THE LEPER AND THE LORD Mark 1:40-45 Screen Version Mark 1:40-45 40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean. 41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean! 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 See that you don t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them. 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. I looked back over what has been covered so far just in the first chapter of Mark and understood once again why the Gospel of Mark is considered a book of action. John the Baptist prepared the way for King Jesus, then baptized him; after that, he had to be tested as a worthy King and was whisked away into the desert to be tempted by Satan After proving his worthiness by passing the test, he began preaching about his kingdom: The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news! Mark 1:15 Then he called Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him. They left everything to help in the building of the kingdom. 1
To prove his rule over the demonic world, Jesus drives out an unclean spirit from a possessed man while in church! To prove he had power over sickness and disease, Jesus healed everyone who came to him and cast out even more demons. To continue at this ministry pace, Jesus gathered his strength by going to a solitary place he had his Quiet Time with God then off he went again saying, Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. Mark 1:38 Jesus did all these miraculous signs and wonders to prove that he was the Son of God and that what he preached was true. Now a man comes to him with the worst disease of all. This next healing was different from all the rest. It was a precursor to what Jesus really came to do: Heal people from their sin. Image: http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/images/leperhealing.jpg Mark 1:40 40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean. This leprous man who approached Jesus was so desperate to be healed that he made this request at great risk. One does not just approach a Rabbi, especially if the person has this horrible disease. Why? To understand this passage you have to know a little about leprosy and Jewish law. 2
The word used for leprosy covered any kind of creeping skin disease, both curable and incurable ranging from psoriasis to ringworm. According to historian William Barclay one type starts with an unaccountable lethargy and pains in the joints then discolored patches on the back. Image: https://thejaggedworddotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/naaman-the-leper.png?w=220&h=272 The skin becomes thick and little nodules form in the folds of the cheek, nose and forehead until the whole face is changed and the person loses their human appearance. They start to look like a lion or satyr. A leper s voice becomes hoarse with wheezy breathing, and then becomes covered with a mass of oozing, ulcerating growths that give off a foul discharge. Image: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/sosarafova/assets/bio307/algreer/assets/05.05.leprosy.jpg Next the nerve trunks are affected, and soon there is no pain where pain should be. Muscles waste away, tendons contract until hands look like claws. There s a progressive loss of fingers and toes until finally a whole hand or foot drops off. This disease can last for 20 or 30 years. One man said, To a leper, death would have been a sweet release. They had no health or strength, and to find food or shelter was a constant battle. (The Miracles of Jesus, Charles Ryrie, Pg. 159) 3
The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that they were treated as if they were, in effect, dead men. When diagnosed by a Jewish priest, the leper was banished from society. According to Jewish law: The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry our, Unclean! Unclean! As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp. Leviticus 13:45-46 Contact with a leper defiled the person who touched him. If he put his hand in a house, the house became unclean. A leper could not go into a temple or any walled city. If he did he would get 40 lashes. You could not even greet a leper in an open space. One Rabbinic teaching: Upwind a leper can come within six feet of a person, downwind, 150 feet. Another Rabbi said he would not eat an egg bought in a street where a leper passed by. Another bragged that he threw stones at them to keep them away. Still others, hid themselves and ran away. A leper was totally isolated. Luke s version says that this man was full of leprosy. Luke 5:12 Combine this with a Jewish mindset that a leprous person was being punished for his sin and that it was a mark of God s displeasure, then you can understand why this man begged Jesus on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean. And he went through the crowd, completely oblivious to all the Jewish Laws that said he couldn t. 4
