The Greatest Physician
“He said to them, ‘You will surely say this proverb to Me, “Physician, heal yourself!”’.” [Luke 4:23]
Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane was the chief surgeon at Kane Summit Hospital in New York City. By the time he was 60, he had been practicing surgery for 37 years and was especially interested in anesthetics. Dr. Kane practiced back in the early part of the 20th century when the only kind of anesthetic used was general in nature, meaning the patient had to be completely knocked out. This often resulted in serious complications. Patients were sometimes left paralyzed and occasionally they died. Dr. Kane believed it was possible to operate on patients who only received a local anesthetic by simply numbing the smaller area that needed surgery. He wanted to somehow prove his point by finding a willing subject who would allow him try this procedure using local anesthetic. Finally he found a person who was agreeable to help him experiment.
The patient needed his appendix removed, so he was quickly scheduled for surgery. On Tuesday morning, February 15, 1921, the patient was prepared and rolled into the operating room. Kane had performed over 4,000 appendectomies so he easily performed the initial incision, and clamped the blood vessels while he located the appendix. He then skillfully removed it as he had done many times before. Through it all the patient only experienced minor pain. He recuperated quickly and was released from the hospital two days later.
Dr. Kane had proved his point. It was a milestone in medical history to demonstrate that a person could be operated on under local anesthetic while still awake. By the way, I should tell you that the surgeon and patient were one and the same. Dr. Kane operated on himself and removed his own appendix!
Perhaps you have heard the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Jesus spoke these words – and He did heal Himself! He told His disciples, “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:17,18). Jesus, the greatest Physician of all, laid down His life and took it again. He did this out of His intense love for us, to bring us healing.
