Is There a Doctor in the House?

4 July 2025   Matthew 9:9-13

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” Matthew 9:12

After Matthew decided to give up tax collecting and follow Jesus, he had a dinner party for Jesus and the disciples, and a lot of Matthew’s tax collector buddies turned up. It isn’t hard to figure out why Matthew might have wanted to have Jesus to dinner, nor is it hard to imagine why Jesus would have wanted the other tax collectors to be there.

But why did the other tax collectors go?

Maybe it was because tax collectors faced their own form of despair. After all, they were despised by everyone. The Romans despised them because they were Jews who were disloyal to their own people. Sure, the Romans used their services, but nobody trusts a traitor, especially not the people who have seduced them. The Jews despised the tax collectors for the same reasons. Tax collectors had no friends anywhere, and no doubt felt the scorn that came to them from all sides. So, when the famous rabbi, the famous healer and wonderworker came along and said, “Follow me” (9:9), how could all the tax collectors not at least be a little curious? Was there a friend, a community even for them? They may not have understood a single thing Jesus said about the Kingdom of God, but the fact that He was willing to sit down with them at all was enough for them to come and see.

By the start of the third century there were only about 100,000 Christians scattered across the Roman empire. They were about as visible as Sikhs are in the U.S. – 0.15% of the population. But around that time there were two major outbreaks of epidemic disease, the Antonine Plague and the Plague of Cyprian. Millions died, the economy collapsed, foreigners started infiltrating from all edges of the Roman Empire. Roman religion didn’t reward generosity, so when friends and family got sick, they were just tossed out into the street and their loved ones fled. But taking care of the sick was a minimum expectation for Christians, and in neighborhoods where there were Christians the death rate was far lower because the sick were cared for, and people had hope. Within fifty years of the Plague of Cyprian Roman temples were no longer being built, and the emperor was a Christian.

Most of those frightened, despairing Romans didn’t know a single thing about the Trinity, the Eucharist, or the Resurrection. What brought them close enough to find out was Christians were willing to be with them when times were especially tough.

The Surgeon General today says there is an epidemic of loneliness (Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, 2023, HHS.gov). Young people especially are experiencing a crisis of meaning, depression, hopelessness and anxiety.

At the same time Bible sales are up 22%. Conversions to Catholicism in some places are up dramatically – 73% in Dallas-Fort Worth, 160% in France since 2015. People might not understand a thing we say about Reconciliation, Sanctification, or Evangelization, but it looks like they are trying to find out.

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do” (9:12)

This is the kind of opportunity that has been behind the times of greatest growth for the Church. Are there any doctors in the house?