Read Luke 5:31-32

I have volunteered at a local hospital emergency room for the past 10 years. People that come in are often very sick. Sometimes they’re on the verge of death. The Emergency Squad brought in a man one day who had a heart attack downtown near an ATM machine. I worked along with a nurse and gave the man CPR.

I have seen people sick with pertussis, emphysema, diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, influenza, pneumonia, heart disease, cancer and more. These people really need a doctor. People come into the ER who have been beaten up. You just never know what type of sickness the next person who comes into the ER might be experiencing.

Other times people come in and doctors can’t figure out why they came into the Emergency Room. They have a hangnail or need a band aid. Some people come in looking for illegal drugs because they are drug addicts and they make up a story that their back hurts. Some people come in who are not sick. They do not need a doctor.

I have seen people who are spiritually sick at the ER. They have had a difficult or even traumatic experience and they do not know what to do or where to turn. This is what Jesus meant when He said that healthy people do not need a doctor, but the sick do. Unbelievers are “spiritually sick” because they are separated from the Lord and stand in need of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

He is the cure!

They need a doctor. They may be someone who knows nothing about Jesus Christ. Just like I know nothing about birds. The cure is to build their life on the timeless truth of the teaching of Jesus. You know – the red letters of Jesus’ words. The cure is the knowledge that all scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16).

Jesus said, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt 9:12–13). Jesus compares Himself to a doctor who had come to help those who are sick. Matthew was a patient in need of healing. The sickness was sin, and Jesus was the doctor.

Regarding people who are spiritually sick, the Bible says they are more than sick – they are dead.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” -Ephesians 2:1

Believers may also be spiritually sick in that they are living in unconfessed sin or do not pursue Christian spiritual growth. Do you need a doctor?

Tom Weckesser