Jesus and Medicine
Jesus Speaks Regarding the Use of Medicine
The Good Samaritan
But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'
Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands? And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."
Consider the following briefest of summaries of this world-renowned story:
What purpose did the oil and wine serve? The only comprehensible reason to pour precious wine and oil into to a gaping wound is for the purpose of attempting to restore health to the physical wound; they were medicines. Oil was used as a medicine, a softening agent that kept the wound from becoming hard (Isaiah 1:6). Presumably this oil kept the wound from cracking open as it began to heal; such cracks would have allowed infection to invade. Wine, of course, has been used throughout time as a topical antibiotic/antiseptic. In other words, it kills bacteria (germs) quite well due to its alcoholic content. Alcohol is an outstanding germ killer. By killing the bacteria, the growing infections are arrested and can prevent many types of terrible diseases that such a spreading infection can create.
Why bind the wounds with a bandage? The bandage keeps the wound clean once it has been made antiseptic by the alcohol. It also permits the body to more easily allow the blood to clot, for if it were not bound, the free flow of the body’s lifeblood out the open wound could result in the person’s death.
That the Samaritan used medical knowledge to render assistance to the Jew is unquestionable. That Jesus was teaching everyone in Israel and all subsequent generations that the Samaritan used alcohol and oil as medicines is also beyond doubt. But here is the faith-building aspect to the story, Jesus sanctions and commends the Samaritan’s actions as being "compassionate". Then Jesus tells us to "go and do the same."
Do the same? In what way, what are the "same" actions we are told by Christ to do? First, to show compassion on our neighbors. But surely that would include providing medical assistance, and medicines, in order to demonstrate that same compassion. This would be as close to "doing the same" as would be humanly possible.
Second, we are to do the same as the Samaritan with regard to being compassionate on those who are different from us. Our neighbors are those who are the saved of God’s family and the unsaved who have yet to accept His salvation.
Now Jesus does not tell us whether the Jew in His story lived or died. It was just a story that served as an example for us to follow of godly behavior. Nonetheless the point is that God is still sovereign and will determine the ultimate outcome and will determine who lives and who dies regardless of our actions. But the man full of faith will do as Jesus commanded and show compassion by rendering medical attention (using medicines) and, according to the story Jesus told, will even pay others to continue that care. The man full of faith will go and do the same.
Jesus Gives a Small Place of Honor to Physicians
Jesus in this short speech does not deride the multitudes for seeking help from physicians. Indeed, He states a truth, "those who are sick" are the ones "who need a physician". God desires compassion for the sick and the sinner, such as the Samaritan showed to the Jew. God has not withheld the physician from those who are ill just as He has not withheld Himself from the sinner who needs a saviour.
The Woman with the Issue of Blood
In Luke 8:43 we read that a woman with a disorder that caused her to issue blood, apparently in a very uncontrolled fashion, came to Jesus. Unlike the Good Samaritan, this is no parable, this is history. The woman was incurable by the physicians and doctors of her day. Not daring to touch the Master (for she would have been unclean by Jewish law due to the issue of blood as directed in Leviticus 15:18-31), she touched His garment and was healed immediately, ending her 12 year trial.
What was the response of the Lord? Did Jesus express anger that the woman had been to see the physicians and doctors of her day? Quite the contrary. Jesus was pleased that she recognized His sovereignty in faith. We are not told that He asked the woman to repent of having seen doctors or seeking medical aid. He did compassionately heal her, just as He instructed His disciples to do to others, though admittedly, many of His disciples were limited to human tools such as bandages and medicines, nonetheless, these are tools that He Himself sanctioned.
What Jesus Did Not Say
Please take note of what Jesus never said. It is nowhere recorded that Jesus said, "do not seek medical assistance for yourself, nor provide medical assistance to the helpless". Why is this important to note? Because where there is no biblical command against something, such as medicine, there is also no penalty or accountability to God for doing that thing. Consider this principle of "no law means no sin" with regard to the following verses about the Old Testament Law:
"for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law." (Romans 5:13)
Where there is no law, there is no violation, and therefore, no sin is imputed. If it is not pushing the principle too far, we can understand this to mean that where there is no explicit commandment condemning an action (in this case the action is seeking medical attention) then there is no violation of the law.
