time by a higher.
Of this abundant analogous examples are evermore going forward before our
eyes. Continually we behold in the world around us lowerlaws held in
restraint by higher, mechanic by dynamic, chemical by vital, physical by
moral; yet we do not say, when the lowerthus gives place in favour of the
higher, that there was any violation of law, or that anything contrary to
nature came to pass;rather we acknowledge the law of a greaterfreedom
swallowing up the law of a lesser.2[Note:Archbishop Trench, Notes on the
Miracles, 16.]
2. Now, this ministry of physical healing was in itself a revelation. De Quincey
says that Jesus adoptedthis line of action“chiefly as the best means of
advertising His approachfar and wide, and thus convoking the people to His
instructions.” But there was more in it than that, a whole world more, then
and now! It is the Divine justification of all attempts to alleviate the external
and physical conditions of human life. It is the Divine justification of medical
missions, which have the unique glory of being not only Christ’s own work,

but His own work done in His own way. It is a rebuke to the unreal and
affectedway in which we sometimes speak ofphysical pain as though it were
nothing at all. Had pain and sicknessnotbeen greatrealities, Christ would not
have spent so much time and strength in fighting againstthem. He stands for
ever now in the sight of men as the goaltowards which humanity is travelling.
And His ministry of physical healing is a proof that pain and sicknessare
temporary and abnormal things: in God’s goodtime there shall be no more
pain because “the former things are passedaway.”
Within the lifetime of some of us a strange and wonderful thing happened on
the earth—something of which no prophet foretold, of which no seerdreamt,
nor is it among the beatitudes of Christ Himself; only St. John seems to have
had an inkling of it in that splendid chapter in which he describes the new
heaven and the new earth, when the former things should pass away, when all
tears should be wiped away, and there should be no more crying nor sorrow.
On October16, 1846, in the amphitheatre of the Massachusetts General
Hospital, Boston, a new Prometheus gave a gift [sulphuric ether as an
anæsthetic]as rich as that of fire, the greatestsingle gift ever made to
suffering humanity. The prophecy was fulfilled—neither shall there be any
more pain; a mystery of the ages had been solvedby a daring experiment by
man on man in the introduction of anæsthesia.As Weir Mitchell sings in his
poem, The Deathof Pain—
Whatevertriumphs still shall hold the mind,
Whatevergifts shall yet enrich mankind,
Ah! here, no hour shall strike through all the years,

No hour so sweetas when hope, doubt and fears,
’Mid deepening silence watchedone eagerbrain
With Godlike will decree the Deathof Pain.
At a stroke the curse of Eve was removed, that multiplied sorrow of sorrows,
representing in all ages the very apotheosis ofpain. The knife has been robbed
of its terrors, and the hospitals are no longer the scenesofthose appalling
tragedies that made the stoutestquail. To-daywe take for granted the silence
of the operating-room, but to reachthis Elysium we had to travel the slow
road of laborious research, whichgave us first the chemicalagents, and then
brave hearts had to risk reputation, and even life itself, in experiments, the
issue of which was for long doubtful. More widespreadin its benediction, as
embracing all races and all classesofsociety, is the relief of suffering, and the
prevention of disease through the growth of modern sanitary science in which
has been fought out the greatestvictory in history.… It is not simply that the
prospectof recoveryis enormously enhanced, but Listerian surgery has
diminished suffering to an extraordinary degree.… Man’s redemption of man
is nowhere so wellknown as in the abolition and prevention of the group of
diseaseswhichwe speak ofas the fevers, or the acute infections. This is the
glory of the science of medicine, and nowhere in the world have its lessons
been so thoroughly carried out as in this country.… If, in the memorable
phrase of the Greek philosopher Prodicus, “Thatwhich benefits human life is
God,” we may see in this new gospela link betwixt us and the crowning race
of those who eye to eye shall look on knowledge, andin whose hand nature
shall be an open book.1 [Note:Sir W. Osler, Man’s Redemption of Man, 81.]
II

Christ the Healer of the Soul
But, after all, our Lord’s supreme purpose was to be a healer of souls. Had the
critics of Jesus but accreditedHim with the characterofa Healer of spiritual
maladies, they would not have been scandalizedby His habit of associating
with the morally and sociallydegraded. But that Jesus was a physician was
just the thing that never occurredto their minds. And why? Because their
own thoughts and ways went in a wholly different direction, and they judged
Him by themselves. The Rabbis and their disciples were students of the law,
and their feeling towards such as knew not the law was one of simple aversion
and contempt. They expectedJesus to share this feeling. Men are ever apt to
make themselves the standard of moral judgment. The Rabbi expects all who
assume the function of a teacherto share his contempt for the multitude
ignorant of legaltechnicalities and niceties;the “philosophe,” confining his
sympathies to the cultivated few, regards with mild disdain the interest taken
by philanthropists in popular movements; the “mystagogue” who invites
selectpersons to initiation into religious mysteries adopts for himself, and
expects all others belonging to the spiritual aristocracyofmankind to adopt
along with him, the sentiment of the Romanpoet: “I hate and abhor the
profane rabble.” The mass of mankind have eternal reasonfor thankfulness
that Jesus Christ came not as a Rabbi, or as a “philosophe,” or as a
“hierophant,” with the proud, narrow contempt characteristic ofmen bearing
these titles, but as a healerof souls, with the broad, warm sympathies and the
enthusiasm of humanity congenialto such a vocation. The fact exposedHim to
the censure of contemporaries, but by wayof compensationit has earned for
Him the gratitude of all after ages.
Thou speakestof thy sin and miseries, which do indeed make a barrier
betweenGod and us: but, if I know Jesus everso little, I think, when I read or
hear such complaints, of practisedphysicians, when they are confronted with
a common disease:they are not unprovided, they have medicines for it that
never fail. So say I now: Jesus knows plenty of means of healing, show Him all

thy wounds with a weeping heart, ask in humility and confidence for His
mighty healing, and that He may heal thee thoroughly; but this may not
happen unless He, for a while, increasesthy wounds by a deep sense ofthy sin,
misery, and darkness, whichindeed is means in love that thou hereafter, yea,
for ever, mayest feelno further need.1 [Note:Gerhardt Tersteegen.]
1. That Christ came into the world as a healer of souls is a fact full of didactic
meaning. It means, first, that Christianity is before all things a religion of
redemption. Its proper vocationis to find the lost, to lift the low, to teachthe
ignorant, to setfree those in bonds, to washthe unclean, to healthe sick;and
it must go where it can discoverthe proper subjects of its art, remembering
that the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
(1) There is in the natural heart of man an indifferent selfishness and a
carelesscruelty which make men always let the weak go to the wall, and very
often trample savagelyon the fallen. They are akin in this to the creatures of
the field; to the hounds that bite their wounded brother in the kennel; to the
sea-gulls that swoopdown on the wounded bird as the wave is already
beginning to be crimsoned with its blood. Among savage tribes the sick and
the injured were killed or left to die. In polished Greece and Imperial Rome
children were exposedand slaves were mercilesslytortured. Christ taught the
world that this apathy of heart is earthly, sensual, devilish. He taught us once
and for ever the sacredness,not of fine gifts and fair and brilliant intellects,
but of man as man. It was not for the sake of the rich, the strong, the mighty,
the noble, that He took our nature upon Him, but for poor men, for slaves, for
carpenters, for tax-gatherers, for fishermen, for daily labourers, for peasant
women, nay, even more, for the sake ofthe sinful, the outcast, the fallen, for
all at whom men, who are in most respects the causes oftheir ruin, point the
finger of cruel scorn. He saw the soul of beauty in things ugly, and the
potentiality of goodness in things evil.

