Did you know you need a Doctor? Matthew 8-10

Matthew 9:12-13 (NASBStr)

But when Jesus heard this, He said, “ It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means:‘ I desire compassion, and not sacrifice, ’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Seldom are we criticized for going to the hospital.  In fact, we often tell others about the visit, if we went.   They will often ask about our experience, health and results.   We don't do the same thing, however, when we come to Christ via the church.  We don't often tell others we went to church.  We never tell them the reason we went to church is because we are spiritually sick, much less full of sin.   Even though we need the radiation of God's love and mercy we don't report that out to others.   Hence the above words by our Savior.   The Pharisees were objecting to the fact that Jesus was eating and fellowshiping with publicans, sinners and tax collectors.   They thought a man of Jesus stature should only be with people like them and not with the "sinners" of the world.   Yet, as Jesus stated, if He indeed was the person He was claiming He was was, these are the people He should be with.   Only those who know they are sick need a physician.  Only those who know they are lost and dead in sin need a Savior.   We can't come to Christ without first acknowledging our own depravity.   We are an inability to heal ourselves.  If someone sat at home and, despite a severe sickness, never went to the doctor or hospital, we would call that person a fool.   So, too, the one who knows they are a sinner and never comes to Christ through the avenue of the church, is foolish.  The Pharisees rejected Christ, not because He didn't demonstrate He was the Son of God, but because they couldn't come to the point to admit they needed the Doctor.