LX. PHYSICIAN.

'But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a Physician, but they that are sick.' Matt. ix. 12.

THIS word occurs in thirteen instances, but this is the only place where, it is applied to the Saviour of the world. It is, however, used in the Scriptures in a way not common among us. It was applied to embalmers of the dead, Gen. 1. 2; to comforters or healers by advice and counsel, Job xiii. 4; to prophets and teachers, Jer. viii. 22.

The propriety and beauty of this appellation may be more fully apprehended, if we consider the occasion on which it is said. 'And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with 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.' What a complete manifestation of the self-righteousness of the Pharisee! did not believe that he stood in need of a Physician, for he could not acknowledge himself to be 'sick.' And then he could not receive such a Physician;

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one who would associate with publicans and sinners! This was too humiliating. It was indeed strange that the Physician should go among the sick! And where should he go? The sick could not come to him. How entirely mistaken was the Pharisee respecting the work of this Physician! And what selfrighteous man ever did think he needed a Physician to remove his maladies? In his own view, he is perfect; others are altogether born in sin.' Hence he can go up to the temple, and say, 'God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this poor publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.' '* And what a masterly contrast is here drawn by the great Physician between self-righteousness and humility; between him who imagines himself in perfect health, and him who by his confession acknowledges that he stands in need of the Physician! How admirable was his reply to the Pharisee: They that be whole need not a Physician, but they that are sick!' Admitting your pretensions to righteousness, you have no need of me, and, therefore, I go among 'publicans and sinners;' among those who, according to your own views, need my healing power.

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And how appropriately may sin be compared to a disease. Jehovah, speaking of his people when they had become exceedingly corrupt, says, 'The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.'† * * But this very fact proves that there was originally health and soundness in man; that he is not entirely depraved. No physician can cure without there is † Isa. i. 5, 6.

* Luke xviii. 11, 12.

some health remaining on which to build. And it is not the duty of the physician to take the disorder, nor bear the pain. So the great Physician came not to take our disease, nor bear our pains, but to remove disease from the soul, and present the whole human family in immortal health in a world where the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.'

And what a beautiful title to give to the Redeemer! Around it a thousand rich and pleasing associations cluster. For who more welcome in the dreary and lonely hour of sickness than the physician? We love then to behold the faces of our friends and kindred as they gather around us on the bed of pain; but how do we long for the arrival of the physician! His very approach seems to ease our pains, and his presence lights up the chamber of sorrow with a smile. And as the cheek grows pale, as the eye becomes dim, and the limbs are racked with pain, how do we look away from every power on earth save that of the physician! And what confidence do we place in him! How willingly do we receive the bitterest potion from his hand! And when the pale messenger approaches, how slow are we to believe that his skill is exhausted! And when he leaves for the last time, then, what a sadness pours in upon the soul! And oh! the last lingering glance, when we are informed that all is over, that no earthly power can stay the disease! Oh! the awfulness of that hour, especially to him who knows nothing of the great Physician whom Heaven has provided!

Let us draw a contrast between the earthly physician and the one sent from heaven. The former may be ignorant of the disorder, or of the appropriate

medicine; or, if acquainted with botn, he may be unable to stay the disease, for, like his patient, he is frail and weak, and his own strength may fail at the very time when he is most wanted. But not so with the true Physician. Heaven has given him every needed qualification. He knows the seat of the disorder; he possesses all the means to remove it, and, above all, he has the disposition. If we look at the history of this Physician, we shall find that there was no intellectual, moral, or physical defect beyond his reach. He went about all Galilee, * * healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease, among the people.'* We behold him giving sight to those who were born blind; healing the obstinate leprosy; making those who wanted a limb, perfect; those who shook with the palsy, robust; nerving the withered arm with strength; restoring the insane and demoniac to reason, and raising the dead.† Indeed, the intellectual, moral, and physical departments of creation seemed to have all been within his power. To a maniac, he said, 'Come out of him, thou unclean spirit.' To the transgressor, 'Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee.' To a Lazarus, 'Come forth;' and all was done instantaneously. There was no long, lingering process in restoring to health, as often occurs among earthly physicians: and all was done 'without money, and without

*Matt. iv. 23.

A learned physician,' says Bp. Stillingfleet, 'undertook to make it evident from the circumstances of the history, and from the received principles among the most authentic physicians, that the diseases cured by our Saviour were all incurable by the rules of physic.'-Gul. Ader. de morbis Evang. in Orig. Sacr. L. ii. c. 10.

price.' When Zeuxis, the Grecian painter, presented his inimitable paintings for nothing, his vanity prompted him to give this reason for his conduct: 'that his performances were above all price.' So, our great Physician, above the suspicion of pride, performed his mighty work of healing freely, and without reward; because it was impossible to propose any to him, which could either merit his favor, or claim his acceptance. Among the multitudes that he healed, no one was so insensible of the worth of the remedy, or the dignity of the Physician, as to make him so degrading an offer. Indeed, those whom he healed had nothing to give but what his own bounty had conferred! In no instance, therefore, did this Physician perform a miracle to enrich himself! An unanswerable argument against the assertion of the infidel, that Jesus was an impostor! What impostor ever lived, suffered, and died for the world, without regarding his own interest? Would to Heaven the world were full of such impostors !

But we are told that we must go to this Physician, or we cannot be cured. But it is the duty of the Physician to come to us and give the willing mind. Surely, we are not to understand the Physician to say to the lame, 'take up thy bed and walk,' and come to me and be healed. If the sick could have had health, if the blind could have seen, if the deaf could have heard, if the lame could have walked; in short, if there had been no disease, there would have been no need of a Physician. It was these very maladies which he came to remove. And shall the very disorders which he came to remove, be the very cause of failure? Shall sin, which brought the Physician from heaven, /