LOC 037: Life of Christ:
The
Disobedient Leper
The Lord Jesus Christ is still in the northern region of Israel,
in the province of Galilee. He has told
his disciples of his purpose--Luke 4:43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the
other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
Jesus wanted to go to other cities, especially the cities of
Galilee in order to preach the Gospel.
Remember this important point.
Last week we noted this concern of Jesus from Matthew’s summary of
our Lord’s ministry in Galilee:
Matt. 4:23 ¶ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of
sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria;
and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various
diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and
paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great
multitudes followed Him — from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea,
and beyond the Jordan.
Jesus was causing quite a stir in this area that was 7-10 days by
foot from Jerusalem, the place of earthly power in Judaism. Jesus fame spread, he was getting a name and
a reputation. People were brought to him
for whatever ailed them. Great
multitudes followed him, or hounded him wherever he went. It should be no surprise to us that he got up
ridiculously early to get away from the pressing throng in order to pray to his
heavenly father.
The narrative we are going to examine today focuses in on one from
among that great horde of people who pressed in upon Jesus during every public
moment of his ministry. We find the narrative expressed in Matthew, Mark and
Luke. Matthew handles the entire matter
in three short verses in Matthew 8:2-4.
This morning we are going to be flipping between Mark and Luke.
Put one finger in Mark 1:40-45 and another in Luke 5:12-16.
Let’s read Mark’s account of the Disobedient Leper under four
headings:
1. A Leper and his Request
2. The Lord and His Compassion
3. The Lord and His Stern
Warning
4. The Leper’s Disobedience
1. A Leper and his Request
Mark 1:40 ¶ Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down
to Him and saying to Him, “If You are
willing, You can make me clean.”
2. The Lord and His Compassion
41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and
touched him, and said to him, “I am
willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy
left him, and he was cleansed.
3. The Lord and His Stern
Warning
43 And He strictly
warned him and sent him away at once, 44
and said to him, “See that you say
nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for
your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
4. The Leper’s Disobedience
45 However, he went
out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus
could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and
they came to Him from every direction.
To this we need to add the conclusion found in Luke 5:15-16:
5. Another Summary
A, The News:
Luke 5:15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the
more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of
their infirmities.
B. The effect on Jesus:
16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
Let’s look more closely at the texts. Starting with Mark 1 and
then moving on to the summary in Luke 5.
1. A Leper and his Request
Mark 1:40 ¶ Now a leper came to Him,
A leper is a person who is thought to have leprosy. But, leprosy was not easy to detect. Many other skin ailments looked like leprosy
in the early stages. The priests were
charged with the diagnosis and identification of those with this dreaded
disease.
Technically, Leprosy is : (from the Hebrew meaning a “smiting,” a “stroke--to be hit with
something,” because the disease was regarded as a direct providential
infliction). This name in the NT is from the Greek lepra, by which the Greek
physicians designated the disease from its scaliness.
We have the description of the disease, as well as the regulations
connected with it, in Lev. 13; 14; Num. 12:10-15, etc. There were reckoned six
different circumstances under which it might develop itself, (1) without any
apparent cause (Lev. 13:2-8); (2) its reappearance (9-17); (3) from an
inflammation (18-28); (4) on the head or chin (29-37); (5) in white polished
spots (38, 39); (6) at the back or in the front of the head (40-44).
These regulations teach us that there is an apparent leprosy and
an actual leprosy. Apparent leprosy was
treated as if it were the real thing.
Real leprosy was incurable.
Allowance in the law for its reappearance and cure shows that the term
Leprosy was used in a broader sense than just the actual disease.
Lepers were considered unclean and required to live outside the
camp or city (Num. 5:1-4; 12:10-15, etc.). This disease was regarded as a
punishment from the Lord. See 2 Chr. 26:20 And Azariah the chief priest
and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous;
so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out,
because the LORD had struck him. In this story, Uzziak the King had gone into
the Temple to do what was not his to do.
As he took the censer in his hand to function as a priest, he was
smitten by God with leprosy.
This actual disease “begins with specks on the eyelids and on the
palms, gradually spreading over the body, bleaching the hair white wherever
they appear, crusting the affected parts with white scales, and causing
terrible sores and swellings. From the skin the disease eats inward to the
bones, rotting the whole body little piece by little piece.”
“In Christ’s day no leper could live in a walled town, though he
might in an open village. But wherever he was he was required to have his outer
garment rent as a sign of deep grief, to go bareheaded, and to cover his beard
with his mantle, as if in lamentation at his own virtual death. He had further
to warn passers-by to keep away from him, by calling out, ‘Unclean! unclean!’
nor could he speak to any one, or receive or return a salutation, since in the
East this involves an embrace.”
