The leper in this section of Scripture was just such a person.

Transcription

1 Introduction When I was growing up there was a Television program called Elliot Ness and the Untouchables. He called his band of merry-men the untouchables not because they couldn t be touched but rather no one could touch them when it came to identifying the bad guys, solving crimes and bringing offenders to justice. In Jesus day, just like in our day, there was a group of people called untouchables. India contains a whole caste of people called Dalit or untouchable. We have our untouchables. We have people who are depraved and destitute, people with mental illness, people afflicted by demonic oppression and sometimes possession; people who are enslaved and in bondage to a variety of addictions and compulsive behaviors. Whether they are down and out, homeless, different, derelict, deranged, insane, infested with the AIDS virus, they are for the most part drawn outside the circle of mercy and compassion and abandoned, forsaken, deserted, neglected. Have you ever met someone, known someone, been someone, who was so hopeless, so helpless, that they were virtually untouchable? Serious sin brings serious consequences, but the real question is-can Jesus save people from sin, severe sin, relationship destroying sin? Have you ever met someone, known someone, been someone who had the words impossible to save, stamped across their forehead? The leper in this section of Scripture was just such a person. The pre-requisite For a Healing Touch (v.12) Luke 5:12 (NKJV) 12 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. Do you want a healing touch? It begins with an awareness of sin! Jesus is on a mission seeking sinners seeking to save that which is lost. What happens when hope and hopelessness collide in the intersection of life? What happens when love and compassion and grace and mercy confront, fear and embarrassment and shame and contagion? What was the nature of his problem? He was full of leprosy. Matthew and Mark simply say that a leper came to Jesus. Dr. Luke gives the full medical description; aner pleres lepras a man full of leprosy. Diagnosis? He is in the end stages of Hansen s disease. Hopeless, incurable, fatal. Leprosy was the most terrible disease in the day of Jesus. It was absolutely feared because it was disfiguring and sometimes fatal. In the Bible leprosy is a type and picture of sin, invisible, pervasive, incurable. 1

2 The leper was considered utterly unclean, both physically and spiritually. He could not approach within six feet of any person, including family members. It was illegal to greet a leper. Some suggest that a leper had to be at least 100 cubits away if they were upwind and four cubits if down-wind. Josephus said lepers were treated as if they were dead. Leviticus 13:45 (NKJV) 45 Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, Unclean! Unclean! The leper was forced to wear a black garment, so he could be recognized as from the dead. The leper was banished as an outcast, totally ostracized from society considered without hope not just in this world but in the next world it was inconceivable that such a person could go to heaven! Leviticus 13:46 (NKJV) 46 He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. The leper was forbidden from living within the walls of any city. His dwelling must be outside the city gates. He was thought to be polluted, incurable by any human means whatsoever. Leprosy could be cured by God and His power alone. Do you think this leper dealt with issues of love and intimacy, purpose and competency, identity and worth? Do you think this leper dealt with issues of rejection? Do you think this leper wondered how such a disease could bring glory to God? Would it seem strange if he said, I have lost my reason to live? Do you think he struggled with feelings of depression, hopelessness, that made each day seem futile? By the way the very fact that Jesus will heal this man becomes a Messianic proof of His identity. It is difficult for us to comprehend a disease so debilitating, so fearful, so awful. Can you imagine the anguish and heartbreak of being completely cut off from family and friends and society? Imagine the mental and emotional distress. The procurement of a Healing Touch (v.12) saw Jesus; and he fell on his face, and implored him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean. Really? No one has ever been healed before of this disease, well, Namaan in the Old Testament was healed, in order to avert a war with Syria. The man saw Jesus, and he forgot about everything else, he forgot about the people surrounding him, he forgot about the shame of his condition, he forgot about the embarrassment, he forgot he was not to approach anyone within six feet. 2

3 Have you ever been in a position where the only thing that mattered was the hope in your heart of the possibility that Jesus could help you in your desperate circumstances? There are several important things we can glean from our leper. The first was his determination to get help. He saw Jesus. Nothing and no one was going to stop him, not even the fear and the threats of people terrified by his disease, frightened by the contagion that had brought his body to a place of putrid disintegration. The second was his humilty. He throws his face into the dirt, he prostrates himself before the Lord. The third is the man s confession, he calls Jesus, Lord. The fourth is the man s supplication, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Look carefully the man s request is not to be healed but to be cleansed. He was asking for both spiritual and physical cleansing. The man knew he was defiled on the inside and the outside. Psalm 34:18 (NKJV) 18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Psalm 51:17 (NKJV) 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart These, O God, You will not despise. The perceiving of a Healing Touch (v.13) Luke 5:13 (NKJV) 13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed. Immediately the leprosy left him. Mark s gospel adds, Mark 1:41 (NKJV) 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be cleansed. Sometimes we become jaded by sin and sinners. I spent seven years in social services. I have spent years counseling drug addicts, gang members, killers, mental patients, society s rejects. Jesus saw the man, full of sores, his flesh eaten away, his loneliness, his alienation, his emptiness, his hopelessness, his helplessness, his desperation. Perhaps you have come to this conference and you need a fresh dose of compassion. Illustration: Ravi Zacharias The Cry of a Lonely Heart. Jesus did something forbidden, unheard of, he reached out and touched the man. The man was untouchable, full of leprosy, the most feared and dreaded communicable disease in the ancient world. 3

