Saturday, January 23, 2010

Who needs the doctor? - 2:17

yesous legei autois Ou chreian echousin oi ischouontes iatrou all oi kakws ouk kalesai dikaious alla hamartwlous

Jesus said to them, the well (strong) have no need of a doctor but those who are ill. I have not come to call righteous but sinners.

kakws- pert. to experiencing harm in a physical sense, bad, badly

I wonder exactly how Jesus was meaning this- Does this have some of that understanding of – 'good, why do you call me good, no one is good but God'. He also tells the story of two men who had been forgiven debts- which one is going to love more- the one with the bigger debt forgiven. I'd say the plain meaning was what he was wanting to get across- to open up the pharisees eyes- these people you look down on don't need your condemnation- they could do with help. But he certainly wasn't saying that the pharisees didn't need his help- however righteous they may have considered themselves. Still- perhaps the pharisees should have known- they had studied the scriptures more than most in the room- though there is still need-(and just as great)- do they stand in slightly different position to the 'sinners'? “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

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