June 28, 2016 (Tuesday)
(The idea for this blog came from a sermon by Herb Zimmerman, preached at Prairie Point Baptist Church in Central Texas, in 1950).
Jesus ate with people who were known as “sinners.” When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12 NIV).
Jesus is the great physician. He came to heal us of our worst disease, the disease called, “sin.”
How is our sin like a sickness? It is a universal malady, “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It is a sickness with many awful symptoms, among which are trouble and pain. It is contagious and leads to stained, wasted and enslaved lives. It is a fatal disease, for the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
When we are sick, we call on a doctor. That’s what happens when people are sick in sin. But when one is afflicted with sin, he finds many false physicians. One person goes to Doctor Sincerity, who tells him he’s healed if he just believes anything sincerely. The doc lies to him. So our poor sick patient goes next door to Doctor Sophistication, who encourages him to look well, and sooner or later he will be well. Finding that does not work, the sick guy goes across the street to Doctor Self-Righteousness, who tells him he is not really sick at all. But he still feels bad, so he goes to Doctor Churchmembership, but that does not help. So finally he winds up at Doctor Excuses office, where he is given a prescription for all kinds of excuses, but not a single one of them makes him better. At last he turns to self-help and decides that he’ll self-medicate with large doses of “doing better,” a generic med, but just gets sicker and sicker.
So what’s going to happen to our friend, the sinner? His future is hopeless unless he sees the right doctor. Someone finally tells him about Doctor Jesus. He’s different from the others because his services are free. Above his door is the motto, “the gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23b). He is truly “the great physician.” His touch brings healing.
Shackled by a heavy burden,
‘Neath a load of guilt and shame.
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.
Since I met this blessed Savior,
Since He cleansed and made me whole,
I will never cease to praise Him,
I’ll shout it while eternity rolls.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole.
(“He Touched Me” is a gospel song written by Bill Gaither in 1963)
