November 9

"But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Matthew 9:12.

To perceive the force of these words, we must remember the design of them. They are in justification of our Lord's conduct. Matthew, having been called by his grace to follow him, made an entertainment, to which he invited his former friends and companions, hoping that they might derive advantage from the intercourse. But when the Pharisees saw it, they were offended, and said to his disciples, "Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" Though the murmur was not addressed to himself, it concerned himself, and he was acquainted with it; and though the complainers were undeserving of his notice—and he was under no obligation to vindicate what he was doing—he said, "I am about my proper business. I have not mistaken the objects of my attention. I came to seek and to save that which was lost. I could now have been enjoying the company of angels in heaven. My mixing on such an occasion with publicans and sinners is not agreeable in itself, but I entered the world as a physician. Where should a physician be, but among the disordered and dying? They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."

The vindication insinuates the real condition of mankind. They are diseased. We refer to their moral maladies. The soul has its disorders as well as the body; and the disorders of the soul are worse than those of the body. They vitiate a nobler part—they expose to a greater danger. The consequence of the one is only temporal death; the result of the other is death eternal. These maladies are the effects of the fall; and they may be seen in the errors of the judgment, the rebellion of the will, the pollution of the conscience, the sensuality of the affections, the debasement and violence of the passions. We are sometimes blamed for degrading human nature. But we do not undervalue it as the workmanship of God, or as to its physical and intellectual powers, but only as to its moral state and propensities. And here, not only the language of the Liturgy, but all Scripture and history and observation and experience proclaim that "there is no health in us."

It also gives an implied character of himself. He is every thing that fallen, perishing creatures can need; and he stands in the same relation to them as a physician to his patients. "I am the Lord that healeth thee," is a proclamation that well becomes his lips. Job disclaimed his friends as "physicians of no value." But this can never be applied to the Lord Jesus. In all things in this office he has the preeminence. Yea, he not only stands without comparison, but alone;

there is salvation in none other. But he heals every complaint. No case, however difficult, baffles his skill; no case, however desperate, resists the power of his applications. He is always at home, always accessible, always delighted to attend. He only requires our submission to his management. He cures without money and without price.

It also describes those who disregard and those who value him. They who reject him are "the whole." None are really whole, for there is none righteous, no, not one. But they are so as to apprehension and experience. And such have always been awfully numerous. Such was Paul, "while alive without the law once." Such was the Pharisee that went up into the temple to pray. Such were all the Pharisees who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Such were the Laodiceans, who said, We are rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. Such were Solomon's generation, who were pure in their own eyes, and not washed from their filthiness. Such also are they who, though they make no pretensions to self-righteousness, are satisfied with themselves; the careless, the worldly, who live without one serious thought of their souls and eternity. Yea, such, too, are they who receive the charge in theory, and acknowledge it as they do any other Bible sentiment, but there rest; not impressed with the truth so as to urge them to the Saviour, and so he will profit them nothing.

They who value him are "the sick." They are sensible of their malady. They have a clear and deep conviction of their guilt and depravity and helplessness. They are thrown into the consternation persons would feel if they discovered they had taken the plague. They feel pain; they forebode death. They exclaim, What must I do to be saved? They no longer relish their former pursuits and pleasures. They loathe sin, and can never be reconciled to it again. Their cure engages all their solicitude. And finding that there is a Saviour, and a great one, they are soon at his feet, crying, "Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee." How infinitely desirable and delightful does the Physician now appear! Who but He? They cheerfully put themselves under his care; they implicitly follow his orders. Their motto is, "If by any means;" their inquiry, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" With what eagerness do they inquire after symptoms of cure! With what pleasure do they perceive and feel signs of returning health! "I bless God I have a little appetite for the bread of life. I have a little strength for spiritual exercises. Perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever. Forsake not the work of thine own hands."