Had Jesus, or any of the apostles or prophets, created a law by commanding us to not seek medical treatments, then we would have such a command written into the Scriptures and it would be a law indeed. However, since the canon is complete and because there is no command to avoid medicine and medical treatments, we are free to seek such therapy without danger to our faith and without danger of being trapped in sin.
One might well theorize, "but is it not demonstrating more faith to forgo medicine and allow the Lord alone to heal you?" It is always commendable that one would like to be more faithful than he was the day before. However, it must be noted that since the use of medicine is not sinful, and is not forbidden by Scripture, and since there is no penalty for using medicine, then we must conclude that we may freely use medicine as an act of faithfulness IF we are grateful to God for it.
God created the human mind. God created the body to heal itself most of the time, and, at other times to need compassionate help from others. God created knowledge and the knowledge of medicine. Far from being an act of faithlessness, receiving from God human medicines and medical knowledge, if it is sanctified by means of our grateful prayers and is aligned with God’s Word, is good and is therefore an act of true faith.
At the same time we must also recall the words of our Savior, "go and do the same", show compassion to others, provide medical assistance to the injured, sick, and helpless, use medicine as needed. To disobey that command does place us in peril and makes the strength of our faith suspect.
At the same time we must also recall the words of our Savior, "go and do the same", show compassion to others, provide medical assistance to the injured, sick, and helpless, use medicine as needed. To disobey that command does place us in peril and makes the strength of our faith suspect.
Timothy Uses Medicine for His "Frequent Ailments"
Paul was Timothy’s spiritual father and mentor in the Lord. Paul, who had the Spirit-given ability to heal other men’s maladies freely and to validate the gospel with miracles, signs, and wonders says something utterly astonishing to Timothy.
Here, again, it is unambiguous that Paul means for Timothy to use wine as an internal medicine. Ponder the use of the words "for your frequent ailments". Some have argued that Paul was giving Timothy an alternative to the polluted and bacteria-ridden water supply of the day, thus proposing that the wine was not being used as a medication. And yet, Paul does not say to stop drinking the water, he says to use wine and water "for your frequent ailments" as well as "for your stomach". In other words, Timothy had both frequent ailments and he had stomach problems.
Why would wine help your stomach or aid in fighting the unidentified "frequent ailments"? Wine contains alcohol (else how could it make one drunk?). When ingested it does have medicinal properties. When mixed with water, it kills water-born bacteria similar in manner to antibiotic solutions used to purify the sterile injectable liquids (diluents) by which some pharmaceuticals are delivered. Red wine (in quite modest quantities) also is well documented in clinical studies as having beneficial effects on the heart and arteries, similar to the medicinal blood thinning effects of aspirin.
Still, the more revealing question is: Instead of telling Timothy to use wine as a medicine, why did Paul not simply heal Timothy? Why did Timothy not seek the Lord for healing? Why did Timothy not ask Paul to heal him? We cannot answer such questions for the answers are not given to us in the Word, and attempting to answer the unanswerable leads to foolish speculations.
For purposes known only to the Lord, God chose not to miraculously heal Timothy of his stomach problems or his frequent ailments. In light of the fact that Timothy was left in a condition of ailments, what Paul did do for Timothy was an act of righteousness. Paul offered Timothy compassionate aid. Paul told Timothy to use wine as a medication for his frequent ailments that were not going to be healed supernaturally.
Did Timothy get relief as a result of this wine-as-medicine therapy? We do not know. All we know is that Paul found it good and proper to include a statement to Timothy to seek relief from his frequent ailments through the use of a little wine which functioned as medicine. This same instruction the Holy Spirit saw fit to preserve for us as Scripture. Was Paul a man of faith? Was Timothy a man of faith?
Pray to God for healing, yes, but do not miss out on the fact that God also permits the compassionate use of medicine for our "frequent ailments".
