Please turn with me in your Bibles now to Mark 2. Mark 2. And we will read the verses 1-17 of Mark 2. The Word of the Lord. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days. And it was noise that he, that is Jesus, was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, he took up his bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. And he went forth again by the seaside, and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Elphias, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass that as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples. For there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." So far, the reading of the Word. Congregation, our text for the sermon this morning comes from Mark 2, verse 17. Mark 2, verse 17, where it says, When Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Dear congregation, let's say that you and a friend are out for a walk, perhaps to a park or downtown somewhere. You're in a somewhat public place. And as you're out for a walk, your friend suddenly collapses. Well, what would be one of the first things that you would do? Well, you would cry out, wouldn't you? A doctor. I need a doctor. Well, and maybe somewhere you would hear a man cry out, well, I'm a medical doctor. And then the small crowd that would have gathered would part way, wouldn't it? And let this man come to you and he would look at your friend. But now what if once he came to you and saw your friend lying on the ground, what if he turned to you and said, oh, I'm sorry, I'm not that kind of doctor. I don't treat sick people. Well, you would wonder, wouldn't you? What kind of doctor doesn't treat sick people? Well, this is the same kind of question that the disciples might have had this evening in our text for the Pharisees. What kind of spiritual doctor doesn't treat people who are spiritually sick? What kind of spiritual doctor doesn't treat the spiritually sick? The Pharisees, they were the religious leaders of the day. They were supposed to be the spiritual doctors. They were to lead people to God, to the promised Messiah. But here, they disagreed with Jesus. After all, just look at Him. That man eats and drinks with sinners. And people call Him a rabbi? He's not a doctor. And so the Pharisees, they go up and they question the disciples. They tease them, really. But notice then how Jesus replies. In verse 16, And when the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now this dispute was taking place in Capernaum. And Capernaum was a town where we are told at the end of chapter 1 that the people had brought unto Jesus all them that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door, and He healed many that were sick of diverse diseases, and He cast out many devils. So Capernaum was a town that Jesus had come to and virtually banished all disease from. And so, His use of the words whole and sick here in our text, it would not have been lost on the Pharisees. Jesus is telling them, I am a physician. I am a doctor. Just look at all these people I've healed. But I am not only a physician of the body, but of the soul also. Jesus presents Himself here in contrast to the Pharisees who should have been. Jesus presents Himself as a doctor who is making His rounds among the sick. And so, let us look at this passage under this theme. The doctor makes His rounds. The doctor makes His rounds. And we can see here three aspects of Jesus as a doctor. We'll see who His patients are. those who He eats and drinks with. We also see how He conducts His practice. And thirdly, we will see the prescription that He hands out. So the doctor makes his rounds, his patients, his practice, and his prescription. First, the doctor's patients. Jesus says that there are some who are sick and some who are whole. But He's not referring primarily here to the body, is He? For then he continues, and he says, I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners. So it's clear that he's talking about spiritual health. Some are spiritually sick. Some are spiritually whole. And so one important question that we need to ask ourselves as we begin to look at this text tonight is what am I? What am I? What group do I fit in here? Am I part of the sick? Or am I part of the whole? Would Jesus describe me as righteous here in this text? Or would He describe me as a sinner? What am I? Well, perhaps the best way to help us answer this question is to further look at these two different groups of people, the whole and the sick. Let's begin with the whole. Who are the whole? Can anyone be whole? Well, what Jesus is really saying is this, that we are all sick and there is no one who is whole. Dr. Murray describes it in this way, that the difference between the two groups is this, some recognize they are sick. And many are deceived into thinking that they are whole. Some recognize they are sick. Many are deceived into thinking they are whole. Everyone is sick. So the whole person here is a person who feels no need for a doctor. And perhaps you know somebody like this. They