Matthew s version of this account uses a word that says he came to Jesus worshiping. Luke adds that he addresses him as Lord. What was Jesus response? Mark 1:41a Jesus was indignant. Indignant? Why was Jesus indignant? Most versions use the phrase filled with compassion. It s an interpretive choice, but suffice it to say that Jesus was, and is, compassionate. But he was indignant; you might say that Jesus was P.O.ed at as he confronted the forces of Satan, disease, death and sin in this poor man. Image: http://www.leprosymission.org.uk/images/staff/paulbrand.jpg Dr. Paul Brand, the foremost expert in leprosy, or what we call today Hanson s disease, discovered that it has a numbing effect that eliminates the warning system for pain. Sufferers bump into things, burn and cut themselves without knowing it. The limb, or body part gets infected and drops off eventually. People literally wear out their limbs. Dr. Brand told of an account when he tried to open the door of a little storeroom but the rusty lock was stuck shut. An undersized, malnourished ten-year-old approached him smiling, Let me, Sahib Doctor, he offered and reached for the key. With a jerk of his hand, he turned the key in the lock. Brand was dumbfounded. How could this weak youngster do this? 5
His eyes caught a tale-tell clue: Was that a drop of blood on his hand? Upon examining the boy's fingers, Brand discovered the act of turning the key had gashed the finger open to the bone; skin, fat and joint were all exposed, yet the boy was completely unaware of it. To him, the sensation of cutting his finger to the bone was no different from picking up a stone or a coin in his pocket. The daily routine of life ground away at the leprosy patient's hands and feet, no warning system alerted him. That s just like sin, isn t it? We sin a little, bit by bit, not really noticing that it s doing us any harm. Pretty soon it overtakes us completely. James 1:15-16 each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. This is why Jesus was so indignant, knowing what sin had done to this man physically. Jesus was indignant because of what sin does to a person spiritually, separating one completely from God s love for eternity, unless, unless God reaches out and touches us. And that s just what Jesus did. Mark 1:41b-42 He reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean! 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. This dead man walking was now alive, new, essentially, born again in his body. 6
We too are healed when we come to Jesus in our leprous, sinful condition, and in compassion, he reaches out his hand and heals us. Ephesians 2:1-9 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. He will in no way refuse all who come to him. Immediately, the leper was healed. Immediately, he was cleansed. When we come to Jesus, humbly, desperately, acknowledging our sin, he immediately heals us too, granting us forgiveness immediately and saving us from the wrath to come. Immediately. Acts 2:21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 7
When Jesus touches us, we are healed spiritually, demons are cast out, Satan flees; the power of darkness loses its power. Immediately! Mark 1:43-44 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 See that you don t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them. This man was not only healed, but he was physically fit, too. Why do I say that? Because he had to go show himself to the priests in Jerusalem which was about 60-70 miles away. What? And not tell anyone? Was this a test of obedience or what? If you were healed of a terrible disease, wouldn t you be shouting it from the rooftops? Why would Jesus warn him not to tell anyone? The Old Testament prescribes a way for a leper to be examined to see if he was indeed healed, by going to a priest. This showed that Jesus upheld the Jewish medical Law. Jesus sent the ex-leper to the medical official. Jesus plan was for the religious leaders to see who he really was. When they saw that the man was healed, and heard the testimony from his family and friends, who he would undoubtedly bring along with him, this would be irrefutable proof that he had the power to heal. This would be a testimony against the religious leaders. In essence, Jesus is telling the man, When you tell them your story and they see that after all the necessary tests you are truly healed from leprosy, then they are choosing to reject me and are condemning themselves. 8
But if they make the right connection and see what I have done, then they will believe in me. Mark 1:45 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. So, did the man pass the obedience test? Nope. He disobeyed, which may shed light on his true spiritual condition that perhaps Jesus really wasn t his Lord. By his disobedience, he messed things up for Jesus ministry. The priests didn t get their proof of Jesus healing the man, and now the crowds made Jesus outreach impossible. What test of obedience has God called you to? If Jesus is your Lord, then you will say yes to whatever he has told you. You may struggle, but let him have his way. John 14:15, 23-24 If you love me, keep my commands. Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. Partial obedience is disobedience. May we, as ex-spiritual lepers, be so thankful for Jesus compassion and healing, that we do whatever he tells us, and go wherever he sends us, without hesitation. Amen! 9