There is an Easternlegendabout Christ so profound of meaning, so full of
instruction, that we are half tempted to think that it must be true in fact as it
is in feeling. On the high road, under the blistering sunlight, lay a poor,
miserable dog that had died of starvation. Clouds of flies had begun to settle
on the carcase, andthe lazy, aimless wayfarers gatheredround to look at it,
scaring awayfor a moment the obscene vultures that hovered near; and all of
them, one after another, expressedtheir idle disgust and their pitiless loathing
of it. But at last they fell silent, for the Masterapproached, and for a moment
He stood and castHis eye on that horrible object, on that dead creature which
God had made, and there was silence, andat lastHe said, “Its teeth are as
white as pearls,” and so He passedon. He who caredfor the lilies and for the
lions caredalso for the little sparrows, and had His word of pity even for that
dead dog. I think that he who could have invented such a legend must have
seenvery deeply into the heart of Christ.1 [Note:DeanFarrar.]
The late GeneralGordon, in one of his published letters, describes the
remorse he long felt for a trivial actof cruelty into which he inadvertently fell.
A lizard was climbing up the side of his house in the sunshine and he
thoughtlesslyflicked it with his cane and so cut short its life. He had often
shed blood upon the battlefield without the slightesthesitation, and felt never
a qualm of conscience afterwards.But this act troubled him more than the
carnage in which he had takenhis part as a soldier. He was haunted by the
feeling that he had destroyeda life that was more meagre in capacitythan his
own, and much shorterin its span. In the regretto which he confessedthere
was a genuine ethicaldiscernment, for every virtuous nature feels itself under
specialobligationto the weak. Godthinks mercifully of us because, in
comparisonwith His own rich, manifold, exhaustless and immortal
blessedness, ourlives are chequered, circumscribed, crippled, and poverty-
stricken. We are mortal, blooms trembling to their fall, fading dreams, fabrics
of exposednerve, phantasms of alternating smiles and tears. We do not
expiate our sins by that which we suffer, and God has no indulgent laxity for
wilful, unwept, reiterated transgression;but our frailties woo the marvellous
compassions ofHis Fatherhood. Perhaps if He had not made us out of the dust

we could not have stood so near the sacredcentre of His pitying love.1 [Note:
T. G. Selby, The God of the Frail, 5.]
(2) The whole need not a physician. Are there any men, then, who are whole?
Jesus did not directly deny it. The publicans and sinners were sick people—
sick in soul, sick in honour, sick in conscience. The Phariseeswere whole in
comparisonwith them. They had remained true to their nationality, they lived
correctlyaccording to the law of their fathers, they were held in honour by
their nation as the guardians and teachers ofthe law. If they were of different
minds amongst themselves on religious and moral questions, still they had and
knew the law, and were well versedin expounding it. They had had great
teachers, whosedecisions were accountedby them as a gospel. Theywould
also gladly have recognizeda new Master, who in their own way, only more
clearly and more intelligently than their former masters, would comment on
the Word of God and teachthe true wisdom of life. But they had no need of a
Teacherwho said, “I am a Physician,” because they did not feelill.
In the greatcompany of those who have been baptized in the name of Christ,
we find many people like the Pharisees, who are unable to acceptJesus andto
desire a closerrelationship to Him, just because Jesus is a Physicianand they
feel well. The Gospelis a medicine: to one it tastes bitter, to another
nauseouslysweet. Who cares to take medicine when he feels perfectly well? A
draught of fresh water from a natural or an artificial well, or a glass ofwine
at a joyful feast, tastes betterand does more goodto a man who is whole.
How are we to reply to this? Are we to prove to such people that they are sick,
and that our whole nation is sick, from the crown of the head to the sole ofthe
foot? Are we to force ourselves upon them, and show that their imaginary
health does not exist, and that they are sadly in need of the Physician? That
would not be like unto the Master. Jesus did not sayto the Pharisees,“Come
unto Me,” He said, “Go your way.” Neither did He say, “Come and learn to

know Me better,” but, “Go and learn what is written in your Bible: ‘I will
have mercy and not sacrifice.’” If ye were compassionate, ye would not look
down so contemptuously on degraded and inferior people, and so askance at
those who take an interest in them; ye would not find the distance so great
betweenthem and yourselves, but would acknowledgethem as your equals in
all the essentials whichmake up the misery and the dignity of man. Go and
learn better what ye yourselves acknowledgeas the chief command of your
God, the law of love. Then prove yourselves, and thus learn to know
yourselves. Perhaps the day will come when ye will find yourselves destitute of
love, and therefore destitute of all true life, when ye will feelsick in the
innermost centre of your being. Remember then that there is a Physician who
heals all diseases.Jesus stillspeaks thus to those who are whole, and who turn
their backs upon Him; and He can scarcelyspeak in any other way to many of
those who confess Him.1 [Note:T. Zahn, Bread, and Salt from the Word of
God, 235.]
A minister, when he had done preaching in a country village, said to a farm-
labourer who had been listening to him, “Do you think Jesus Christ died to
save goodpeople, or bad people?” “Well, sir,” said the man, “I should sayHe
died to save goodpeople.” “But did He die to save bad people?” “No, sir; no,
certainly not, sir.” “Well, then, what will become of you and me?” “Well, sir, I
do not know. I dare sayyou be pretty good, sir; and I try to be as goodas I
can.” That is just the common doctrine; and after all, though we think it has
died out among us, that is the religion of ninety-nine English people out of
every hundred who know nothing of Divine grace:we are to be as goodas we
can; we are to go to church or to chapel, and do all that we can, and then
Jesus Christ died for us, and we shall be saved. Whereas the gospelis that He
did not do anything at all for people who can rely on themselves, but gave
Himself for lost and ruined ones. He did not come into the world to save self-
righteous people; on their ownshowing, they do not want to be saved. He
comes because we needHim, and therefore He comes only to those who need
Him; and if we do not need Him, and are such good, respectable people, we
must find our own wayto heaven. Need, need alone, is that which quickens the
physician’s footsteps.1[Note:C. H. Spurgeon.]

2. That Christ’s supreme purpose in coming was to heal men’s souls means,
further, that Christianity must be the universal religion. A religion which
aims at the healing of spiritual disease, andwhich has confidence in its power
to effectthe cure, is entitled to supersede all other religions and to become the
faith of all mankind; and it will be well for the world when it has become such
in fact. The world everywhere needs this religion, for sin is universal.
It is not unlikely that the Pharisees hadan instinctive perceptionthat the new
love for the sinful exhibited in the conduct of Jesus meanta religious
revolution, the setting aside of Jewishexclusiveness, andthe introduction of a
new humanity, in which Jew and Gentile should be one. They might very
easilyarrive at this conclusion. Theyhad but to reflecton the terms they
employed to describe the objects of Christ’s specialcare. Publicans were to
them as heathens, and “sinners” was in their dialecta synonym for Gentiles. It
might, therefore, readily occurto them that the man who took such a warm
interest in the publicans and sinners of Judæa could have no objection, on
principle, to fellowship with Gentiles, and that when His religion had time to
develop its peculiar tendencies, it was likely to become the religion, not of the
Jews alone, but of mankind.
Whether the men who found fault with the sinner’s Friend had so much
penetration or not, it is certainat leastthat Jesus Himself was fully aware
whither His line of actiontended. He revealedthe secretin the words, “I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners.” In describing His mission in these
terms, He intimated in effectthat in its ultimate scope that mission lookedfar
beyond the bounds of Palestine, and was likely to have even more intimate
relations with the outside world than with the chosen race. He knew too well
how righteous his countrymen accountedthemselves to cherish the hope of
making a wide and deep impression upon them. He deemed it indeed a duty to
try, and He did try faithfully and persistently, but always as one who knew
that the result would be that described in the sadwords of the fourth

evangelist, “He came unto his own, and his own receivedhim not.” And as He
had an infinite longing to save, and was not contentto waste His life, He
turned His attention to more likely subjects;to such as were not puffed up
with the conceitofrighteousness, andwould not take it as an offence to be
calledsinners. Such He found among the degradedclassesofJewishsociety;
but there was no reasonwhy they should be sought there alone. The world
was full of sinners; why, then, limit the mission to the sinful in Judæa? Shall
we say because the Jews were lessersinners than the Gentiles? But that would
be to make the mission after all a mission to the righteous. If it is to be a
mission to the sinful, let it be that out and out. Let Him who is intrusted with
it say, “The greaterthe sinner the greaterhis need of Me.” That was just what
Christ did say in effectwhen He uttered with significantemphasis the words,
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” It is, therefore, a word on
which all men everywhere canbuild their hopes, a word by which the Good
Physiciansays to every sonof Adam, “Look unto me, and be saved.”
Christ’s way with sinners was to love them, to believe in their recoverability.
He tackledthe outcasts as anobject-lessonin the possibilities of a loved
humanity. To preachHis Gospelto men is to announce your faith in a Divine
something in them which will respond to the Divine something you bring to
them. It is this spirit which makes Christianity the most daring of optimisms;
which puts it into magnificent contrastwith the fatalism of the Eastand the
fatalism of the West. While Schopenhauerdeclares you canno more change
the characterofa bad man than the characterof a tiger; while Nietzsche
sneers at the weak and exalts force and repression, the Gospelgoes onhoping
and goes onsaving.1 [Note:J. Brierley, Religionand To-Day, 37.]
The Physician
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES

Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Our Lord's ChosenAssociates
Matthew 9:11
R. Tuck
Why eatethyour Masterwith publicans and sinners? The speakers were
Pharisees;they were not guests, they were only watchers. Suchfeasts are very
open and free, and persons are allowedto come in, and even to take part in
the conversation, who do not share in the food. An Easterntraveller says, "In
the room where we were received, besides the divan on which we sat, there
were seats allround the walls. Many came in and took their place on those
side-seats,uninvited and unchallenged. They spoke to those at table on
business, or the news of the day, and our host spoke freely to them." These
Pharisees were veryparticular about the company they kept, and especially
about the persons with whom they ate. They represent the mischievous
influence of class-feeling. Theydo more than that. They representthe loss of
powerwhich all men must suffer who make themselves, their feelings, their
preferences, the first consideration.
I. OUR LORD DID SOT CHOOSE HIS ASSOCIATES BECAUSE HE
LIKED THEM. That may be a proper ground on which to selectour private
friends. It is not proper for one who has the trust of power which he is to use.
Whether he likes it or not, that man must find the sphere in which he can best
use his powers. No man ever did really noble work in the world until he
learned to put his likes on one side, and just do his duty. But such a man is
almost sure to find that a new set of likes grows up round his duty. The
refined persondoes not like rough and rude associations. And the folk that
Christ companiedwith could not have been very pleasing to him. The
eleganciesandproprieties and gentlenessesofrefined societywould have
suited him better; and we can quite imagine the circle he would have
preferred.