could have just had a terrible injury or a bad accident, and yet they're fine. They're fine. Just help me back up on my feet and I'll be fine. I don't need a doctor. And yet it's clear to everyone around them that if they need one thing, they need a doctor. Well, this is how Jesus describes the spiritual condition of some. These are the whole, the righteous in our text. They feel no need for a doctor. They believe that they can go through life on their own two feet no matter what happens. And they're not going to admit to anyone that they need help. Sin to them is just a scratch. It's just a scratch. It's nothing I can't handle. It's nothing that a little bit of church won't fix. It's nothing that a band-aid won't fix. Well, if anyone in Israel was whole, it was the Pharisees. They were righteous. They didn't need a doctor. They were the doctors. But they weren't living like they really were. They didn't recognize that they were sick and that they desperately needed a cure. So I wonder, have we already described someone here tonight? Is there anyone here who's trying to make it through life on their own two feet like you could if you were whole? And then, are you perhaps living like your sin requires nothing more than a Band-Aid? Or there's nothing like a little bit of church to get you on your feet and on your way again? Well, my friend, Jesus says that He has come not to call the righteous, but sinners. So if you believe that you are whole, then what you are actually saying to Jesus is that you have no need for Him. What does a healthy person need a doctor for? But the reality is that we are all sick, which is that many are deceived into thinking that they are whole. So then what makes a sick person sick? Well, the Bible uses many ways to describe our spiritual sickness. First, for example, Jesus speaks of sinners as having diseased hearts. Diseased hearts. In Mark chapter 7 he says, For from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." This is not just one blood clot. This is thirteen blood clots. Who to thank? that so many sins can be crammed into something as small as your heart. But this is your heart. This is my heart by nature. You think that this list is exaggerated. Well, Jesus continues and He says that all these evil things come from within. You know, we're always so quick to look out there for our trouble. We're out there for our problems. And yet, this is your heart and my heart. We have diseased hearts. It's all within. It's reported that heart disease claims more lives each year than all forms of cancer combined. Heart disease is the world's number one killer. And the Bible says that we have serious heart disease. There's no band-aid that can cover up what we have. This disease is inside of us. We don't need to look around for our troubles. It's all here inside our hearts. But secondly, the Bible also speaks of our spiritual sickness in terms of blinded eyes. We have blinded eyes. It says in Isaiah 59 that we wait for light, but behold obscurity. for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble in noonday as in the night." Well, you know, when a person is physically blind, their eyes allow no light to enter into their minds. And so when the Bible describes us as spiritually blind, it means that by nature, Our eyes of faith allow no gospel light to enter into our souls. We're blind to God. And we're blind to our own sickness. And that's the gospel, isn't it? The gospel tells us all about God. And it tells us all about ourselves. But we're blind to it. We can't see it. We think we're whole. The Apostle John wrote that Jesus came in the world as the light of men, but the darkness comprehended it not. We have blinded eyes. We're unable by nature to see the light of the Gospel, even the light of the Gospel. We are unable to believe. You know, it's not by chance that Jesus would later call the Pharisees blind leaders of the blind. But Jesus here is different. Jesus is a doctor. Notice the number of times in the Gospels that we read of Him giving sight to blind men. They cried out to Him, Lord, have mercy on us. But doesn't this show us how we should cry out to God in our blindness? Have you shouted out like blind Bartimaeus did when he heard Jesus of Nazareth pass by? Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Or perhaps have you folded your hands and closed your eyes and asked a little quieter, Lord, that I might receive my sight? We have blinded eyes. But there is also another way in which the Bible describes our spiritual sickness. We also, by nature, have paralyzed muscles. Paralyzed muscles. You know, at the beginning of this chapter that we read, we read about four friends. Do you know this story? This is an amazing story. These four men, they had another friend who was sick of the palsy, the Bible says. In other words, he was a paralytic. He was flat on his back in bed and unable to get up. But these four friends of his, they're determined that they're going to bring him to Jesus. So what do they do? Well, they pick him up, bed and