The Physician

This shall be the law of the leprous person

for the day of his cleansing.

He shall be brought to the priest.

(Lev 14:2)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The nature of truth and faithfulness takes on a whole new level of significance when lives are at stake. Although one can pray about most anything, but our minds often fixate on medical situations when someone asks if anyone is in need of prayer. When it comes to medical conditions, we feel vulnerable, alone, and, many times, hopeless.

The Great Physician

Jesus is best known as a healer both of body and spirit. Even Jesus’ most adamant critics admit that he was an exorcist, which seems odd because in the next breath these same critics will deny the existence of demons that can be exorcised (Sanders 1993, 15). How can Jesus exorcise demons that don’t exist? Even more odd, in this materialistic world where people deny the existence of God, these same materialists seem obsessed with the demonic, if Hollywood movies be any guide to public opinion. The existence of the spiritual world appears to reveal a cleavage between thoughts and feelings of many people.

Roman Catholic priest Francis MacNutt noted four types of healing needing prayer:

Repentance of sin (spiritual healing),
Emotional (or relational) healing,
Physical healing, and
Deliverance (healing from spiritual oppression) (MacNutt 2009, 130).

In the New Testament we see Jesus healing people matching each of these categories. Jesus could easily be described as the first medical missionary.

We live at a time when the spiritual relationship to medical problems is most obvious because the leading causes of death are preventable. Preventable illnesses and conditions point to a spiritual problem because the only things standing between the condition and treatment is a decision. Suicide, drug overdoses, obesity, and refusing to be vaccinated are leading causes of death in America today—so much so that live expectancy has been declining in recent years. Other obvious issues include anxiety, depression, and hypochondria.

There is no shame in visiting a doctor in this materialistic world, but don’t tell me I need to see a pastor or priest—I am not crazy—people tell themselves. Interestingly, Carl Jung (1955, 31), a student of Sigmund Freud, described the psychiatrist as a priest in a secular religion. Counseling in this framework served as the confessional in this new religion where the patient confessed his sins and the counselor then proscribed the steps to be taken to receive absolution. Jung supported this interpretation of Freud’s psychiatry noting Freud’s use of numerous speculative myths to support his theories, such as his theory of penis envy.

Parable of the Physician

One of Jesus’ shortest parables appears to be nothing more than a declarative sentence: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matt 9:12). This parable is one of Jesus’ proverbs, which in Hebrew is one type of parable. The same sentence appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, albeit in different contexts.

The sentence appears as a doublet in Mark: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) A Hebrew doublet is a poetic expression where the primary statement is repeated in different works in the second. Thus, Jesus is equating sin to sickness. This parallel is interesting because the Apostle Paul famously said: “For the wages of sin is death.”

 (Rom 6:23) If sin is the cause of illness and death, then physicians are effectively called upon to treat our sin, just like pastors and priests.

The Matthew version of this parable inserts a phrase not found in Mark or Luke: “Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” (Matt 9:13) Mercy is one of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and is the first attribute of God mentioned in Exodus 34:6. If God requires a change in the heart, mercy, burnt offerings (sacrifices) are a lesser priority.

The Physician
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




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