4 It must have been years since he had felt any human touch. Perhaps another leper may have put his arms around the man. Does Jesus still will to touch the untouchable? To cleanse the hopeless? Isaiah 63:9 (NKJV) 9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old. Psalm 103:13 (NLT) 13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. Can you imagine if Jesus said, No, I am not willing. Let me take you further into your self-centered abyss and encourage you to look out for number 1! Pull your own strings, be your own best friend awaken the giant within or win through intimidation. Don t let silly Jewish rules spoil your right to interact with your family friends. I see you have boundry issues. I am willing; be cleansed. Immediately the leprosy left him. The man was healed physically, cleansed spiritually, but still needed to be restored socially. Jesus spoke the word of cleansing. But note; he was cleansed by the WORD of Jesus. Biblical counselors are called naïve, extreme, simplistic, ignorant, unknowing, unknowledgeable, unaware, untaught, stupid, simple-minded. Physical and mental illness is complicated. Sin is complicated. The consequences of sin are complicated. Is the Lord s Word sufficient? Is it able to save and heal to the uttermost? Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV) 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Isaiah 66:2 (NKJV) 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist, Says the Lord. But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim.3:15). The Scripture helps protect us from sin (Ps.119:11), provides enlightenment (Ps.119:18), counsels us (Ps.119:45-46), comforts us (Ps.119:98-100), offers hope (Ps.119:74), gives wisdom (Ps.119:98-100); provides inner peace (Ps.119:165). Some might say, Scripture is not sufficient to help hurting people. Yet it is Jesus Word that brings hope, cleansing, deliverance, reconciliation and the possibility of a future restoration to family and friends. 4

5 The proving of a Healing Touch (vv.14-16) Luke 5:14-16 (NLT) 14 Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone what had happened. He said, Go right to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing. 15 Yet despite Jesus instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. Jesus asked the completely cleansed man to do two things; (1) do not tell anyone what had happened. This man had been saved from the utter depths of defilement. Few ever go that deep (sin). He had been saved from so much, and he was now full of joy and rejoicing, bubbling over with happiness. He wanted to run and tell the world, but there were some hidden dangers in this, the danger of pride and boasting within himself; the danger of jealousy and envy coming from others toward him (2) Jesus insisted that he rush and obey God that is the man first needed to worship and offer thanks to God and to learn to obey God s Word before doing anything else. In the unlikely event a leper was ever cured, there was a detailed list of laws and rituals he to go through. These rituals gave the priests time to confirm the cure and led the leper to make a thanksgiving offering to God (Lev.14:1-32). Jesus was charging the man to make his offering to God and to receive the certificate that he was cleansed. R. Kent Hughes describes the ceremony: It began when a priest met the would-be celebrant outside the camp and verified that he actually was healed. Then, still outside the camp, two birds were presented along with some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. One of the birds was killed in a clay pot (so that none of its blood was lost). This was done above fresh water (symbolic of cleansing). Next the live bird, along with the wood, yarn, and hyssop, was dipped in the blood, and blood was sprinkled upon the leper seven times as he was pronounced clean. This initial ceremony concluded with the live bird being released in the open fields to wing its way to freedom (Lev.14:1-7). As a result, the blood-sprinkled person could once again join the community. This foreshadowed the effect of Christ s blood, which reconciles man to God and makes it possible for the sinner to join the household of faith. After the bird s release the cleansed man washed his clothing, shaved the hair from his body, bathed, and entered the camp, where he, his family, and friends rejoiced for seven days (vv.8-9). On the seventh day his head, eyebrows, and beard were shaved, and he again bathed, so that, like a newborn, he was ready to enter a new phase of his existence (R. Kent Hughes p.165 who quotes R.K. Harrison s commentary on the book of Leviticus). Let me tell you what would happen on the eighth day. The former leper would offer three unblemished lambs as a guilt offering, a sin offering, and a burnt offering. The guilt offering was not an atoning sacrifice but a restitution for the offerings and sacrifices he was unable to make while a leper. His restitution and fresh commitment were then 5

6 dramatically emphasized when the priest took some of the blood and smeared it on the offerer s right ear, thumb, and toe, then coated each smear with a second anointing of oil, thereby symbolizing that the man would listen to God s voice, use his hands for God s glory, and walk in God s ways. Fittingly, his shaved head was then anointed with the remaining oil (vv.12-18; cf.exodus 30:23-25). Finally, having thus declared the leper to be in the Lord s service, the priest made atonement for him with sin, burnt and cereal offerings, the last being a joyous expression of gratitude (Lev.14:19,20)(ibid; pp ). Can you imagine the joy, the celebration, the feasting, the rejoicing? It would be as if someone in your family who was dead had come back to life. Conclusion 6