II. OUR LORD CHOSE HIS ASSOCIATES IN ORDER TO DO THEM
GOOD. He chose them as a teacherchooseshis class, he seeksthose who need
his teaching. As a doctorchooseshis patients, he seeksthose who need healing.
As a Saviour chooses his subjects, he seekssinners, who need delivering from
their sins. Mrs. Fry, for her ownsake, wouldhave soughtand enjoyed
cultivated society. Mrs. Fry, with a consciouspowerof ministry, soughtout
the miserable and degradedprisoners. According to our trust we must choose
our associates. If we were here on earth only to enjoy, we might properly
prefer luxurious Pharisees;but seeing we are here to stand with Christ, and
serve, we had better, with him, find out the "publicans and sinners." - R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
They that be whole need not a physician.
Matthew 9:12
The heavenly physician
C. Clayton, M. A., The Pulpit.

I. WHO NEGLECT THE HEAVENLY PHYSICIAN?
1. Those who depend for salvation upon their own goodlives.
2. Those who depend for salvation upon their religious duties.
3. Those who depend for salvation upon their correctnotions.
II. THOSE WHO VALUE THE HEAVENLY PHYSICIAN — "Theythat are
sick." A generalinvitation to this Physician. Reasons whysome of you are still
uncured. How will His medicine affect you? Think of His love.
(C. Clayton, M. A.)
I. THERE IS A MORAL DISEASE IN THE HEART AND CHARACTER
OF MAN,
1. Depravedmental appetite.
2. The faculty of moral vision is impaired.
3. Moralstupor and lethargic dispositionof mind.
4. Feverishexcitement of disposition.
5. Moralweaknessandwant of activity.
II. THE PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS BYWHICH THIS MORAL
DISEASE IS DISTINGUISHED.
1. Universal in extent.
2. Disastrous in results.
3. Incurable by anything less than Divine energy.
III. THE REMEDYPROPOSED.
1. Universally adapted.
2. Absolutely free.
3. Infallably efficacious.

(The Pulpit.)
Jesus the Physician
J. H. Evans, M. A.
I. WE ARE ALL SICK. Many are our ailments. Sin the greatmalady. We
need a Physician. The world has no medicines.
II. WHAT A PHYSICIAN HE IS.
1. He is appointed of God (Isaiah 61:1).
2. He is adapted for it. Understands all cases.Neglectsnone.
III. THE REMEDY. He makes use of many means of recovery.
1. Sometimes he makes use of the affections as a means of restoring health.
How many have to trace that recovery to loss of a dear object!
2. Sometimes He makes use of a reproving conscience.
3. The main remedy is His own precious blood:
(1)it is no small mercy to feel our spiritual malady;
(2)the remedy must be receivedor our soul's sicknesscannotbe healed;
(3)beware of false, superficialhealing;
(4)beware of losing the healing;
(5)take heed of expecting a more perfect cure than scripture warrants;
(6)admire the costliness ofthe remedy, its freeness, universality, and, above
all, the Giver.
(J. H. Evans, M. A.)
Christ the greatPhysician

G. Burder.
I. THAT SIN IS THE DISEASE OF THE SOUL.
1. Sicknessdestroys our powerof action.
2. It deprives a man of rest.
3. It frequently occasionsdelirium.
4. It deforms the body.
5. It is the forerunner of death.
II. THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.
III. THAT MEN ARE GENERALLY TOO INSENSIBLE OF THEIR SINS
TO APPLY TO CHRIST.
IV. THOSE WHO KNOW THEIR TRUE CONDITION ARE VERY
DESIROUS OF HIS HELP,
(G. Burder.)
The Physicianand His patients
D. Fraser, D. D.
I. A DEFENCE, complete andunanswerable. Christ did not come despising
the people, but as a Healerof the sick.
II. A DIRECTION to His followers.
1. Christianity is remedial.
2. Christianity is hopeful.
(D. Fraser, D. D.)
The healing work healthy

D. Fraser, D. D.
A physician once told us that he kept himself in health by going to see
patients. Wheneverhe discontinued this, and insisted on patients coming to
him, or when he tried to go out of practice altogether, he fell into lethargy,
and lostboth physical and mental power; but so soonas he resumed active
efforts to heal others, his own healthy returned. Let servants and handmaids
of Christ take the hint. He who desires sound, strong, spiritual life and health
in himself should go and try to heal others, showing patience, sympathy, and
hopefulness. This is to walk as Christ walked.
(D. Fraser, D. D.)
The characteristicsofthe whole and sick
S. Davies, M. A.
There are none of the sons of men who are really whole. The whole and sick in
contrastare these:
1. He that is whole has never had a clearaffecting sight and sense of sin; but
he that is sick is fully convicted, and deeply sensible of it.
2. They that are whole are generallyeasyand serene, and unapprehensive of
danger; but the sick soul is alarmed and anxious, and can't be easytill it
perceives some appearancesofrecovery.
3. They that are whole are unwilling to apply to a physician, or to follow his
prescriptions; but to the sick a physician is welcome, and they will submit to
his directions, howeverself-denying.
(S. Davies, M. A.)
Christ no specialist
J. Parker, D. D.

Properly we have amongstourselves now specialstudies of specialcases.One
man undertakes the brain, another the heart, another the blood, it may be,
another the bones and joints. This is right, amongst ourselves;for probably
hardly any one man has the time, even if he had the capacity, to master with
sufficient adequateness allthe details and necessitiesofour wondrous bodily
frame. But Jesus Christsaid to the leper, "Be thou clean," to the man sick of
the palsy, grievously tormented, "I will come and heal him." When he went
into Peter's house and saw his wife's mother laid and sick of the fever, he
touched her hand and the fever left her, he put out the fire with his touch. He
is no specialist, he has not a necromancer's poweroverany one department of
human life or human suffering. His healing was fundamental and all-
inclusive. He made the well-head pure, and the flowing stream was as pure as
the fountain whence it flowed. It is so in spiritual matters. There is not in the
Church a doctorwho cures lying, and another who makes a specialstudy of
drunkenness, and a third who is gifted with peculiar ability in dealing with
persons of felonious disposition. There is one MediatorbetweenGod and
man: he makes the heart right, and then all the accidentallocaldiseases, with
all their train of ever-varying symptoms, are cleansedand utterly expelled.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
Jesus Christ canattend to all who come to Him at the same moment
W. Harris.
I once went with a friend who wanted to see a greatphysician. But there were
ever so many other people waiting to see him, and they went in by turns one
by one, and we had to wait a whole hour before our turn came. The physician
could not attend to more than one person at a time. But if all you dear
children were to pray to the Saviour this evening at the same moment, and tell
Him all your wants, He could listen to you all at the same time, and help each
of you according to your need.
(W. Harris.)

Jesus is always at home
W. Harris.
If your little sisterwas takenvery ill and you were sent for the doctor, you
would run with all your speed;yet when you came to his house he might be
just gone out, and your sistermight die before he came home. But this is never
the case withJesus. Wheneveryou callupon Him, you will find Him. He is
always where people canfind Him directly they want Him, and you know he
can heal people without coming to them in His bodily presence.
(W. Harris.)
Unconscious of danger
W. Harris.
Sometimes people are in a very dangerous state, and yet they do not feelpain.
In a sad railway accidentwhich happened some time ago, a young lady was
takenout of one of the carriages, andshe said she was not hurt at all, she felt
no pain. She stoodup and tried to walk and then fell back dead. She had
receiveda very serious injury, and yet she did not feel it at the moment. So it
was with these Pharisees,they had a sin within their hearts which would ruin
them if it was not takenaway. That sin was pride. This sin is so dangerous,
because it keeps people from feeling how sinful they are, and so keeps them
from coming to Jesus Christ to be healed.
(W. Harris.)
Christ the Physician of souls
Thomas Boston.
I. SIN IS THE SICKNESS OF THE SOUL. It is the disease ofthe soul that
makes the sinner a sick man.
1. Sicknessbrings pain and torment to the body, so does sin to the soul.

