Dear brothers and sisters, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).
Happy New Year to all of you, my readers! With you, I thank God, who led us through the last year (2021) and made it possible for us to experience a new year. May His name be glorified and honored through our reflections and every bit of our good work, Amen.
Interestingly, Jesus Christ uses day-to-day events in his teachings. He employs everyday occurrences to teach and explain heavenly realities, our relationships, and our interactions with Him. The different parables, namely, the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1ff), the parable of the lost sheep and lost coin (Lk. 15:1ff), the parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15:11ff) to mention but a few, are all teachings that Jesus used the day-to-day events and experiences to communicate to his listeners. We can relate to those stories. Either we have experienced them directly, or someone has shared similar experiences with us. Indeed, we can find ourselves in the stories and teachings of Jesus Christ. Today’s Gospel passage is no different. Jesus Christ stated a basic fact that we know without equivocation: “those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”
Health Versus Sickness
Being in a state of good health is being free from illness, injury, or ailments of any sort. Such a person does not need a physician, even though he or she might go for a regular medical check-up. On the contrary, one who is sick, who is ill, or suffering from any ailments requires and needs the attention of a physician. But what actually was Jesus Christ intending to teach the Pharisees? What did He intend to teach us? In the context of the gospel passage, were the Pharisees truly healthy and did not need Christ (the Physician) or to go to Him?
Jesus’ statement was an affront to the Pharisees. They had continually presented themselves as upright and righteous. Jesus had called out their hypocrisy on several occasions, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (Matt. 15:8); they are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth” (Matt. 23: 27). Jesus’ statement that the healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do, was another way of calling out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees at the time. Though they erroneously present themselves as being healthy and needing no help, they should not prevent those who acknowledged their sickness from presenting themselves to the Physician and receiving proper healing therapy.
The Sickness of the Body Versus the Sickness of the Soul
Sin is the sickness of the soul. As physical ailments and sickness disrupt the proper functioning of the body, so does sin affect the soul and the spiritual life. Sin injures the soul and disrupts our spiritual journey, and it eventually leads to spiritual death and apathy to the things of God. Thus, just like our bodies can die of sickness if left unattended, so can our souls die if left to wallow in sin and unrepentance. The wages of sin is death, St. Paul says (Rm 6:23).
St. Paul did not stop at telling us the wages of sin. He continued by telling us to abide ourselves in Jesus Christ to have eternal life. It is the gift of God to us. Thus, he says, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rm. 6:23). The tax collectors and sinners realized this and were flocking to Jesus Christ. Little wonder Jesus Christ did not turn them away. He embraced them because He came for those who acknowledged that they are sinners and not those who pretend they are righteous. “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners, Jesus says.”
In which camp do I belong, one might ask? Am I like those Pharisees who think they are healthy and have no need of a Physician (Jesus)? Or am I like the tax collectors and sinners who were willing to acknowledge their faults and failings? We can answer these questions honestly if we do proper introspection and in-depth reflection.
However, we should recall the words of St. Paul, “we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rm. 3: 23). Therefore, we need Jesus, our healer and Physician. We must present ourselves to Him for proper healing therapy and mercy.
Always remember that Jesus loves you!