all, and out the door they go. Down the street, they're going to Jesus. Imagine what a sight he must have been on the street. And of course, the house where Jesus is in is packed, and there's no one who's going to let five men and a whole bed in through the house. But these men don't give up, do they? No. They go up the stairs on the outside of the roof, and they start tearing off the roof, and they lower this man to the very feet of Jesus. But then notice, what is the first thing that Jesus says to this paralyzed man? What is the first thing He says? Verse 5, "'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.'" Thy sins be forgiven thee. What a strange thing for Jesus to say. Here's this paralyzed man on his bed. And Jesus said, thy sins be forgiven thee. Well, what was Jesus doing here? Well, Jesus was making an important connection between paralysis and our sinful state. How this man was physically is how we all are spiritually by nature. We are unable to move. We have paralyzed muscles. Now, I realize that this might be hard and difficult for some of us to try and picture, especially for our younger people who can have so much energy. But while we may have the power to keep our bodies moving all day long, our souls are paralyzed. We're flat on our back. You know that we're unable to even lift one finger of faith on our own. We're unable to go to Christ on our own, even if we wanted to. Paul says in Romans 7, For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. We have paralyzed muscles. Then fourthly, our sickness is described as having putrefying sores. Again in Isaiah, from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointments. What a description. What a description. This is how we lie in our sins. We have a leprosy of the soul. Our sins, they keep eating away at us. They keep battering us and bruising us. They're leaving us with open and oozing sores. We are covered from head to foot. We have, as David says in Psalm 38, sores that stink. He says, I am troubled. I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long, for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there is no soundness in my flesh." What a state we are in spiritually. We have diseased hearts, blinded eyes, paralyzed muscles, putrefying sores, I wonder how much we'd pity a person if he lay before us on a bed with all these diseases. And yet the Bible describes us as having every one of them. Is it no wonder that archaism begins by speaking of the greatness of our sins and our misery? Well, these are the sick, as the Bible describes them. These are the very people The publicans and the sinners whom Jesus came to call, these are His patients. Well, I wonder if there is anyone here tonight who still thinks that they are whole. Is there anyone here tonight who thinks that they are righteous? Let us in the second place then consider the doctor's practice. His practice. Imagine how happy a person who is confined to their bed, blinds and covered in sores would be to hear that a doctor was coming who could heal him. Well, my friends, Jesus says here in our text that He is such a doctor. You know, we try in so many different ways, don't we, to heal our spiritual sickness. We turn to so many different ways Christ alone is the only doctor who can successfully treat the sickness of our souls. Christ alone is able to help us. I come, He says, not to call the righteous, but sinners. Well, we should notice two things about how He conducts His doctor's practice. First, He comes qualified. The Bible presents Jesus as preeminently qualified. to be our physician. And Jesus comes qualified precisely because He alone has a cure for our disease. Now why do you think that Christ alone has a cure for our disease? It's because the cure is nothing less than the blood of the Son of God. Christ's very own blood is the only cure for our disease. This is why the sick have need of Him. You know, contrary to much contemporary preaching in America, we don't need Jesus because He can make us more successful. And we don't need Jesus because He can make us rich. We don't even need Jesus because He can make us feel better. We need Jesus precisely because we are spiritually sick and He alone, His blood alone can cleanse us from our sins. In 1893, there was held in Chicago the first annual event known as the World's Parliament of Religions. And this parliament was represented by almost every known religion in the world. During one of the sessions, the Reverend Dr. Joseph Cook, who was there representing Christianity, he suddenly rose up and he said, gentlemen, I beg to introduce you to a woman with great sorrow. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in any of your religions that will remove her sin and give her peace?" Well, a hush fell upon the gathering. Not a soul stirred. No one replied. And then raising his eyes heavenward, Dr. Cook then cried out, Can you tell us and tell this woman how she can get rid of her awful sin?" Then the preacher waited as if he was listening for a reply. And then he cried again, Listen! John speaks. And he proceeded to quote from 1 John 1. And it goes like this. