I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents… In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent… Remember, repent, and live for Christ. (Luke 15:10; Acts 17:30; Revelation 2:5)
I love the Lord Jesus! When I fall, He lifts me up. When I fail, He forgives me. When I am weak, He is strong. When I am lost, He is the way. When I am afraid, He is my courage. Jesus takes to heart the sufferings of His friends who trust Him because He is not only the Son of God, mighty to save, but fully human and able to feel. Christ’s instruction, correction, and grace are not merely teachings—they are medicine for our wounded human condition.
Jesus Loves Needy Ones
Christ was the holiest man who has ever lived. And yet He went around talking with prostitutes and hugging lepers. He not only mingled with the most undesirable people, He actually seemed to enjoy them. The religious folks accused Jesus of being a drunkard, a glutton, and having bad taste in friends. How ironic that the Son of God visited this planet and one of the chief complaints against Him was that He was not religious enough.
Thankfully, Jesus says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me… Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. It isn’t like the peace this world can give. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 1
Let’s remember how Christ the Lord intervenes in people’s lives.
A Healed Pastor
William Hunter (1811-1877) was an Irish-American pastor. I don’t know much about him, but he experienced spiritual healing and restoration from Christ and wrote the hymn, “The Great Physician.” Hunter teaches us that we can repeatedly call on Jesus for help, and his hymn helps us do so. It begins like this:
The great Physician now is near, The sympathizing Jesus.
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer. O hear the voice of Jesus.Sweetest note in angel’s song, Sweetest name on mortal tongue.
Sweetest carol ever sung, Jesus, blessed Jesus.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714) agrees and says: “Come, and see the victories of Christ’s cross and resurrection. His wounds bring us healings. His agonies bring us peace. Jesus’ conflicts bring us conquests. His groans bring us songs. The Lord’s pains bring us comfort. His shame brings us glory. The Savior’s death brings us life, and His sufferings bring us eternal salvation.”
Psalm 16 was written around 1,000 BC and points ahead to Jesus the Messiah. It says: “He makes known to us the path of life. He will fill us with joy in His presence, with eternal pleasures at His right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)
Another Man’s Conversion
In The Testament (1999), novelist John Grisham describes one man’s surrender to Christ. Nate O’Reilly is a high-powered corporate litigator who wrestles with alcoholism and drug abuse. He went through four detox programs, crashing harder every time. Nate is a workaholic whose bad habits ruined two marriages, and he had children with each wife. His employer sends him on assignment to Brazil’s tropical wetlands, and Nate contracts dengue fever, an acute viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes. The disease is called “break-bone” fever, because severe joint and muscle pain makes it feel like your bones are cracking. It causes high fever, gnawing pain, shaking chills, vomiting, and extreme exhaustion.
In the novel, when Nate hits bottom, he surrenders to Jesus. Christ the Living Lord makes him a new person from the inside out. Nate goes to a church and has real dealings with God for the first time in his life. With both hands, he grabs the chair in front of him and confesses his long catalog of sins. He admits them all to the Lord, every moral weakness, flaw, and evil that plagues him. Nate holds nothing back, admitting that he failed God and others badly. Nate confesses enough burdens to crush three people, and when he finally finishes, he whispers, “Lord Jesus, I am sorry. Please, help me.”
Immediately, Nate feels the fever leave his body and feels the spiritual burdens and baggage leave his soul. It is as if, with one brush of mercy, the Savior wipes Nate’s slate clean. He breathes a massive sigh of relief, but his pulse is still racing.2
Jesus Still Heals and Transforms
Grisham’s story is modern fiction. But he describes what the Lord Jesus really did when He was here on earth 2,000 years ago. And what Christ still does now by His Holy Spirit around the world. Luke, the medical doctor, recorded a true story in which Christ revealed Himself as the Physician of Souls, who makes house calls and reaches out to repentant sinners.
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow Me,” Christ said, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed the Lord. Then Levi held a large banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were present. But the Pharisees complained, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Christ answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27-32)
Notice, Christ comes to save, cleanse, and salvage imperfect people who need what Jesus alone can provide. And His church is not a hotel or club or museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners who turn back to Him.
Actor Jim Carrey said that everybody should get rich and famous, doing everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see that outward success is not the answer.5 Levi had everything money could buy, like Jim Carrey and Nate O’Reilly. But Levi was spiritually lost and empty until Jesus rescued him. Christ says that spiritually sick people need Him for our spiritual ailments. Admitting our need to Christ is our first step toward spiritual healing. Are you ready to do that?
Jesus is the Physician of our souls. He does not wait for the sick to become well before He comes. Christ comes because we are sick, offering forgiveness, healing, and new life. We don’t follow the Physician because we are already healthy. We follow because we need His restoration.
We Must Share Jesus With Others
I love seeing how Christ transformed “Levi the Cheat” into Matthew, the Gospel writer and missionary to Ethiopia. Notice that Levi also wanted Jesus to save his friends. Since Christ loves and has compassion for Levi, Levi now loves and has compassion for others. He understands the core of Christianity. The Lord blesses us so that we may be a blessing to others. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.3 We must not hog Jesus’ blessings for ourselves, but pass them on to as many people as possible. No true Christian wants to go to Heaven alone! How about you?
Evangelist Leighton Ford says: We don’t evangelize because it is pleasant or easy or because we may be successful. But because Jesus has called us to do it. He is our Lord. We have no other choice but to trust and obey Him and leave the results in His hands.
With gratefulness to God, let us re-commit ourselves to trusting Christ and sharing His good news with others in word and deed.
Notes (various Bible translations): 1 Adapted from Out of the Saltshaker and into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life, revised edition (2021), from Chapter 2, “Jesus—the Most Human of Us All.” 2 Rev 3:20; John 14:27. 3 Adapted and expanded from John Grisham. 4 Prov 11:25. 5 From an interview in 2003.