Physician, Heal Thyself – #101  

You have suffered sorrow and humiliation. You have lost your wits and have gone astray; and, like an unskilled doctor, fallen ill, you lose heart and cannot discover by which remedies to cure your own disease. ~ Chorus from Prometheus Unbound.

In scriptures, the phrase “Physician heal thyself” can be found in Luke 4:23 where Jesus quotes a common Jewish phrase of the time, saying, 

“Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal thyself’.” (KJV).

In Biblical times, it was common among the Jewish culture to use the phrase “Physician heal thyself”. This had a nuanced meaning. They believed that before a physician could adequately cure the disease that others were experiencing, they must first heal themselves. It is the idea that you cannot fill the cup of others unless your cup is full, too.  

Physician heals thyself could be extrapolated to mean that before you venture out into the world to heal others, you probably ought to heal you and your own town first.  In fact, this is exactly how Jesus meant it in the passage in Luke. At the time, he was being accused of healing, the acts that seemed to occur everywhere; except for in his home town.

This idea also stretches to the crucifixion of Christ. On the cross, Jesus is implored to save himself.

Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying,

You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! … In the same way, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself”! ~ Matthew 27:39-42.

It was a strong belief in those times that if someone was powerful enough to save others, they must be powerful enough to save themselves, too.

But is it really the case that, someone who is powerful enough to save others, must of necessity be powerful enough to save himself?

THE CHURCH AS A PHYSICIAN

The church is also a PHYSICIAN, the Church has been given the mandate by Christ himself to diagnose, treat, heal and forgive people using the name of God (Matthew 10:1), but tell me what happens when some of those in leadership and other members of the body of Christ fall sick of spiritual diseases that are considered very scandalous and gigantic? What about the kind of scandals that hits the newsrooms and as someone will say “brings the reputation of the church into disrepute“, how does the church handle it?

Jesus compared sinners to sick people, when you are sick you need to see a doctor – without the doctor’s care, you will remain sick and may even get worse.

Is the church really playing the role of a physician/doctor? Or it is only about naming, punishing, and shaming?  We are moving around, proclaiming healing, deliverance, and forgiveness, are we practicing the same in our backyards? Or it’s the case of the proverbial Physician who is able to heal all others except himself.

Someone once told me 

Churches tell us what to do, but they neither model it nor demonstrate how to accomplish it. … I see ministers and members who aren’t speaking to each other, hate each other with passion, and are unable to forgive their own for one wrong or the other … In fact, they preach God’s forgiveness, mercy, and compassion all the time but churches are often the most unforgiving of us all. … is this assertion true or false?

This and many others that these series seek to explore. It is my hope that by the time this series comes to an end we will better understand and appreciate the ministry of mercy, compassion, healing, and forgiveness Christ handed over to the church.

… Now, after careful reflection, I think a major thing that is preventing this physician (the church) from exercising the ministry of healing efficiently is our inability to fully appreciate the humanity of men and women …

Shalom and God bless you

#physicianhealthyself ~ WATCH OUT FOR THE SECOND EDITION!