2. Sicknesstakesawaythe beauty of the body. Sin spoils the beauty of the
soul.
3. Diseasesare death's carols which are sent; before it to bind the prisoner.
Sin tends to spiritual and eternal deeds, and will bring it on if it be not cured,
II. WHAT IS IN SIN THAT SICKENS THE SOUL?
1. The guilt of it. the obligation to punishment.
2. The stain. It brings a blot with it, that defiles the soul.
3. The reigning powerof it. Sin keeps its throne. It commands and receives
obedience.
4. The indwelling power of it.
III. WHAT ARE THE PROPERTIES OF SOULSICKNESS?
1. It is spiritual. They are the most dangerous disorders that affectthe vital
parts.
2. It is an universal sickness, spreading itselfthrough the whole man. All the
faculties of the soul are injured and disordered by it. It darkens the mind,
wounds the conscience, pollutes the heart, disorders the affections, and
weakensthe memory for good.
3. It is an infectious sickness.
4. It is hereditary, natural to us. We are born with it.
5. It is a growing disease.
6. It is mortal disease.
IV. Is SIN THE SICKNESS OF YOUR SOUL?
1. GO quickly to the Physicianfor the cure of the disease ofthe soul which you
labour under, Delayno longer.

2. Time is flying. No medicine will cure that wound, no argument will
persuade it to return. Yesterdayhas takenits eternalfarewell. The candle
burnt to the snuff will not light again. Your only time is the present.
3. Deathis approaching. If death take us awayraider the power of that
sickness, there is no cure for it hereafter, if.
4. Make frequent application to Christ. Such people as can take little food at
once, had need to take it frequently, Alas! the few addresses whichwe make to
the throne of grace, look like as we thought ourselves whole, little needing the
Physician.
(Thomas Boston.)
Christ's way of caring souls
Thomas Boston.
Three things concurto the care of the soul.
I. THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.
II. The SPIRIT OF CHRIST.
III. THE WORD OF CHRIST.
1. "He sentHis word and healed them."
2. The waters of the sanctuaryare healing waters.
(Thomas Boston.)
Christ cures all who come to Him
Thomas Boston.
Why does He undertake and perform the cure of souls?

I. BECAUSE HE HAS HIS FATHER'S COMMISSION FOR THAT
EFFECT.
II. BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE AND PITY TO MEN. Love provided the
remedy and applies it also.
III. BECAUSE HE HATH BEEN AT VAST EXPENSE TO PREPARE THE
REMEDYAND MEDICINE FOR THEIR SOULS.
IV. FOR HIS OWN GLORY.
1. The glory of the Mediator is highly exalted by His curing sick souls.
2. The glory of God is displayed in the cure.
3. Had the sick been left to be swallowedup by death, justice would have been
exalted, but now justice, mercy, grace, and truth, are all glorified in their
salvationthrough Christ.
(Thomas Boston.)
Thomas Boston.
Come to Him for the cure of your spiritual diseases.
I. You HAVE NEED OF HIM. Let necessitydrive you to Him. The less you
see your need, the more need you have of Him. Some diseasesare very
common among us.
1. Blindness of the eyes of the mind.
2. Spiritual dumbness.
3. Hardness of heart.
4. Falling evil of backsliding.
5. Pride and self-conceit.

6. Decayofgrace.
II. CHRIST IS SKILFUL.
1. He knows what will suit your disease.
2. He is successful. Seine diseasesare the reproachof medicine; none can
baffle Him.
III. HE CURES FREELY.
1. Other physicians are enriched by their patients, but He enricheth His
making them heirs of glory.
2. He is the only physician.
3. Either you must die or come to film.
(Thomas Boston.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(12) They that be whole.—Literally, They that are strong. St. Luke gives, with
a more professionalprecision, “Theythat are in health.” That, speaking from
the thoughts and standpoint of those addressed(which in another than our
Lord we might term grave irony), which enters so largely into our Lord’s
teaching, appears here in its most transparent form. Those of whom He
speaks were, we know, suffering from the worstform of spiritual disease, but
in their own estimation they were without spot or taint, and as such. therefore,
He speaks to them. On their own showing, they ought not to object to His
carrying on that work where there was most need of it. The proverb cited by
Him in Luke 4:23 shows that it was not the first time that He had referred to
His own work as that of the GreatPhysician.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
9:10-13 Some time after his call, Matthew sought to bring his old associatesto
hear Christ. He knew by experience what the grace ofChrist could do, and
would not despair concerning them. Those who are effectually brought to
Christ, cannot but desire that others also may be brought to him. Those who
suppose their souls to be without disease willnot welcome the spiritual
Physician. This was the case with the Pharisees;they despisedChrist, because
they thought themselves whole;but the poor publicans and sinners felt that
they wanted instruction and amendment. It is easy, and too common, to put
the worstconstructions upon the best words and actions. It may justly be
suspectedthat those have not the grace ofGod themselves, who are not
pleasedwith others'obtaining it. Christ's conversing with sinners is here
calledmercy; for to promote the conversionof souls is the greatestactof
mercy. The gospelcallis a call to repentance;a call to us to change our minds,
and to change our ways. If the children of men had not been sinners, there
had been no need for Christ to come among them. Let us examine whether we
have found out our sickness, andhave learned to follow the directions of our
greatPhysician.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
They that be whole ... - Jesus, in reply, said that the whole needednot a
physician. Sick persons only needed his aid. A physician would not commonly
be found with those that were in health. His proper place was among the sick.
So, says he, "If you Pharisees are suchas you think yourselves - already pure
and holy - you do not need my aid. It would be of no use to you, and you
would not thank me for it. With those persons who feel that they are sinners I
may be useful, and there is my proper place." Orthe expressionmay mean, "I
came on purpose to save sinners: my business is with them. There are none
righteous; and as a physician is in his proper place with the "sick," so amI
with guilty and miserable sinners."
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary

12. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them—to the Pharisees and
scribes;addressing Himself to them, though they had shrunk from addressing
Him.
They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick—thatis, "Ye
deem yourselves whole;My mission, therefore, is not to you: The physician's
business is with the sick;therefore eat I with publicans and sinners." Oh,
what myriads of broken hearts, of sin-sick souls, have been bound up by this
matchless saying!
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Matthew 9:13".
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
But when Jesus heard that,.... The charge the Phariseesbrought againsthim,
and the insinuations they had made of him to his disciples; which he either
overheard himself, or his disciples related to him,
he said unto them; the Pharisees,with an audible voice, not only to confute
and convince them, but chiefly to establishhis disciples, they were
endeavouring to draw awayfrom him:
they that be whole need not a physician; by which he would signify that he
was a "physician":and so he is in a spiritual sense, and that a very skilful one:
he knows the nature of all the diseasesofthe soul, without being told them by
the patient; what are the true causesofthem; what is proper to apply; when is
the besttime, and what the best manner: he is an universal one, with regard
both to diseases andto persons, that apply to him; he heals all sorts of
persons, and all sorts of diseases;such as are blind from their birth, are as
deaf as the deaf adder, the halt, and the lame, such as have broken hearts, yea
the plague in their hearts, and have stony ones, and all the relapses ofhis
people; which he does by his stripes and wounds, by the application of his
blood, by his word and Gospel, through sinners looking to him, and touching
him: he is an infallible one, none everwent from him without a cure; none
ever perished under his hands; the disease he heals never returns more to
prevail, so as to bring on death and destruction; and he does all freely,

without money, and without price. So Philo the Jew calls the Logos, orword, ,
"an healerof diseases"(x), and God our legislator, , "the bestphysician of the
diseasesofthe soul" (y). Now Christ argues from this his character, in
vindication of himself; as that he was with these persons, not as a companion
of their's, but as a physician to them; and as it is not unlawful, but highly
proper and commendable, that a physician should be with the sick;so it was
very lawful, fit, and proper, yea praiseworthyin him, to be among these
publicans and sinners, for their spiritual good. He suggests indeed, that "they
that be whole", in perfecthealth and strength, as the Pharisees thought
themselves to be, even free from all the maladies and diseasesofsin, were
strong, robust, and able to do anything, and everything of themselves;these
truly stoodin no "needof" him, as a physician, in their own apprehension;
they saw no need of him; in principle they had no need of him, and in practice
did not make use of him; and therefore it was to no purpose to attend them,
but converse with others, who had need of him:
but they that are sick;who are not only diseasedand disordered in all the
powers and faculties of their souls, as all Adam's posterity are, whether
sensible of it or not; but who know themselves to be so, these see their need of
Christ as a physician, apply to him as such, and to them he is exceeding
precious, a physician of value; and such were these "publicans" and sinners.
These words seemto be a proverbial expression, and there is something like it
in the (z) Talmud, , "he that is afflicted with any pain goes", or"lethim go to
the physician's house";that is, he that is attended with any sickness,or
disease, does,orhe ought to, consult a physician.
(x) Allegor. l. 2. p. 93. (y) Quod Deus sit immutab. p. 303. (z) T. Bab. Bava
Kama, fol. 46. 2.
Geneva Study Bible
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary

