Is universal health care biblical or is universal health care unbiblical?
Universal health care would be biblical.
In the parable of the good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite had legitimate
excuses for not caring for a stranger in need of medical care, for if they
discovered the stranger to already have died, touching him would have made them
ceremonially unclean and therefore unable to perform their priestly functions:
"Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his
clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a
certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the
other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked,
and passed by on the other side." (Luke 10:30-32)
But Jesus clearly gave priority to and commanded us to provide medical care, not
to withhold care and blame the stranger for irresponsibly traveling without
adequate protection or because of any financial or other negative impact that
giving such care could have on us:
"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his
wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him
to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out
two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and
whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these
three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said,
“He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise."
(Luke 10:33-37)
In
Matthew 25:34-40, Jesus told us to provide care to even
"the least" among the "sick"
and then warned about the consequences of not caring for those in need,
including the sick:
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand,
‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the
devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was
thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take
Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did
not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did
we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying,
‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the
least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
(Matthew 25:34-46)
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