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14 Sept: Jesus Heals A Leper Mk 1:40-44
We have just finished a study of the letters sent to seven churches in Asia Minor. One of the points in those letters is that they were recorded for us to read so that we could learn from them and repeat/duplicate their good deeds and avoid their wrong ones. John tells us in his book at the end of chapter 20 that he had recorded the life of Jesus so that we could believe and receive eternal life.
Having said that, I think that looking at the Life of the Lord would be good for us. The first parable I want to consider is found in Mark:
Mark 1:40-44 “40 And a man with leprosy came to Jesus, imploring Him and kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 44 and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Jesus healed a large number of people during His ministry. I think the motivating factor behind His healing is expressed in this passage “moved with compassion” – Jesus truly cares about us. You can see this time and again as Jesus interacts with the people around Him: Luke 7:11ff “Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and His disciples and a large crowd went along with Him. 12 As He approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.” Jesus then approached the bier and raised the son back to life.” Mtt 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stone those who sent her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” Luke 19:41 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.” Jesus is weeping for a city which is going to be responsible for His death on the cross. Time after time Scripture reveals the love Christ has for His creation. What is the shortest verse in the Bible? “Jesus wept”. Why is Jesus weeping??? What is the best-known verse in the Bible? John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
So when Jesus was approached by this leper, He responds with compassion.
A second aspect of this healing is the nature of the healing: Mark 1:40-44 “40 And a man with leprosy came to Jesus, imploring Him and kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 44 and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The focus of Mark on this man’s healing is that it is not just a healing physically but actually it is a man’s cleansing. Although the two are related, notice that all four times the miracle is referred to – it is referred to as a ‘cleansing’. Leprosy, which refers to various skin diseases in the Old Testament (Lev. 13), rendered people ritually unclean according to the Mosaic law. Anyone who touched a leper would’ve also become ceremonially unclean (see vv. 45–46). It should be noted that the Old Testament associates’ leprosy with death. When Aaron and Miriam sinned against Moses, God struck Miriam with leprosy (Num. 12:1–15). She became as “one dead” and as a stillborn infant (v. 12). Lepers were to carry out their business in a posture of mourning—as though they were mourning the dead—by wearing torn clothes, letting their hair hang loose, and covering their upper lip as they cried out “Unclean, unclean” (Lev. 13:45; cf. 10:6; Ezek. 24:17, 22–23). They lived outside the camp in their leprous condition, where they experienced their own deathlike exile, cut off from God’s life-giving presence. ….
As part of his cleansing, a leper was restored to the covenant community the same way that priests were consecrated to God. Through the sacrifice and application of blood (sacrificial blood was applied to the lobe of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot) (Lev. 14:14; Ex. 29:20) a Levite gained his place among the kingdom of priests to serve the living God and a “cleansed” Israelite gained re-entry into the community of God’s people. It is this requirement for the sacrifice of blood to be utilized in cleansing that led the Lord and Peter to make these declarations: Mtt 26:28 “for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” 1 Peter 1:18,19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things …. but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
The leper here is a man under the sentence of death and as such he serves as a representative of Israel and their relationship with God. Israel may be in the Promised Land when Jesus came to them, but they remained in spiritual exile, alienated from God. Mt 15:7,8,9 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ’These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; teaching as doctrine the precepts of men.’” They needed deliverance not from the bondage of Rome but from the tyranny of sin, Satan, and death. As a matter of uncleanness, leprosy’s significance is more theological and symbolic than biological and medicinal. Lepers needed a priest to pronounce them clean, not a doctor to prescribe them medicine. According to Leviticus 14:19, the priest had to offer a “sin offering” to “make atonement” for the leper as part of the leper’s cleansing process. Without the sin offering, the leper would remain unfit to worship God at the tabernacle. He was cut off from God’s presence—a dead man walking, much like Adam outside the garden.
The law provided atonement and cleansing for the leper, but it was merely an external and ceremonial cleansing. It is, after all, what comes out of the heart that ultimately defiles a person Mark 7:20-23 “And He was saying, ‘That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed the evil thoughts ….. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.’” It is this heart condition which must be dealt with. God brought this condition to the forefront: Jer 31:33 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
So, the question that comes to the forefront is this: is God’s law embedded in your heart. Is your life devoted to God’s kingdom? Jesus said that if we love Him then we will keep His commandments. John 13:34,35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
We are to love one another in the same way that our Lord loved us. We are to love our heavenly Father with all our heart, soul and mind. To the effect that we are living out these two loves then we are a part of God’s kingdom.
7 Sept: The Seven Churches: Conclusion
In this series, we have studied the letters to the seven churches of Asia found at the beginning of the book of Revelation. Each of these churches faced different challenges, yet they were given the same basic message – to remember that they belonged to Christ and that He would reward them if they remained faithful.
While these two points were stressed in each of the letters there were significant differences in each of them. 1 Cor 10:11 “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.” Rom 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” I see in this last verse two points: our bible was preserved by the Lord to teach us – that implies what? That we read/listen and follow. And the second point is that from Scripture we should gain hope about our lives. In Scripture we are supposed to find a message of grace and love to encourage us to remain faithful and therefore receive the crown of life we have been promised.
So, since God went to the trouble of recording for us the warnings and encouragement that He sent to His 7 churches of Asia Minor, I think it would be good for us to review them:
- To the church in Ephesus He reminded them to get back to serving Him out of love and devotion. It is not enough to simply “go through the motions” if our heart is not right. If we do the right thing with the wrong motivation, we will fail to please the Lord. Everything we do must be motivated by our love for Christ.
- To the church in Smyrna, He commended them for remaining faithful in the face suffering. We need to be willing to face whatever persecutions come against us, knowing that these tribulations are only temporary. Even if we must die for our faith, we have a “crown of life” awaiting us.
- To the churches in Pergamum and Thyatira He warned them of their error of tolerating false teachers. As the world becomes increasingly hostile toward Christ and His church, it will be more tempting to ignore error that creeps in among us. False teachers must be marked and avoided so they do not lead us into sin. If they refuse to repent, we cannot continue in fellowship with them.
- Like the church in Philadelphia we need to use our opportunities for good. Even if we are part of a smaller congregation, we can still have a big impact for the Lord. Rather than focusing on our limitations, we need to use the time, resources, and opportunities we have been blessed with to the glory of God.
- Like the church in Laodicea we need to recognize our dependence upon the Lord. God has richly blessed us in this life. Yet Satan tries to use our prosperity against us by tempting us to put our trust in physical things rather than in God, who blesses us with all things (physical and spiritual). Instead of becoming “lukewarm” in our spiritual lives, we need to be zealous in the Lord’s service.
The Lord concluded each of the seven letters with this phrase: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Though these letters were addressed to individual congregations, it was likely that they were shared among each other and they have certainly been saved for our benefit. 1 Thess 5:27 “I adjure by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren.” Col 4:16 “When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is come from Laodicea.”
We need to pay attention to what the Lord said to these churches. We need to follow their example in the ways they were commended. We need to avoid doing those things for which they were condemned. We must never forget that we belong to Christ and have a responsibility to faithfully serve Him – individually and collectively – as we go through life, no matter what challenges come before us.
As we close this study, let us briefly notice a few reminders from the end of the book of Revelation that relate to what we have discussed in these lessons:
- Continue to obey the Lord – “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14, NKJV).
- Do not change His word – “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).
- Eagerly await His coming – “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
The Lord has given us His word to guide us in this life and show us how to please Him. Let us not change His word to suit our preferences; instead, let us humbly submit to His will as we look forward to His return, knowing that He will keep His promise to reward the faithful.