O Doctor, My Doctor

Posted bySteven StoopsPosted inFreeform WritingTags:, , , ,

The title of this video may sound familiar.

Walt Whitman wrote “O Captain! My Captain!” as he mourned the death of Abraham Lincoln. The Captain had led his people through a terrible conflict, but at the moment of victory, he was gone.

There is no perfect parallel between Lincoln and Jesus. Lincoln died, and his story ended. Jesus died on the cross, but death could not hold Him. Three days later, He rose again.

And yet, Whitman’s words brought another thought to mind: What if we could call upon our Savior not only as our King, our Shepherd, or our Lord, but as our Doctor?

Because Scripture gives us good reason to do so.

“Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed.” Jeremiah 17:14

“I have seen his ways, and will heal him.” Isaiah 57:18

God is the One who ultimately heals. We may be grateful for doctors, medicine, and the remarkable ways God has given our bodies the ability to recover. But there are wounds no physician can see and diseases no medicine can cure.

The sickness of sin reaches deeper than the body.

And so, we come to the Great Physician.

Jesus did not stand at a safe distance from our suffering. He entered it. He was wounded. He died. And then He rose again – not merely demonstrating that He could restore a body, but declaring His authority over death itself.

“You see, it was God Who said in Deuteronomy 32, 39. ‘I kill and make alive. I wound, and I heal.’”

Sometimes we pray for healing, and God restores someone to health. Sometimes He gives strength to endure. And sometimes, the healing comes when someone we love goes home to be with Jesus.

That is difficult for us to understand. But our hope rests not in understanding every answer.

Our hope rests in the Doctor.

The One who created us knows exactly what is broken. The One who gave us life can restore it. And the One who conquered death will one day make all things new.

O Doctor, my Doctor.

O Doctor, my Doctor.

There are wounds no earthly physician can heal and sicknesses no medicine can cure. But the Great Physician knows us completely – and He has power over both life and death.
 Sometimes healing comes through restored health. Sometimes it comes through strength to endure. And sometimes, the healing comes when our loved ones go home to be with Jesus.
“Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed.” — Jeremiah 17:14

Leave a comment