We Need A Physician

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

I don’t know the source of this expression, but it’s a good one: The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that a problem exists. Makes sense to me. If you don’t know there is a problem, how will you even begin to address it?

The Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees had a problem. Many think it was the fact that they didn’t see Jesus as their Messiah. That was a problem, but not their greatest one. Their greatest problem, just like ours, was that they were blind to their own spiritual condition.

For example, those religious leaders frowned on Jesus for eating and drinking with “sinners.” It made no sense to them how a man who claimed to come from God would dare eat with such wicked people [see Mark 2:15-17].

I’m sure it was strange to them because their “holiness” kept them separate from sinners. Perhaps Jesus acted in such strange ways because His purpose was redemptive. So it makes perfect sense that He ate with sinners—those who recognized their sin. It’s impossible to cure someone who is convinced that they are not sick. 

The religious leaders in Jesus’ day did not see themselves as sick—sinners. One commentator said they were the sickest of the sick, thinking they had no need of a physician. 

To truly be saved, one must first be convinced of their spiritual sickness. If a person doesn’t see himself as a sinner, he will never see his need of a cure. Perhaps that is why many Christ followers are anemic. In order to move closer to God, we must first confess how far we are away from Him.

When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Mark 2:17