Rochester, MN UCC - "Who is in Need of a Physician?" - Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Some Pharisees observe Jesus eating with some rather shady characters and they question his disciples, asking, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus, having overhead the question, replies, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” 

 What comes next is an astoundingly clear demonstration that Jesus is indeed good news for those who are sick. A woman who has suffered 12 years with hemorrhages merely touches his cloak and is instantly made well. Next Jesus takes the hand of a girl who has just died and raises her to her feet, alive. Jesus ends 12 years of suffering from chronic illness in an instant; though the young girl had died, she was restored to life when Jesus took her by the hand. Jesus is indeed astonishingly good news for those who are sick, even sick unto death. 

 How do we figure in these stories? It depends on how we see ourselves. Do we see ourselves as these Pharisees see themselves- as righteous people with no need for a savior? Or can we see ourselves as the woman with the hemorrhage saw herself, as one who suffers a sickness, yet trusts in Jesus’ ability to heal her? If we know ourselves to be perfectly righteous- if we believe we have no need for healing or forgiveness, there is little good news for us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, if we know that we suffer, that we struggle, if we can admit our need for a physician, then there is terrifically good news for us in Jesus Christ. Jesus offers healing, forgiveness, and new life to all those in need of it. Jesus has come to call not the righteous but sinners. That is best of all possible news for we who can acknowledge how far short we often fall of true righteousness.

 Rev. Andrew Greenhaw