Matthew 9:12. The whole and the sick of the proverb are figurative
expressions forthe δίκαιοι and the ἁμαρτωλοί, Matthew 9:13. In the
application the Pharisees are included among the former, not on accountof
their comparatively greater(de Wette), but because oftheir fancied,
righteousness, as is evident from the sentiments of Jesus regarding this class of
men expressedelsewhere, andlikewise from Matthew 9:13. The thought, then,
is this: “the righteous (among whom you reckonyourselves)do not need the
deliverer, but the sinners.” This contains an “ironica concessio”to the
Pharisees,“in qua ideo offendi eos docetpeccatorumintuitu, quia justitiam
sibi arrogant,” Calvin. The objection, that in point of fact Jesus is come to call
the self-righteous as well, is only apparent, seeing that He could not direct His
call to these, as such (John 9:39 ff.), so long as they did not relinquish their
pretensions, and were themselves without receptivity for healing.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 9:12. ὁ δὲ α. εἶπεν: to whom? Were the fault-finders present to
hear?—οὐ χρείαν, etc.:something similar can be cited from classic authors,
vide instances in Grotius, Elsner, and Wetstein. The originality lies in the
application = the physician goes where he is needed, therefore, I am here
among the people you contemptuously designate publicans and sinners. The
first instalment, this, of Christ’s noble apologyfor associating withthe
reprobates—a greatword.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
12. They that be whole, &c.] There is a touch of irony in the words. They that
are “whole” are they who think themselves whole. So below, the “righteous”
are those who are righteous in their own eyes.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 9:12.[406]ΧΡΕΊΑΝ, need)χρεῖαι, needs, are to be seen
everywhere.—[407]ΚΑΚῶς, ill) Such is indeed the case with sinners.[408]
[406]Jesus, as a faithful master, brings help to his disciples.—V. g.

[407]Dostthou feel infirmity (οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες), as opposedto strength (οἱ
ἰσχύοντες)? In that case betake thyselfto the Physician, and seek His help.—
V. g.
[408]In the original, “Sic sane habent peccatores.”There is a play here on the
word habent, sc. χρείανἔχουσιν—κακῶς ἔχοντες.—(I. B.)
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 12. - But when Jesus heard that, he saidunto them, They that be whole.
Οἱ ἰσχύοντες (so also Mark)may include an arriere-pensee ofmoral self-
assertionwhich St. Luke entirely loses by his alterationto οἱ ὑγιαίνοντες:cf. 1
Corinthians 4:10. Neednot; have no need of (RevisedVersion). These are the
emphatic words in the sentence. Christtakes the Phariseesattheir own
estimate of themselves, and, without entering into the question of whether this
was right or wrong, shows them that on their own showing he would be
useless to them. A physician, but they that are sick. "Sedubi dolores sunt, air,
illic festinat medicns," Ephr. Syr., in his exposition of Tatian's 'Diatess.'
(Resch, 'Agrapha,' p. 443).
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR
Matthew 9:12
They that be whole need not a physician.

The heavenly physician
I. Who neglectthe heavenly physician?
1. Those who depend for salvation upon their own goodlives.
2. Those who depend for salvation upon their religious duties.
3. Those who depend for salvation upon their correctnotions.
II. Those who value the heavenly physician-“They that are sick.” A general
invitation to this Physician. Reasons whysome of you are still uncured. How
will His medicine affectyou? Think of His love. (C. Clayton, M. A.)
I. There is a moral disease in the heart and characterof man,
1. Depravedmental appetite.
2. The faculty of moral vision is impaired.
3. Moralstupor and lethargic dispositionof mind.
4. Feverishexcitement of disposition.
5. Moralweaknessandwant of activity.
II. The peculiar characteristicsby which this moral disease is distinguished.
1. Universal in extent.
2. Disastrous in results.
3. Incurable by anything less than Divine energy.

III. The remedy proposed.
1. Universally adapted.
2. Absolutely free.
3. Infallably efficacious. (The Pulpit.)
Jesus the Physician
I. We are all sick. Many are our ailments. Sin the greatmalady. We need a
Physician. The world has no medicines.
II. What a physician he is.
1. He is appointed of God (Isaiah 61:1).
2. He is adapted for it. Understands all cases.Neglectsnone.
III. The remedy. He makes use of many means of recovery.
1. Sometimes he makes use of the affections as a means of restoring health.
How many have to trace that recovery to loss of a dear object!
2. Sometimes He makes use of a reproving conscience.
3. The main remedy is His own precious blood:
Christ the greatPhysician
I. That sin is the disease ofthe soul.
1. Sicknessdestroys our powerof action.

2. It deprives a man of rest.
3. It frequently occasionsdelirium.
4. It deforms the body.
5. It is the forerunner of death.
II. That Jesus Christ is the great physician.
III. That men are generallytoo insensible of their sins to apply to Christ.
IV. Those who know their true condition are very desirous of his help, (G.
Burder.)
The Physicianand His patients
I. A defence, complete and unanswerable. Christ did not come despising the
people, but as a Healer of the sick.
II. A direction to His followers.
1. Christianity is remedial.
2. Christianity is hopeful. (D. Fraser, D. D.)
The healing work healthy
A physician once told us that he kept himself in health by going to see
patients. Wheneverhe discontinued this, and insisted on patients coming to
him, or when he tried to go out of practice altogether, he fell into lethargy,
and lostboth physical and mental power; but so soonas he resumed active
efforts to heal others, his own healthy returned. Let servants and handmaids

of Christ take the hint. He who desires sound, strong, spiritual life and health
in himself should go and try to heal others, showing patience, sympathy, and
hopefulness. This is to walk as Christ walked. (D. Fraser, D. D.)
The characteristicsofthe whole and sick, in a spiritual sense, consideredand
contrasted
There are none of the sons of men who are really whole. The whole and sick in
contrastare these:
1. He that is whole has never had a clearaffecting sight and sense of sin; but
he that is sick is fully convicted, and deeply sensible of it.
2. They that are whole are generallyeasyand serene, and unapprehensive of
danger; but the sick soul is alarmed and anxious, and can’t be easytill it
perceives some appearancesofrecovery.
3. They that are whole are unwilling to apply to a physician, or to follow his
prescriptions; but to the sick a physician is welcome, and they will submit to
his directions, howeverself-denying. (S. Davies, M. A.)
Christ no specialist
Properly we have amongstourselves now specialstudies of specialcases.One
man undertakes the brain, another the heart, another the blood, it may be,
another the bones and joints. This is right, amongst ourselves;for probably
hardly any one man has the time, even if he had the capacity, to master with
sufficient adequateness allthe details and necessitiesofour wondrous bodily
frame. But Jesus Christsaid to the leper, “Be thou clean,” to the man sick of
the palsy, grievously tormented, “I will come and heal him.” When he went
into Peter’s house and saw his wife’s mother laid and sick of the fever, he
touched her hand and the fever left her, he put out the fire with his touch. He
is no specialist, he has not a necromancer’s poweroverany one department of
human life or human suffering. His healing was fundamental and all-
inclusive. He made the well-head pure, and the flowing stream was as pure as
the fountain whence it flowed. It is so in spiritual matters. There is not in the
Church a doctorwho cures lying, and another who makes a specialstudy of
drunkenness, and a third who is gifted with peculiar ability in dealing with

persons of felonious disposition. There is one MediatorbetweenGod and
man: he makes the heart right, and then all the accidentallocaldiseases, with
all their train of ever-varying symptoms, are cleansedand utterly expelled. (J.
Parker, D. D.)
Jesus Christ canattend to all who come to Him at the same moment
I once went with a friend who wanted to see a greatphysician. But there were
ever so many other people waiting to see him, and they went in by turns one
by one, and we had to wait a whole hour before our turn came. The physician
could not attend to more than one person at a time. But if all you dear
children were to pray to the Saviour this evening at the same moment, and tell
Him all your wants, He could listen to you all at the same time, and help each
of you according to your need. (W. Harris.)
Jesus is always at home
If your little sisterwas takenvery ill and you were sent for the doctor, you
would run with all your speed;yet when you came to his house he might be
just gone out, and your sistermight die before he came home. But this is never
the case withJesus. Wheneveryou callupon Him, you will find Him. He is
always where people canfind Him directly they want Him, and you know he
can heal people without coming to them in His bodily presence. (W. Harris.)
Unconscious of danger
Sometimes people are in a very dangerous state, and yet they do not feelpain.
In a sad railway accidentwhich happened some time ago, a young lady was
takenout of one of the carriages, andshe said she was not hurt at all, she felt
no pain. She stoodup and tried to walk and then fell back dead. She had
receiveda very serious injury, and yet she did not feel it at the moment. So it
was with these Pharisees,they had a sin within their hearts which would ruin
them if it was not takenaway. That sin was pride. This sin is so dangerous,
because it keeps people from feeling how sinful they are, and so keeps them
from coming to Jesus Christ to be healed. (W. Harris.)

