The Great Physician Is Here

THE GREAT PHYSICIAN IS HERE Luke 4:22-44

Proposition: “Jesus as the Great Physician is always available for assistance for salvation and in our spiritual life and to nurture us in our physical life as well.”

Objective: My purpose is to challenge all, especially God’s people. to receive all the assistance that Jesus can offer.

INTRODUCTION: (Thanks to David Dykes for help on this)

William Hunter, a Methodist minister, wrote these words: The Great Physician now is near, The sympathizing Jesus; He speaks the drooping heart to cheer, Oh! Hear the voice of Jesus. Sweetest name in seraph song, Sweetest name on mortal tongue; Sweetest carol ever sung, Jesus, blessed Jesus. Your many sins are all forgiv’n, Oh! hear the voice of Jesus. Go on your way in peace to heav’n, And wear a crown with Jesus.

Health care has changed in the last 50 years very much. Seldom did one go to a hospital and doctors in rural areas made house calls. They were mostly general practice and they would make the rounds in the area. They would put a sign on the door that said, “The doctor is out.” A person needing to see the doctor would wait or go away disappointed. The other side of the sign, “The doctor is in.” Today, we can give thanks that our Great Physician, is in. He is available to help you right now—no waiting, since He is here available to assist any and all who need Him. You don’t have to go away disappointed today.

The people at Nazareth were astonished that Joseph’s and Mary’s son could speak as He did. They wondered at His preaching, but they did not take it to heart. They had heard of His reputation at Nazareth, but they did not believe (Mark 6:5), so Jesus did not work any miracles there. They wanted proof. Jesus illustrates His point with reference to two great prophets, Elijah who was cared for by a widow woman of Sidon (1 Kings 17:8ff) and Elisha who healed the leper Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:1-14). What angered the people was the compli-ment that Jesus paid to these Gentiles. The Jews were so infuriated at this as they believed that they were God’s people that they despised all others. The Jews believed that “God had created the Gentiles to be fuel for the fires of hell.” And here was this young Jesus preaching as if they were specially favored of God. Their response was: “Grace to the Gentiles? Get out of Dodge!” So anger swept through the whole congregation (“God for the Jews”) and they ran out of town and even tried to kill Him. Though the cliff hasn’t been identified, Nazareth is built on the edge of a mountain. To the west the ground drops very rapidly to the fertile Jezreel Valley below. Without hearing or trial, and in violation of both Jewish and Roman law, His townspeople intended to kill Him by throwing Him over a precipice, perhaps as a prelude to stoning. When the Jews at Nazareth threw Him out of their synagogue and tried to murder him for preaching the Gospel, our Lord came down to Capernaum, another Galilean city. Let’s follow Him at Capernaum, His adopted town now. Jesus refers to Himself as Physician. Now we see that the Great Physician is now ready to serve.

I. HIS AUTHORITY: THE SUPREME LORD (vvs. 31-32) “His Word was with authority”—In the synagogue—Jesus is Lord over all.

1. The intention (vvs. 31a) “He went down to Capernaum” (cf. 2:23)—-He goes “down” because the lakeside city was on a lower sea level.

2. The instruction (v. 31b) “was teaching them on the Sabbaths”--The scribes were considered the religious teachers of their day. They copied the Scriptures as well as the huge body of oral tradition that had developed (613 laws).

3. The insistence (v. 32) “They were astonished…His Word was with authority”—They never applied an original thought to a passage of Scripture for their teaching consisted of saying, “Rabbi Shammai (or Hillel) says.” The scribes didn’t teach with authority, they only quoted others. They spoke about God. It is possible to have authority without having power.

Illus: Once there was a federal geologist who had been authorized by the US government to go around and conduct some seismographic tests at certain locations. He approached a farmer and said, “I need to go out into your pasture and take some reading.” The farmer looked at the man and said, “You can’t go out in my field.” The worker got a little irate and pulled out an official govern-ment document signed by the Secretary of the Interior. He showed it to the farmer and said, “This piece of paper says I can go wherever I need to in order to conduct these tests.” The farmer said, “I don’t care what the paper says, you can’t go out in my field.” By now the federal employee was getting tired to this, so he just ignored the farmer and climbed over the fence. He walked out into the middle of the pasture and set up his equipment while the farmer was leaning on the fence. In a few minutes the ground began to shake and the geologist thought there was a minor earthquake—that is until he looked up and saw a huge angry bull charging across the pasture at him. The bull had his head lowered and was zeroed in on the poor geologist. The terrified guy forgot his equipment and started running toward the fence screaming to the farmer for help. The farmer hollered out to him, “Show him your papers!” You see, the geologist had the authority to go out in that field, but he didn’t have the power. Jesus had authority and He also had the power.