“When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance’” (Mark 2:17).
In a recent trip to the doctor’s office, I noticed that the waiting room was full of people. Immediately, I began to hear sad, desperate stories of why folks were there.
It’s a relatively small waiting area, so there was certainly no eavesdropping going on. I had no choice about what I was hearing. It seemed that each person’s story of pain and loss be- came worse as the morning went on.
One lady had to quit her job to be caretaker to a husband with Alzheimer’s disease, and to further complicate her problems, she had no insurance. She was suffering from arthritis and fibromyalgia. Another was there because of a “mishap” in surgery, resulting in a bad staph infection. I won’t continue any further. Needless to say, I felt like I was way overreacting to my very minor back pain.
I jokingly told the doctor I felt like jumping off a bridge from depression after what I had just heard in the waiting room.Af- ter all, I can think up enough things on my own to feel bad. Compound that with things that I haven’t already imagined, and it can get bad fairly quickly.
On my way home, deep in thought about what had transpired earlier, I suddenly remembered the words of Jesus. At this point, I felt overcome with emotions of compassion and sympathy for those with whom I had been sitting. After all, Jesus didn’t “cocoon” himself in with only those who were well; He came for real people with real problems. I can only imagine what would have happened in that waiting room if Jesus had walked in and sat down. He wouldn’t have fidgeted around in His chair. He wouldn’t have pretended not to hear so He wouldn’t have to engage in conversation. Somehow, I think when the nurse opened the door to call a patient back, the waiting room would have been empty. What an awesome thought!
Maybe He couldn’t be seen, but I’m sure He was listening and looking on with compassion. Why not make a visit to the greatest physician of all? He specializes in anything you need. He’s the one sure cure for whatever ails you.