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Well, not a soul broke the silence. The representatives of all the other religions sat dumb. You know, in the face of our sin, in the face of our spiritual sickness, the blood of Christ alone can meet our need. Jesus alone is qualified to be our Physician. This is why all the Old Testament sacrifices point to Jesus. This is why God the Father sent Him. This is why God the Father anointed Him with the Spirit. And this is why God the Father publicly declared of Him, This is My Son in whom I am well pleased. Jesus comes as a qualified Physician. But second, we see that He also comes to us. He comes to us. You know, most doctors have their medical practice in a building somewhere, don't they? And when we have an appointment, we need to get into our cars and we need to drive over to them, to wherever they are. But Jesus tells us that He is willing to come to us. Just look where He was when the Pharisees found Him here in our text. He was eating with sinners and publicans in the very house of a publican. You know, all their sins combined could not keep Jesus from eating and drinking with them that day. I wonder if you've ever thought about this as you sat to eat and drink at the Lord's Supper table. That not only has Christ died and paid for your sin, He's also done it for his sin over there. In his sin. In her sin. In her sin. Everyone's sin combined who believes in Him. Christ has bought and paid. He came as a physician to the sick. But He continues to come to the sick today, doesn't He, through His Gospel. There's no one who is too sick for this doctor. There's no need to apply to see if you qualify. Every sinner qualifies. There's no need to check to see if he's accepting new patients. He's always looking for new patients. There's no long waiting lines in order to see this doctor. He's willing to come to you and to me, right to the very footsteps of our heart, so to speak. And he says to us, I have come to seek and to save that which was lost. Well, if you've ever spent some time looking over the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels, you'll know just what kind of doctor He is. You'll know how He conducts His doctors' practice. It's almost like in the Gospels, in the miracles, He's putting His doctor's resume on display for us. He's like saying, right in our faces, go look at any other doctor. Compare. Is there any doctor compared with me? Notice in his miracles how tender he is with hurting people. How he accepted all who came. There was not one person whom he turned away. He never refused anyone. He didn't charge. He never asked for a single penny for any of his services. He never set up certain conditions that you needed to meet before you could come to Him. People came to Him and they were cured, no matter what their sickness, no matter what their trouble. His miracles, they show His approachability, don't they? They show His amiability. They show His love. Is there anyone like unto Him? J.C. Ryle writes that the Lord Jesus came into the world to be a physician. No sin-sick soul is too far gone for Him. It is His glory to heal and to restore to life the most desperate cases. For unfailing skill, for unweary tenderness, for long experience of man's spiritual ailments, The great physician of souls stands alone. There is none like unto Him. Well, do you recognize this doctor? Do you know this doctor? Do you see his cure as the very thing that you must have? Do you trust him enough to throw away any band-aid that you've been using? Do you trust Him enough to place yourself under His care? To throw yourself completely upon Him? You know, it will not help to pretend that you're still whole. There is no one who is whole, who has not been made whole by Him. Call out to Him while He's still making His rounds, seeking patience. It's the same today for you as it was for blind Bartimaeus. Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. Won't you call out to Him? Pass me not, O gentle Saviour. Hear my humble cry. While in others Thou art calling, do not pass me by." Well, we have looked at the doctor's patience and at his practice. But thirdly now, let us look at his prescription. His prescription. Jesus says again in verse 17, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. We might compare repentance here to the prescription which a medical doctor uses to treat his patients. Christ's blood is the cure, but repentance is the prescription. But this prescription of repentance is a difficult medicine to take for some people. There are a number of reasons for this. One is due to the fact that we often have a view of sin that is too low. You have a view of sin that is too low. You don't see sin as a sickness that is destroying both your body and your soul. Oh, you're willing to admit in general, I'm a sinner, but yet you're not overly concerned by it. Well, then you're not likely to take this prescribed medicine of