I. Sin is the sicknessofthe soul. It is the disease ofthe soulthat makes the
sinner a sick man.
1. Sicknessbrings pain and torment to the body, so does sin to the soul.
2. Sicknesstakesawaythe beauty of the body. Sin spoils the beauty of the
soul.
3. Diseasesare death’s carols which are sent; before it to bind the prisoner.
Sin tends to spiritual and eternal deeds, and will bring it on if it be not cured,
II. What is in sin that sickens the soul?
1. The guilt of it the obligation to punishment.
2. The stain. It brings a blot with it, that defiles the soul.
3. The reigning powerof it. Sin keeps its throne. It commands and receives
obedience.
4. The indwelling power of it.
III. What are the properties of soul sickness?
1. It is spiritual. They are the most dangerous disorders that affectthe vital
parts.
2. It is an universal sickness, spreading itselfthrough the whole man. All the
faculties of the soul are injured and disordered by it. It darkens the mind,
wounds the conscience, pollutes the heart, disorders the affections, and
weakensthe memory for good.
3. It is an infectious sickness.
4. It is hereditary, natural to us. We are born with it.

5. It is a growing disease.
6. It is mortal disease.
IV. Is sin the sickness ofyour soul?
1. Go quickly to the Physicianfor the cure of the disease ofthe soulwhich you
labour under, Delayno longer.
2. Time is flying. No medicine will cure that wound, no argument will
persuade it to return. Yesterdayhas takenits eternalfarewell. The candle
burnt to the snuff will not light again. Your only time is the present.
3. Deathis approaching. If death take us awayraider the power of that
sickness, there is no cure for it hereafter, if.
4. Make frequent application to Christ. Such people as can take little food at
once, had need to take it frequently, Alas! the few addresses whichwe make to
the throne of grace, look like as we thought ourselves whole, little needing the
Physician. (Thomas Boston.)
Christ’s way of caring souls
Three things concurto the care of the soul.
I. The blood of Christ.
II. The spirit of Christ.
III. The word of Christ.
1. “He sent His word and healedthem.”
2. The waters of the sanctuaryare healing waters. (Thomas Boston.)

Christ cures all who come to Him
Why does He undertake and perform the cure of souls?
I. Becausehe has his father’s commissionfor that effect.
II. Becauseofhis love and pity to men. Love provided the remedy and applies
it also.
III. Becausehe hath been at vast expense to prepare the remedy and medicine
for their souls.
IV. For his own glory.
1. The glory of the Mediator is highly exalted by His curing sick souls.
2. The glory of God is displayed in the cure.
3. Had the sick been left to be swallowedup by death, justice would have been
exalted, but now justice, mercy, grace, and truth, are all glorified in their
salvationthrough Christ. (Thomas Boston.)
Come to Him for the cure of your spiritual diseases.
I. You have need of him. Let necessitydrive you to Him. The less you see your
need, the more need you have of Him. Some diseases are very common among
us.
1. Blindness of the eyes of the mind.
2. Spiritual dumbness.

3. Hardness of heart.
4. Falling evil of backsliding.
5. Pride and self-conceit.
6. Decayofgrace.
II. Christ is skilful.
1. He knows what will suit your disease.
2. He is successful. Seine diseasesare the reproachof medicine; none can
baffle Him.
III. He cures freely.
1. Other physicians are enriched by their patients, but He enricheth His
making them heirs of glory.
2. He is the only physician.
3. Either you must die or come to film. (Thomas Boston.)
Dr. S. Lewis Johnsongoes into detail about the reactionof the Jewishelders to
Jesus'ministry and claims. Also discussedis the calling of the gospel's author,
Matthew the Evangelist.
SLJ Institute > Gospelof Matthew > Jesus Establisheshis Authority (Conflict
with the Hebrew Elders) > When Sick Men RejectTheir Doctor, orGrowing
Opposition to the King
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We are in the 9th chapter of Matthew at the 9th verse, so in your New
Testaments I’d like for you to turn there and listen as we read verse 9 through
verse 17. Matthew chapter 9 verse 9 through verse 17. Our subject for today is
“When Sick Men RejectTheir Doctor” or, growing opposition to the king.
“And as Jesus passedforth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew,
sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he
arose, and followedhim. And it came to pass, as Jesus satatmeat in the
house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and satdown with him
and his disciples. And when the Pharisees sawit, they saidunto his disciples,
‘Why eateth your Masterwith publicans and sinners?’But when Jesus heard

that, he said unto them, ‘They that be whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and
not sacrifice:for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance.’”
Some of you may have texts in which you do not have the words after, sinners,
“to repentance,” because in the most ancient manuscripts of the Gospelof
Matthew those words are not found. However, in the Lukan accountof this
incident they are found, and it is evident that our Lord said it. Some early
scribe, knowing the Lukan account, inserted them into the text, so it is a valid
addition in the sense that it belongs to the occasion:“sinners are calledto
repentance.”
“Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, ‘Why do we and the
Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples fast not?’ And Jesus saidunto them,
‘Can the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is
with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken
from the, and then shall they fast.’”
Our Lord alludes here to an example of the culture of the times by which,
when two people are married, a marriage feastwas held for about a week, and
there were many who were intimate friends of the bridgegroomwho
practically became house guests for the week after the two had come together
in marriage. In other words, the honeymoon was not a honeymoon alone, but
with the sons of the bride chamber who were there. And it was a time for
rejoicing, and a time of happiness over the fact that God had ideally brought
togethertwo young people in marriage. The customs were different then; you
can judge for yourself whether they were better. [Laughter]
Now having saidthat in verse 16 and 17 the Lord concludes with an
illustration – I won’t say much about this in the message – which is designed
to show that the ancient Judaism had become contaminated and polluted by
ritualism and sacrementarialism. And he rejects that, not rejecting true

Judaism, but Judaism overlaid with traditions and says, in effect, in the new
age, when men come to the knowledge offorgiveness by the grace of God, we
have something that is entirely different. And using the illustration of the
piece of cloth on an old garment, he tries to point out that there is no real
harmony—compatibility—between the old, false Judaism and the new,
genuine Christianity.
There would have been, of course, perfectcompatibility betweenJudaism, as
taught in the Scripture, and Christianity as taught in the Scripture, for one is
the natural complement of the other. Verse 16,
“No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is
put
in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neitherdo
men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine
runneth
out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both
are
preserved.”
May God bless this reading from his word.
We are living in days in which, according to the interpreters of the human
scene, humanity has fallen on evil times. The pessimists are about us, and they
call upon us to wallow in the human predicament, impressing upon us the fact
that famine, overpopulation, inflation, pollution, and the other ills of our day
are surely to cause our demise if we do not do something about it.
And then we always, it seems, have the humanists with us. The humanists are
gloriously optimistic, as usual. They are the greatestbelievers of all. If
Christians could believe in their doctrine as the humanists believe in their
doctrine, this would be the greatestage since the apostles.
The humanists believe that men are good, and that out of our strengths, and
out of our owncapacities and abilities, we canmake this world a millennial

kingdom. Just recently – and it seems atleaststartling that it was just recently
– Kathleen Knott, who is a humanist, writing about the humanists, has said
concerning the present situation that they have (that is, the humanists) the
first opportunity to invent the human being—an amazing, absurd statement
about the potentialities that exist in your nature.
Now as an outgrowthof this, it seems to me – and this is only my opinion – our
societyhas an identity crisis. We know, of course, that one of the most popular
questions of the day is: who am I? This is the age of self-inquiry. Who am I?
And it’s startling, at leastto me, to find the Christians among the
interrogators, whenafter all, all that it appears to take is a look into holy
Scripture to find the complete answerto the question: who am I? And not
only for the Christian, but for the non-Christian, too.
It was characteristic of the Lord Jesus – and you can see the evidence of it in
this passagethatwe have read for the Scripture reading today – that he had
no identity crisis. He did not, for one moment, have to ask the question: who
am I? It is evident from the beginning of his ministry to the end of his
ministry that by relying upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit, he was in total
control of the circumstances ofhis life. He had no identity crisis. He always
knew exactly who he was.
And the exalted nature of his self-knowledgemakesthis assurance eventhe
more astonishing. It might not be so astonishing for a man to know who he
was if he was not much, but in our Lord’s case, it’s astonishing because ofthe
exalted nature of his own self-knowledge. Othermen, he said, were sick. “I am
not sick;” but not only did he say he was not sick, he said he was the one who
was calledto heal the others. He was the physician.
Other men were sinners. He not only was not a sinner, but he had come to call
sinners to repentance. He who never had to repent calls all other men to
repent. He was the bridegroom over whom the sons of the bride chamber
were to rejoice, because he was in their midst. And finally, other men were
born. Now, our Lord was born, too, and one time he says that he was born,
but only once. The characteristic expressionthat he uses to describe his
coming into the human scene was:I was sent, or I have come.

