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Bible Dictionaries
Physician, the
1910 New Catholic Dictionary
or
Title of Our Lord occurring in Matthew 9:12-13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31-32. He eats and consorts with sinners because God the Father moved by compassion for fallen mankind sent Him as the Divine Physician to invite and lead sinners to repentance, thereby giving Him an opportunity of bringing their souls back to life, healing their wounds, and building up their spiritual strength. Had the Pharisees but meditated on the words of God delivered by the prophet Osee "I will have mercy and not sacrifice" they would have understood Jesus's methods and would not have fallen into the error of trying to please God by mere external observances, lifeless because not animated by charity and crushing because prompted by pride, untempered with recognition for the weakness of men. Like Jesus, all Christians but especially priests, His ministers, should, without condoning sin, extend a loving patience and boundless mercy to the sinner.
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Entry for 'Physician, the'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ncd/p/physician-the.html. 1910.
