<p>9:12&nbsp;<em>But when he heard it, he said</em>- Did He overhear? Or simply perceive, as in 9:4?</p>
<p><em>They that are sick need a doctor</em>- Literally, a healer. The same word is used of how &quot;by his stripes you were healed&quot; (1 Pet. 2:24). All who will finally be saved have been healed by Jesus. Therefore &quot;they that be whole&quot; must be understood as meaning 'those who&nbsp;<em>think they are</em>&nbsp;whole'. The Lord's healing work was done by fellowshipping with those who realized their need for healing. He broke His bread with them first; He didn't heal them and then invite only the healed to His exclusive table. This breaking of bread with them was a 'calling to repentance' (9:13). The many records of the Lord's physical healing were all intended to be acted parables of His healing of spiritual sickness<br />
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<em>Not they that are healthy</em>- The Greek word is usually translated with the sense of 'being able'. The Lord's work was with them who felt&nbsp;<em>unable</em>&nbsp;to be righteous, who felt that circumstance and past history had left them spiritually incapacitated.<br />
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Perception of need and spiritual helplessness is the vital prerequisite. The Lord healed &quot;them that had need of healing&quot; (Lk. 9:11), those who perceived their need. The Lord uses the same word in speaking of how He doesn't go find and save those &quot;which need no repentance&quot; (Lk. 15:11); again, an ellipsis must be read in: 'Those who&nbsp;<em>think they</em>&nbsp;need no repentance'. And again in Rev. 3:17- the Laodiceans thought that they &quot;had need of nothing&quot;. This, therefore, was a major concern of the Lord- that we cease to perceive our need for Him. The attitude that 'I have no need...' is picked up by Paul in 1 Cor. 12:21,24, where he warns against thinking that we have no need of weaker members of the body of Christ. Our need for Christ personally is to be reflected in practice in our need for association with His body, however weak we feel it to be. God supplies all our need in Christ (Phil. 4:19), but that supplying of our need is not solely in the death of Christ for us, but in the body of Christ.&nbsp;</p>