Now if I were to speak to you and tell you about my life, I would probably
begin by saying I was born on September 13, 19 hundred and [pause, followed
by silence]. Now, you think I’m embarrassedto tell you the time. [Laughter]
I’m like an old fiddle; the older it gets, the more mature it is. 1915. Now Isay,
I am born. Our Lord Jesus only once says he is born. He says, I have come.
I would not describe my entry into the human scene by saying I have come. I
wouldn’t say that I was sentexcept in a very secondarysense—It’s sixtyin
case some ofyou are down there trying to figure out [sudden, boisterous
laughter]. [Dr. Johnson laughs] Mathematics is a little weak onthe left side of
the auditorium here [sustained laughter]. But our Lord only once says that he
was born.
And the interesting thing about it is that the one time the Lord Jesus saidthat
he was born was to a Roman prefect who probably would not have
understood if he had said, I have come, or I have been sent. And so to Pontius
Pilate he said, “Forthis cause I am born (and realizing that is not totally
adequate for an understanding of his nature, he added) for this reason, I
come.” So here is an amazing person who had a total self-knowledge ofhis
exalted characterand seemedabsolutelyassuredabout it.
What we are and what he is comes out in the sectionof Matthew in which the
most prominent elements of Israel’s societyface his claims and blindly begin
to oppose him and his word. We shall notice as we make progress through the
Gospelof Matthew this resistance to the claims of the Lord Jesus builds and
builds and finally reaches its climax long before the time of the cross, making
it necessaryfor the Lord Jesus’ministry to take on an entirely different
characterafterthat climactic occasion.
Now the instances that come before us today are instances which illustrate
that as well as some other facts of his ministry. So now let’s look at the 9th
verse in which we have something which might be entitled, “The Lord and
Matthew” or “The Call of God.” This is a very brief incident, and yet it is full
of significant spiritual truth.
The two characters are the Lord Jesus who is the Savior, and Matthew the
publican. It’s very striking to me – I don’t’ know how much to make of this –

but it’s striking to me, at least, that Matthew states that as Jesus passedforth
from there, he saw a man named Matthew. Now the striking thing about this
to me is, first of all, the Lord Jesus, whenhe looks upon this man, Matthew,
sees him in a quite different light from the way in which you and I might see
him.
When we look at men, we look at their position. We see their position, their
influence, their personality. We see the way they look. We notice their age, we
notice their sex, we notice various other things about people which are,
generallyspeaking, outwardthings. When the Lord Jesus looksupon a
person, he has faculties and capacities that you and I do not have, and he sees
beneath the outward to the man. He saw a man named Matthew. He sees the
real being within. Something we cannot see. And evidently, by the Holy
Spirit’s direction, for he ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit, he sensed
that this man was a man in whom God had been working, and his heart was
ready for a call from him. So he understands it. He sees whatis transpiring.
He recognizes that the field is white to harvest before he gives his command.
Now this is amazing when you think of the man. Probably no one in all of the
New Testamentis a more unlikely apostle than this tax collector. Now we all
know that tax collectorsare not the most popular men in our societies, and
even in the United States, our tax collectorsare not the most popular citizens.
Now I happen to have some friends who are with the Internal Revenue
Service, but I would imagine that most of us feel just a little uncomfortable in
the presence ofan IRS agent, particularly when you get that telephone call
that says we’d like to see you down at the office two weeks fromnow at 10
o’clock in the morning to go over a few things on your return. If you’ve ever
had that experience, you’d know exactlywhat I’m talking about.
The year that Goldwaterwas defeated, onthe very next day after the election,
my wife got a call from the Internal Revenue Service. And I was not party to
the call, but I imagine they called up and said, “Are you Mrs. S. Lewis
Johnson, Jr.?” and she said, yes. “Well, we would like to have an audit of your
income tax return.”

She calledme excitedly about ten minutes later and said, “That’s exactly what
happens! You vote for Goldwaterone day and the IRS calls you the next
morning!” [Laughter] Those were her words to me. Well, after some time,
they paid me twelve dollars. I was very happy that time, I assure you. ForIRS
agents, they were very polite, very nice; I had nothing to complain about, but I
just feela little uncomfortable in their presence.
Now Matthew was a much more hated tax collector, becauseyou see, in
Palestine atthis time, Matthew served under an occupationarmy. And so he
was a Palestinianwho was an employee of the hated Romans, and was
required by them to acceptor collectthe taxes from the Israelites. And anyone
who was such a traitor as that was a equivalent to a quisling. And so it’s
rather strange that this man was pickedout as an apostle of the Lord Jesus.
And not only that, but the Jews believedthat only God was king, and for
another king to exacttaxes was contrary to the express teaching of holy
Scripture, and later on, they seek to catchour Lord by asking him whether we
should pay taxes to Caesaror not. So this man was a rather unusual man; a
“revenuer” as the mountaineers in the state of TennesseeorwesternNorth
Carolina might callhim. Notvery popular. A hated tax collector, but he not
only was to become a disciple of the Lord Jesus, but one of the apostles,
perhaps to illustrate the fact that our history, no matter what it may be, is not
againstus when it comes to relationship to the Lord Jesus.
Now Matthew was engagedin the ordinary business of the day, for we read,
when Jesus passedforth from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at
the tax office. And so the callof our Lord Jesus comes to us, generally
speaking, in the process ofordinary business, sitting at his desk, the Lord
Jesus passedand saw him. The sovereign, majestic callto discipleship often
comes in the midst of the domestic affairs of life. You do not have to be in a
church, for example, to have a call from the Lord Jesus to the following that
Matthew is given here.
Now remember, Matthew alreadyknew the Lord Jesus. Thatseems evident
from the preceding, and also from this particular call. He must have known
something about him, so evidently it was a call to discipleship; he knew him.

Right in the midst of the process ofbusiness. So I say to you this morning, if
you are a housewife, it’s entirely possible that the call of God may come to you
while you’re washing the dishes. Or if you’re a businessman, the call of God
may come to you in the midst of your business, even in the midst of your
appointment. God speaks. And he spoke to Matthew as he satat his desk.
There are two simple consequencesofthis callthat I want to notice. Our text
says here, “He arose and followedhim.” Now, I think it’s striking that in the
Gospelof Matthew, very little – in fact, nothing – is said afterwards about
Matthew. Luke tells us in chapter 5 and verse 29, I think it is, he arose and
gave a greatfeastand invited the tax collectorsand other sinners, and the
Lord Jesus was there at that feast. But that’s all we have about Matthew. We
know he was a tax gatherer. We know he became an apostle. We know that he
was calledby the Lord Jesus, and we know that he made a greatfeastand had
the Lord Jesus as a guestthere. That’s all we know, so that in a sense, the
history of Matthew concludes with the statement, he arose and followedhim.
And what a beautiful thing. How wonderful it is to be knownin holy Scripture
and according to tradition as a man who arose and immediately followedour
Lord Jesus when the call came to him. What an epitaph in the word of God.
Now Luke tells us something else about him. Luke tells us that he left all and
followedhim. And I want to saya word about this, because I think,
occasionally, we’re inclined to overemphasize this “left all,” for actually, of
course, to follow the Lord Jesus is not to leave all at all, but to gain all. A man
doesn’t leave everything when he becomes a followerof the Lord Jesus. We’re
inclined to glorify outstanding sinners who make an unusual decision, and we
invite them, as I mentioned last Sunday, we invite them immediately into our
pulpits to tells just what, exactly, they’ve given up in order to become a
followerof the Lord Jesus, and then we ooh-and-ahh over the sacrifices that
they have made.
Well I’d like for you to geta better perspective on this. Scripture does sayhe
left all. But we’re not to understand by that that that means that he didn’t get
anything, for he gota whole lot more than he everlost. O true, he lost a job,
but he found a life. It’s true that he lost a goodincome and obviously a high

