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Ask any churchgoer today who The Great Physician is!
| You can search through the Bible for the phrase Great Physician, but you won't find that description in any of the sixty-six books of God's Word.
Yet ask any churchgoer today who The Great Physician is, and you'll have a quick answer: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. |
How did our Lord become known as the Great Physician?
William Hunter, a nineteenth-century Methodist clergyman who served as a pastor in Pennsylvania and Virginia, wrote three collections of hymns during his lifetime, including his best-known effort, "The Great Physician Now Is Near," penned in 1859. The opening stanza goes like this:
The great Physician now is near,
The sympathizing Jesus;
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer;
O hear the voice of Jesus!
Pastor Hunter was probably inspired by the seventy-five references to the healing work of Christ in the New Testament, including Matthew 9:12: "On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.'"
David Stevens, M.D., author of Jesus, M.D., said that the four Gospels record more instances of Jesus' healing than of His preaching or teaching. "That is why down through the centuries, one of the cherished names for Christ has been the Great Physician," Dr. Stevens stated.
The "Great Physician" appellation is entirely appropriate in the context of good health, and I strongly believe the Bible is an authoritative source on what we should eat and not eat, and how we should live. God has given us a prescription for good health, you´ll find it spelled out clearly and engagingly for you in The Great Physician´s Rx for Health and Wellness and now it's up to each of us to fill that prescription every day of our lives.
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