Luke is given the title "the Beloved Physician" in Colossians 4:14. This was no reference to his work in the past. Titles in the New Testament were given as a matter of recognition to current activities, professions, and gifts. Consider Philip the Evangelist, Paul the Apostle, Agabus the Prophet. That Luke continued to practice medicine, in obedience to the command that Christ gave to his disciples to "go and do the same" (imitating the righteous deeds done by the Good Samaritan) is all but certain. It is also all but certain that Luke was a man of faith.
Many of God’s faithful servants have rightly pointed out that Jesus is called the Great Physician. They feel that if one were to resort to human medicine or human medical knowledge that such an act will deny Jesus of His title before men. I humbly offer that this is a misunderstanding of the concept. Jesus did heal men’s bodies while He lived on the Earth. In heaven, He continues to heal men’s souls.
That Jesus is the Great Physician is undeniable. However, resorting to the compassionate use of medicine on Earth does not deny Christ His sovereign title, nor does it demonstrate a lack of faith in Christ. Whether supernaturally, such as the manner in which the woman with the issue of blood was healed, or by the touch of human hands, as Jesus illustrated with the example of the Good Samaritan, God still controls the outcome. A bird does not fall from the sky without His decree (Matthew 10:29). We cannot add one day to our lives by our actions or our worry. By using the gifts, the minds, the talents, the kindness, the compassion that He bestows, we never rob God of His sovereignty or His glory. Every act of man, be it an act of compassionate healing, or an act of overt murder, is only granted its earthly outcome by consent of God. No man dies except that God permits it. No man is healed and lives except that God wills it (James 4:15).
Consider that Jesus is also called the Wonderful Counselor. Does this mean we would deny Him His due if we sought counsel from other believers? The fact is that we would be denying our Lord if we did not seek counsel from others, for He has commanded us to do so (Proverbs 15:22). In fact the word "admonish" in Romans 15:14 is "noutheteo", the Greek word from which Jay Adams derived the title of his Bible-only counseling ministry, Nouthetic Counseling. The Wonderful Counselor Himself has commissioned us to act as counselors to one another on Earth.
Jesus is also called the Great Shepherd. And yet, we still have pastors who shepherd us on Earth (Ephesians 4:11-14). This does not steal any glory from God. Again, this is the way that God has taught us, indeed commanded us, to behave. He is the perfect example, we are the imperfect imitators. And imitate Christ we must, for this is what we are commanded to do (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Jesus is the Great Physician. He has called us all to be good Samaritans and care for the physical wounds (and the spiritual wounds) of our neighbors with the compassionate use of medicine and medical knowledge. We will not heal others perfectly, God alone does that. We will not counsel others perfectly. God alone does that. We will not shepherd other perfectly, God alone does that. But we are compelled by His Word to try. To not try is to deny Him, to be unfaithful, and to be uncompassionate.
Old Testament Examples of the Use of Human MedicineOil as Topical Medicine
In Isaiah 1:6, the rebellious of the Lord are said to be sick, bruised, and wounded, lacking bandages to bind the wounds and lacking oil to soften the wounds and the welts. By this reference we know that oil was commonly used during the Old Testament era as a medicine for keeping wounds soft. Keeping wounds soft prevents them from cracking open and once again becoming susceptible to bacteriological infection.
In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. (Daniel 10:2,3)
Hezekiah was about to die of an infection, even the prophet Isaiah foretold his death. But Hezekiah petitioned God with prayer and tears, and God granted him another 15 years of life. The mechanism of Hezekiah’s healing was a simple medicine applied to the infected area, which was done by the very command of God through the prophet Isaiah.
The infection of skin leprosy was greatly feared in ancient Israel. While today leprosy has been virtually eliminated from the planet due to the use of antibiotics, it was a terrible disease for thousands of years. No effective medications or restorative treatments were available. However, an elaborate diagnostic procedure and the subsequent quarantine protocol were presented to the Israelites in great detail in Leviticus 13. While the diagnostic and outbreak containment protocols were not treatments, they are certainly a display of medical knowledge that were endorsed and instituted by God, in other words, a practice of medicine.