standard of living, because many of the tax collectors become wealthymen.
Some of them had the privilege to exactas much taxes as they possibly could,
provided they paid the Romans a limited amount. So anything they could get
above that, in any way possible, was theirs. So it was not long before many of
them were extremely wealthy. So he lost a goodincome, but he found true
riches in Jesus Christ.
He lost the material security of this high standard of living, but he gained the
eternal security of union with Jesus Christ. And he lostthe privilege of serving
as a tax collectorin order to become an evangelistwho writes one of the great
books that has ever been written by a man and stands today as a testimony to
what God is able to do through a sinful tax collector.
Now I don’t think Matthew left all, I think he gainedall. And as a matter of
fact, he is now enjoying, even to the present day the life that he gained then,
and probably is saying at this moment, “Preachit, Lewis!” [Laughter] When
we leave all and follow him, we don’t leave all. It’s when we don’t do it that we
really leave all.
Now then, after that little incident, Matthew describes another occasion – this
following immediately upon that one – which might be entitled, “The Lord
and the Publicans” or “The compassionofGod,” and it’s a beautiful example
of the gratitude of a saved man and the compassionofthe Lord Jesus.
In those days, when a person made a feast, and made a little bit of noise, and a
number of people gatheredtogetherdue to the constructionof the homes and
the size of the cities, and the people in the community in their close
relationship to eachother –everyone knew whatwas going on. And so when
the feastwas made, others besides those who were invited knew about it. And
frequently, they would stand around on the edges ofthe crowdthat was
celebrating at the feastand even carry on some conversationbetweenthe
invited guests and themselves.
You probably have been in occasionslike that. A couple of years ago I was at
Aspen, and in the midst of a large area, at one of the mountain resorts, there
was an unusual party that took place. And it was right out in the midst of a

courtyard, and everyone else that was there sataround and looked. And
evidently, this occasionwas something like that.
And we are told in the GospelofLuke that the individual who made this great
feast– it was describedas that – was Matthew. Now, he doesn’t call it a great
feast, and he doesn’t even saythat he’s the one who calledit. But Luke tells us
that, which tells us a lot about Matthew, incidentally. And so he made this
greatfeast, and the Lord Jesus was there.
Now I don’t think it takes any imagination at all to know why this feastwas
held. Why, Matthew was so grateful overwhat had happened to him that he
wanted to express his gratitude for his relationship to the Lord Jesus. He
invited all of his business associates andhis other friends, and they’re
included under that common designationof tax collectors andsinners – tax
collectors especiallyand sinners all the rest of them – and the Lord Jesus was
there. And I canjust imagine that he told them the whole story of how he
came to know about the Lord Jesus, andhow the Lord Jesus calledhim, and
how he was giving up his office, and how he was becoming a disciple of the
Lord Jesus. And I can just imagine he askedour Lord to say a word
[laughter], and we had a sermon from our Lord.
Well, on the occasionofthis, the Pharisees,whenthey saw it, did not come
directly to the Lord Jesus. It’s characteristic, often, of people who want to be
critical of Christian things to go not to the individuals but to speak to the
disciples, the followers. And seeming to be afraid to face him, shunning him,
the Phariseesspeak to some of his disciples, and they bring up some of this
critical attitude, why eateth your masterwith tax collectorsand sinners? And
evidently, our Lord overheardit.
And when Jesus heard it, he turned and said to them, answering in parabolic
form, or illustrative form, “Theythat are well need not a physician, but they
that are sick.” Now this parable about a physician and his relationship to
those who are sick is full of instructive information.
Now this text, first of all, shows us that God very mercifully regards sin as a
disease, because he could regardit as something worse. Becausesinis a
disease alright, but it is a fatal disease. As a matter of fact, the Scriptures also

describe us as being individuals who are dead in trespassesand sins. To say
that we are diseasedis really a little bit of mercy. It says there is still some
kind of life, but we are hastening down the path of destruction to an end. Paul
likes to speak of the unsaved as “the perishing.” They’re on the road that
leads to destruction and certainly leads there, but they haven’t breathed their
last, yet. So in this, it’s a mercy that God speaks ofus as having a disease.
This disease thatwe have, and which the Scriptures and the Lord Jesus speak
of as “sin,” is a hereditary thing. It’s something that we derive from our head,
and our head, remember, is Adam. In the Gardenof Eden when Adam fell, we
fell under the judgment of sin, every one of us. We come into this world under
sin and condemnation. Condemned men.
And furthermore, we possessa sin nature—a corrupt sin nature. We are the
victims of original sin. Now, you might not like that. There are reasons – I
don’t have time to speak about it now – but there are reasons why this is a
very gracious attitude on our Lord’s part, and why this arrangementis really
an arrangement for our benefit, because – I’ll just mention this – it makes it
possible for God to deal with us through a “lastAdam” by whom we may have
through his work for us, an eternalsalvation.
But our disease is hereditary. We inherit it. We are born sinners, every one of
us. Last weekend, I had a house guest, PastorDwightCustis of the Central
Bible Church of Portland, Oregon– a very large and influential church that
Dr. Jack Mitchellwas the pastorof for a number of years.
Dwight went to schoolwith me, and they lived, he and his wife, across the hall
from Mary and me, and we’ve been friends now for many, many years. And
they have a daughter who is in the city, and who I think is in the auditorium
this morning, and they have a son who is to be a seniorat Dallas Seminary this
fall. So, when we get together, we always talk about the family and old times.
And they have a son whose name is John, and he is a doctor. He did some of
his interning right here in the City of Dallas, afterhe graduated from medical
school. Has a number of friends in the city. And he now is practicing in
Portland. And he listens, incidentally, to the tape ministry every morning. He
has about 30 minutes from his house to the hospital, and especially, he listens

to the Systematic Theologytapes, half of the message in the morning, the
other half in the evening. He’s becoming, so his father says, quite a theologian.
Well his father has a little bit of physical trouble associatedwith old age. He
has a little gout. Well, he went to see his sonfor some diagnosis and I guess
some prescription, and he was telling us about it last weekend. Joking about
it, he said, “I went in, and John took a goodlook at me, and he said, ‘I’m very
sorry to report to you that you have gout.’ And he said, ‘I’m very sorry,
because it’s a hereditary disease.’”[Laughter] The disease ofsin is hereditary.
We all have it.
Not only that, but it’s polluting. You don’t realize how sinful you are until you
become a Christian. After you’ve become a Christian, then you realize how
sinful you are. Now of course, anyone, to become a Christian, must know his
need. As we shall see in just a moment, the Lord Jesus said, “I am not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance – only those who know their
needs are those who are the subject of salvation. But you never really know
your needs until you have the light of Christianity to glow upon it.
And it is certainly true that after having become a Christian you discoverhow
sinful we really are, for you canget down upon your knees and pray, and
right in the midst of your prayers, just like a buzzard flitting across the sky,
there will come the thought, “I surely am getting along in the Christian life,
praying all of the time now.” Right in the midst of the most holy exercises,you
can sin. And when you finish that prayer and say, amen, you get up off of your
knees and say, “I doubt that there are many of my friends who are quite the
prayer warriors that I am.” [Laughter]
In the midst of our faith there is unbelief. In the midst of our repentance,
there is incomplete repentance. So even in the holiestof exercises, we prove
the sinful characterofour nature. Sin is polluting. And it is mortal, because it
leads immediately and ultimately to death. It leads to the damned condition of
the lost.
Now, we throw that word around quite a bit. We talk a lot about hell, and we
talk a lot about being damned, and we talk about it entirely too lightly. If for
one moment there ever came to your mind the full meaning of what it was to

be castinto a Christless eternity, or if for one moment you should ever be
given a glimpse of someone who was castinto the lake of fire, your next words
would be, “What must I do to be saved?” Sin is a fatal disease,and leads to
death.
Now it’s the mercy of God that we read here that the Lord Jesus is a
physician. He states, “Theythat are well need not a physician, but they that
are sick.” Idon’t know whether you’ve ever noticed this or not, but that is a
tremendous claim on our Lord’s part. He doesn’t say, I’m not sick. That’s
true. He was not sick. But he goes beyond that to say, “I not only am not sick;
I’m the physician.” I’ve come to heal. I don’t have any need for healing; I’m
the healer.
The Lord Jesus didn’t come to explain sin like a teacher. Mosesdid that. He
gave us the Ten Commandments from God, and those Ten Commandments
revealthe nature of the human heart. If you think for one moment that you
are not referred to here by the Lord Jesus when he said that he came to call
sinners to repentance, take a look at the Ten Commandments and then
measure your life by them. Not now, this moment – but measure it from the
time you have first drawn a breath, and then see if that law does not condemn
you as it has condemned the greatestofthe saints of the Old Testament.
Moses expoundedthe depths of sin by the law as the full knowledge ofsin, but
the Lord Jesus came to eradicate sin. He came to save us from our sins. And
incidentally, he did not come to save us in our sins, that we may continue in
our sins with the hope of heaven, but he came to save us from our sins. A man
who is drowning cannot speak of having been saved from the waters if he’s
sinking beneath them. A man who has been frostbitten cannot speak ofbeing
savedif he’s still stiffening under the cold winds that are blowing upon him.
And so if the personthinks that through the salvation of the Lord Jesus all
that is necessaryis for him to receive the assurance ofheaven, and he may live
exactly as he has before he came to the knowledge ofthe cross-workofthe
Lord Jesus, he’s only deceiving himself. Forwhen a personcomes to genuine
salvation, there is a definitive change in his life, and sanctificationbegins and
progresses – not completed, of course, until he enters into the presence of the

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