repentance, are you? Because it hurts and it often doesn't taste good. It attacks our self-confidence and it cuts our pride down right at the root. It's a difficult medicine to take. But will you not consider the reputation of the doctor who's prescribing this repentance? Is he not trustworthy? Is he not reliable? You know, so often we run to every kind of source just to find the answer that we're looking for. Every source, it seems, but Christ. We more readily trust our family doctor. You know, if he gives us a prescription, then we take it. No questions asked. But the Word of God, from front to back, clearly and repeatedly describes our sickness of sin over and over again. And we have every symptom on the list, yet so many people don't see the need to repent. Well, what you're really saying to Christ is, I don't trust you. I don't trust you. I trust myself more than I trust you. I trust my works more than I trust you. I'll trust anything and anyone more than you. Well, to say that to God is damnable, isn't it? To go up to God and to say to Him, I don't trust you. It's worthy of damnation. To say to Him, I won't repent. But others perhaps find repentance to be difficult because it's a prescription that we need to take for the rest of our lives. We can never stop taking repentance. It's not like it's a daily pill or a simple prayer that we repeat at lunchtime. Repentance is a complete lifestyle change. If you were to go in and have heart surgery, and after your operation, your doctor will not say to you, okay, now you can go and enjoy your life exactly how you did before. No, he won't, will he? But along with various medications, he's going to prescribe to you a new diet. He'll want to change your eating habits. Out with the fatty foods and the artery-clogging calories. He'll also give you some exercises to do, perhaps two or three times a week, if not daily. Your doctor will give you a complete new lifestyle. Well, so too Jesus as a doctor prescribes a dramatic lifestyle change. Repentance means no more doing, no more watching, no more listening to. the very things that worsened your heart disease in the first place. You need to get rid of everything that clogged the arteries of your heart. Yes, we even need to get rid of those sins that we like so much. And they're there, aren't they? Well, there is no one whom the Lord has given a new heart to, to whom He has not also prescribed the medicine of repentance. Repentance is not optional. We must take it. We must leave our sinful habits and turn to Christ. But no matter how difficult it is to repent, and I'm sure that our sinful hearts can find many more ways to add to this list for why it's too hard to repent. Christ could not have made it any easier for us, could He have? He's listed our symptoms for us. He's diagnosed our sickness. He's shown to us that we need major surgery. But then Christ went and did something that no other doctor would think of doing for His patients. Christ went and He took that operation for us in our place. He let Himself be cut. so that we wouldn't have to be. He went under the knife for us. What kind of doctor does this for His patients? Christ paid the penalty of sin so that He might purchase for Himself a people. He was crucified so that He might give to His people a new heart. so that he might be given the right to open blinded eyes and to say to one who puts their faith in him, arise, pick up your bed, and walk. What kind of doctor does this for his patients? What a contrast he is here to the Pharisees, isn't he? You know, the Pharisees, they drove sinners away. But Christ in His grace, He draws us to Him. You'll never inconvenience this doctor by calling on him. Morning, afternoon, evening, middle of the night, he's looking for patients and there are none whom he cannot cure. My friend, the doctor is making his rounds. Do not turn from one in the Bible who is willing to fellowship with such sinners as the Bible describes you and me to be. Do not turn from this doctor. And I was not here this morning, but I understand that you had the Lord's Supper administered among you. So you were able to witness and experience firsthand that Jesus Christ is still willing to eat and to drink with sinners and publicans. The question is for you, were you a Pharisee this morning? Did you look from afar and judge who it is that Christ should be fellowshipping with? Or did you see yourself as whole and in no need to come and accept His invitation to dine? Or perhaps you did attend, but did you attend because you thought that just a little bit of this church would keep you going on your own two feet and on your way again? Or were you with the sinners and publicans this morning? Were you able to publicly confess to sinners around you that you too are a sinner and that you need the care of a doctor such as Jesus is? Well, I pray that God may give to everyone here the blessing and the ability to see their sin as it really is. And this is a blessing. but also to see God and to know the Doctor as He really is. Amen. To repentance.