Physicians in the BibleJob Knew About Doctors
As early as Job 13:4, physicians as a professional group are mentioned in the Bible. Job is generally held to be an historical record of a faithful man who lived just prior to Abraham. While Job’s friends did not make "worthy" physicians (a term of sarcastic criticism leveled at his friends by Job given his friends’ faulty counsel and their poor understanding of God and His ways), it is notable that Job knew that such men as "physicians" existed. Job did not denigrate the profession of physician, he accused his unknowledgeable friends of being poor ones.
Jeremiah Knew About Medicine and Doctors
Similarly, Jeremiah 8:22 speaks of skin medicines (balms) and healers (physicians). Here, God is saying that you can use all the medicines and healers that you like, but the infirmity of the spirit being described is not physical, so no human ointment or doctor is going to help the patient. The fact is that Israel had turned to idolatry and her heart was wicked and sinful and spiritually diseased. Once again it should be noted that God did not forbid the use of balms (medicines) nor decry the presence of physicians, but rather He was stating that you cannot heal the spirit with medicines for the body. Sin can only be "healed" through repentance. Central to our discussion is the fact that God felt comfortable comparing a sin condition to a disease and human physicians to God as the Healer. If Israel had no physicians or medications then the comparison would have had no meaning to the ancient Jews.
Expatriated Jews Made Use of Egyptian Physicians
Joseph had the Egyptian physicians embalm the body of his father (Genesis 50:2). Why would physicians be embalming dead bodies instead of healing the injured and sick? Most likely the Egyptian physicians did both healing and body preservation, even for the Jewish expatriates. Healing and body preservation are each facets of the profession which lent increased skill and knowledge to each other. One who studies dead bodies can learn from that experience and apply the knowledge to healing so as to prevent death.
Strong Drink / Wine as an Anti-depressant
In a very controversial (and hotly debated) passage of Scripture, alcohol is described as being inappropriate for kings and rulers, but is recommended to ease the pain and anguish of the dying. Assuming this passage can be taken to mean exactly what it appears to say, then the administration of alcohol as a form of anti-depressant is sanctioned by the Bible.
[Note: this passage should not be taken as a contradiction to or an exception regarding the numerous and clear passages that identify drunkenness and alcohol addiction as sins.]
[Note: this passage should not be taken as a contradiction to or an exception regarding the numerous and clear passages that identify drunkenness and alcohol addiction as sins.]
5. For they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
6. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter.
7. Let him drink and forget his poverty And remember his trouble no more.
As in the New Testament, the Old Testament also demonstrates that the Jews and even the Egyptians used medicine (balms, oils, and wine) administered by physicians. These earthly medicines cannot heal the spirit of sin, but they are able to be used compassionately to treat the broken and diseased body. Treatment received gratefully does not guarantee health, for the sovereign God controls the outcome of all treatments, but it does permit us to obediently exercise compassion to our neighbor, our fellow Christian, and to our family members. God nowhere forbids the use of medicine, but He does demand our compassionate care for the ill.
Permit me again, dear believer, to entreat you to consider that God has told us to do the same as the Samaritan--be compassionate, render medical assistance to the ill, use medicine to show our brotherly love, and bind the wounds of the injured to show God’s love to the world. When we permit our own children to die from simple infections for which God has provided the remedy to both pagan and believer alike, is this faith? Would God be pleased in our stewardship of His family and His blessings? Are we acting as His humble servants or displaying our own sinful arrogance when we demand that God heal a person supernaturally instead of in the manner that Paul counseled Timothy, use a little medicine for your frequent ailments?
God is sovereign. He can, and sometimes does, heal supernaturally. However, it is a sinful generation that demands supernatural signs from God before they will obey (Matthew 12:39). As we pray for restored health, we are obligated to first obey the Great Physician, the Wonderful Counselor, the Good Shepherd, and heed His voice when He says, "Do as the Samaritan, show compassion, put medicine into the injury, bind the wounds, and tell others to go do the same."
Please, "go do the same."
Addendum -- God’s Sovereignty in AfflictionIn the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider-- God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? (Lamentations 3:38)
The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? (Exodus 4:11)
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"
Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
"We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13)
I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.
Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:16-18)Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. (Psalm 119:67)
It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes. (Psalm 119:71)
