Reason #2: Jesus Is the Best Doctor Ever

When you are sick, you go to a doctor, who can diagnose what is wrong with you. Then, the doctor will let you know what to do to get better. If you ignore the doctor’s advice, or pretend you aren’t sick in the first place, there’s a chance that you won’t get well.

In today’s Bible reading, we met Levi, who got well after an appointment with Doctor Jesus—but he wasn’t sick in the way we would usually think of it.

What did Levi leave behind to follow Jesus?

📚 The backstory: Levi (who is sometimes known as Matthew) was a tax collector before he met Jesus. Most Jewish people considered tax collectors to be traitors, because they collected money from their own people to pay to the Romans.

⁉️ Why Levi? Why did Jesus invite a tax collector, who most people hated, to follow him? And then why did he go and eat with “sinners”? The religious leaders certainly wouldn’t have done that!

Jesus spent time with all kinds of people—kids and adults, rich and poor, sick and healthy, those who had made bad choices and good ones… These were people from all walks of life who had something in common: they knew they NEEDED Jesus.

🤧 What kind of sickness? Jesus did many miracles that healed sickness in people’s bodies. But Levi wasn’t sick in the way we usually think of sickness.

Look again at verses 31-32. Jesus diagnosed Levi with a sin problem. His symptoms included bad choices, hurting others and disobeying God. But Jesus came to heal people who knew they needed HIM to fix their sin sickness! People like Levi. People like US.

⏎ The turn-around: It might seem like leaving a well-paid job behind would make Levi’s life worse, but when he accepted the invitation to follow Jesus, his life became much better. He welcomed Jesus into his home and his heart, and found the remedy for his sin sickness.

❤️‍🩹 Who else is sick? If you have a sneaking suspicion that the answer is “All of us”, then you’d be right! We ALL have a sin problem. We ALL need Jesus, who offers the only solution to spiritually heal us.

✏️ Prayer and picture prompt:

Spend some time talking with God about a sin problem you want to leave behind (like being selfish, or using disrespectful words, or being untruthful).

Grab a piece of paper and draw a picture of a heart or a band-aid. Add the words “I need Jesus to…” and finish the sentence in your own words - maybe even some of the words you just prayed to Jesus about a sin problem you want to leave behind.