Luke iv. 23. And he said unto them, Ye tvill surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself.
WE are told that " Solomon spake three thou- sand proverbs*. " To condense the results of general
a 1 Kings iv. 32.
observation in some brief sentence, was a mode of communication which wise and learned men of old greatly affected : and to search out what was so com- municated, was a study in which the young were deeply employed b. By proverbs every species of in- struction was imparted. By them, also, were reproof and encouragement conveyed with peculiar force and emphasis. Nor was there any one so wise, but he might be addressed in this manner without offence. Even our blessed Lord, after having represented himself as the great Healer of the world, conceived that his hearers would apply to him this proverb, " Physician, heal thyself." This, doubtless, was a common proverb at that time, as it is also amongst us at the present day : and it shall be my endeavour to shew,
I. What is its import —
It may be understood,
1. As a sarcastic reflection —
[This is the precise view in which it was understood by our blessed Lord. He had wrought many miracles at Caper- naum : and now at Nazareth, where he had lived from his earliest years, the people hoped to see similar exertions of his almighty power : and, because he did not see fit to gratify their unreasonable expectations, they doubted the truth of the reports which they had heard concerning him. Hence " our Lord said to them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, ' Physician, heal thyself.' Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thine own country." But they had no right to dictate to him thus. The report of what he had done in Capernaum was authenticated beyond all reasonable doubt ; and the people of Nazareth ought to have believed in him. But, being offended at him on account of his low parentage and connexions, they could not endure to regard him as their promised Messiah : and it was to punish this unbelief, that our Lord withheld from them any further evidence at that time. This is the account given both by St. Matthew and St Lukec : and this shews the precise mean- ing of the proverb, as applied to him by his countrymen at that time. Its meaning was, 'You profess yourself the Mes- siah ; and, if you do not give us all the proofs of it which you have given to others, wTe will not receive you. We shall take
b Prov. i. 5, 6. c ver. 22 — 24. with Matt. xiii. .54 — 58.
304 LUKE, IV. 23. [i486.
it for granted that you are incompetent to the task ; and that you decline all efforts for our conviction, because you are not able to impose on us, who know you, in the way that you have imposed on others, to whom you were not so well known.' Thus was the proverb used by them as a sarcastic reflection ; intimating, that he could not do in his own country what he pretended to have done at a distance from it.]
2. As a salutary admonition —
[Certainly, a person seeking to reform others should, so to speak, begin at home ; and, if he do not, he will provoke others to retaliate with this advice, " Physician, heal thyself." It is in this sense that the proverb is more generally used amongst ourselves. And in this sense it exactly accords with the instruction given by our Lord, in his Sermon on the Mount : " Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy bro- ther's eye, and perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? Either, how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? Thou hypo- crite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye ; and then thou shalt see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eyed." In this view it is a salutary admonition, for which all must be prepared who would do good to others: and to cut off all just occasion for it must be the one labour of their lives.]