That the disease was not contagious is evident from the
regulations regarding it (Lev. 13:12, 13, 36; 2 Kings 5:1). Leprosy was “the
outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption; a meet emblem
in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its
dissolution little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts,
degrades, and defiles man’s inner nature, and renders him unfit to enter the
presence of a pure and holy God” (Maclear’s Handbook O.T). Our Lord cured
lepers (Matt. 8:2, 3; Mark 1:40-42). This divine power so manifested
illustrates his gracious dealings with men in curing the leprosy of the soul,
the fatal taint of sin.
A leper came to Jesus. A
man who would have been seen as cursed of God is coming to the Lord to remove
or reverse the curse. That is how this
would have been understood int he first century. A leper was afflicted by God directly. His only hope was in God’s goodness and
compassion to make him whole. Therefore,
it is in the terminology of worship that we find the action of the leper displayed.
imploring Him, kneeling down
to Him
Mark uses the term to urge or beg someone to do something. Matthew
uses a word usually translated worship in the sense of falling before one in
reverence and awe. Luke uses the words
meaning to fall on one’s face in order to beg.
Put all three together and you get the sense of urgency in this leper’s
mind. He had heard of all the
wonder-works of the Lord Jesus Christ and now he comes out of hiding and a life
of utter despair to get the one thing he needs to live as all the others in
society, a work of God’s mercy on his behalf to eclipse the work of God’s
justice. In humility, the Leper comes....
and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
The unclean Leper prays, If it be your will, you can make me
clean. He knows an important truth about
praying in accord with God’s will. Note:
the Leper did not come presuming upon the mercy and compassion of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He states, if you are
willing, you can make me clean.
2. The Lord and His Compassion
41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion,
Jesus was moved within to have mercy on this unclean man. Mercy the man did not deserve in and of
himself. What a blessing to know Jesus
is moved with compassion for sinners according to their physical needs. Was this not a part of Jesus’s ministry and
work as well? Is. 53:4 ¶ Surely
He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted. It was two weeks ago we saw how Matthew said
these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled. What greater think can one be smitten with
than that which took its name from the idea of being smitten--leprosy? In carrying the sorrows and griefs of men,
there was a physical aspect to this.
Jesus knows what it is like to live a life in an unclean world. Jesus can identify with any sinner. He is often moved with compassion. And this is what he did. Breaking the societal conventions once again,
he.....
stretched out His hand and
touched him,
Jesus was willing to make himself unclean in order to make the one
who was unclean clean. This is
compassion felt and grace given to a particular sinner without any hope but the
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus would do this
many times. Even on the cross, he took
upon himself our uncleanness and sin in order to make those who were unclean
clean. This is Jesus gracious
pattern. Jesus touches the man with the
dreaded incurable disease ......
and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
The pray to the Lord Jesus from the leper on his face in worship
and submission, was simply, If you are willing, you can make me clean. Notice the simplicity of Jesus answer, “I am
willing, be cleansed.” Prayer to be
effective need not be longwinded, but focused and direct. That is an important lesson. Many pray for long periods of time without
really praying for anything at all.
Learn from the Leper.
42 As soon as He had spoken,
immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
I love the language in Mark. Immediately, the leprosy left him and
he was cleansed. Mark, with great emphasis, says (Mark 1:42), “And as soon as Jesus had
spoken, immediately the leprosy departed
from him, and he was cleansed"
— as perfectly as his words healed it was instantaneously completed. What a
contrast this to modern pretended cures and healings! Jesus has the power to
make men whole, if he is willing.
Benny Hinn is on a crusade believing that one day soon there will
be no sickness in the body of Christ--he believes all will be healed. And, the
promise he used in this prophecy he spoke was Rev 21:4 that clearly talks about
the New Heavens. How then will men die
and go to heaven? Perhaps, that is when
heaven will come down to earth. The
point is this: Jesus doesn’t necessarily desire the physical well-being of all
men, nor of all his people. If he wills,
so be it. If he has not willed for one
to be relieved from the physical ailments of this life, so be it, too. It is his right to act on accord with his
purpose. TO claim God wants all
Christians to be without any pain, sickness or death is simply folly that
proports to give men what they think they need, rather than what they actually
need--the Lord Jesus.
In the Life of the Lord Jesus, the crowds sought after him for
what benefits they could get physically.
The charlatans of our day attract the crowds by promising what they
cannot give. They need the Lord Jesus
Christ to help them through whatever might come. Perfect health is not a sign of a redeemed
soul. Fruit unto godliness, is a better
indicator. Don’t get caught up looking
for all the wrong things in the wrong places.
Follow after the Lord Jesus for the good of your soul, the rest will
fall into place.
3. The Lord and His Stern
Warning
43 And He strictly
warned him and sent him away at once, 44
and said to him, “See that you say
nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for
your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The Leper is healed by the Lord Jesus and he is sent away to the
Priest to verify that the leper has been cleansed. Jesus respects the Old Testament Law as
regards the place of the priests in the nation of Israel. But, there is something that should surprise
us. Jesus sends him to the Priest after
telling the leper to tell nobody about his healing. How could Jesus expect this
leper to remain silent? Didn’t Jesus
know better? Couldn’t Jesus just ZAP him
into submission? How realistic is it to
heal a Leper and then tell him to not tell anyone about it?
Jesus’ purpose was to go preach in the cities of Galilee and
beyond. The crowds were already pressing
in upon him ever waking minute of his public ministry. If word went out about the cleansing of a
leper, even more would come. perhaps even from greater differences. Broadcasting the good news about this act
might restrict the means of preaching the Gospel.
Surely, Jesus could have zapped the Leper into submission, but he
didn’t. Throughout Jesus ministry we
find him doing miracles for people while using ordinary means to preach the
gospel. The signs pointed to the message
preached. The wonders pointed to the
heavenly realities present in the Life of our Lord and his ministry. The ordinary means of preaching was to go to
a city or town and to teach in the synagogue.
That is what Jesus desired to do. It is what he did to this point. But we have.....
4. The Leper’s Disobedience
45 However, he went
out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus
could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and
they came to Him from every direction.
Consider the irony of this situation: Listen carefully. Jesus ministering inside the cities in their
synagogues heals a man who had been forced to live outside the city limits.
Because of the disobedience of the one healed, the one who healed must stay
outside the cities while the cleansed leper is free to go inside. Jesus was now a practical leper, not due to
his uncleanness, but due to his popularity and the masses of people who wanted
a piece of him. If he went into the
cities, they would have taken him apart piece by piece in order to get from him
what they wanted. The masses misused and
abused the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even those he healed kept him from doing what he wanted to do, humanly
speaking, that is. As we have noted
before, Jesus was also in submission to another. To God the father to who he prayed.
There are times when it is better to be silent for the Lord Jesus
than to speak. Don't take false comfort
for your silence. It is only when
silence better promotes the work of the Lord Jesus and the Promotion of the
Christian Gospel. It takes wisdom from
above to sort that out. Wisdom that can
be sought earnestly through prayer.
To this we need to add the conclusion found in Luke 5:15-16:
5. Another Summary
A, The News:
Luke 5:15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the
more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of
their infirmities.
Do you get a sense of the wonder of it all. Even more, greater multitudes came to hear
and to be healed. Can you imagine what
this must have been like out in the Galilean outskirts? Jesus could no longer enter the cities
because of the crowds. He had to live
out in the elements. But still, on many
occasions, we see.....
B. The effect on Jesus:
16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
Jesus did not get depressed, look to himself and think, I am in a
hopeless situation. He withdrew, rising
ridiculously early no doubt, to go to a desolate place to pray.
Again, the busier Jesus got, the more he prayed. It tells us he often, or continually withdrew
as a habitual act to pray. And, he was
perfect.
Application #1 Pray with
specificity for those things that are desired or needful for your life and
family. Pray with the humble request, if
it be your will, you can. Then use
whatever legitimate means at your disposal to get the thing desired. If funds, expect to work harder ordinarily.
Don't presume to know how God will answer your prayer.
Application #2 Meditate upon the compassion of the Lord Jesus
Christ to undeserving sinners. If he had
pity upon them, how much more will he pity those for whom he shed his precious
blood. We are better-off because of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is our only
hope. We need his grace and mercy daily
to do those things he desires of us. We
cannot do it alone. He is our
sanctification as well as our salvation. However, we must engage the battle for our own
soul through cooperation with the work of the Spirit working through the Word
it is read and proclaimed.
Application #3 We must do
what Jesus tells us, even if something else seems better at the time. The Leper thought it better to tell all about
his cleansing and it must have been wonderful to hear, but it was a direct
disobedience of the command of Christ.
Even if it felt good and therapeutic to tell someone, even one beyond
the examining priest, he was at that point disobedient former-leper in need of
repentance and further cleansing and forgiveness. His body was changed, his soul was not. We need to know what God expects of us as his
people. And, that is found only in his
Word, as it is read and especially as it is explained by the gifts given to the
Church by the Lord Jesus Christ in the form of teachers.
Application #4 PRAY WITHOUT CEASING. That is what Jesus did and what we should be
found doing. Get away to a deserted
place, your prayer closet, and seek the face of God while on your own in humble
submission to him and his will. Soli Deo
gloria! Amen.
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