Key Text: "And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him." Luke 5:13
Jesus of Nazareth went about doing good which was the purpose of His mission. Wherever the Saviour went, He carried with Him loving compassion and sympathy for the needy, the poor, the suffering, and the sick. Jesus, while on earth, was the God/man. As our high priest in all ages, He has been touched with the infirmities of humanity. (Hebrews 4:15)
A letter to Ann Landers recently told the story of a little boy who gave his dad a Christmas gift wrapped in a good size box. When his dad unwrapped the box and saw that there was nothing in it, he asked, "Son, where is the gift?"
His little boy answered, "Oh, dad, the box is filled with love." What a wonderful gift for a parent! Now, friend, that is what the Lord Jesus Christ gives us--His love and sympathy. He left us an excellent example.
This month, we are printing the first sermon in a series of seven on the "I Will" statements of Jesus. It is going to be a great series as you can see from the list below:
Our first sermon in this series takes place in the fifth chapter of Luke when a leper comes to Jesus for healing. People came to Jesus from very walk of life bringing their sin, sorrows and afflictions. However, there are many wonderful things about this man coming to Jesus. Perhaps two of the greatest things we see are these:
These two facts are shining out in the portion of Holy Scripture like a beautiful diamond in the center of a large piece of black velvet cloth beaming out of the man's need and his willingness to come to the Saviour.
As the leper comes to the Saviour there are three other things shining like the beautiful stars on a dark clear night. Let us spend time studying each of these.
With all the good medical science and modern medicine and equipment, we still have this deadly disease. I have read that there are some estimated 10 million lepers in the world. Missionary doctors have gone for years to leper colonies to treat the disease.
Leprosy makes its appearance first upon the skin in the shape of certain spots. After a time the spots spread over the whole body. The hair falls out; the fingernails loosen, decay, and drop off. Joint after joint of the fingers, feet, and arms fall off. Leprosy was in fact a slow living death. There was no cure from the world, and no cleansing by the church.
This man was legally unclean according to the law. The law declaring a person with leprosy unclean was universal. The law was unchangeable. It applied to kings and rulers as well as the peasant in the field. No one with leprosy was excluded.
When the person with leprosy went before the priest as required by law, the priest would decide whether or not the person had leprosy, and, if so, the priest would pronounce him unclean. From that time on whenever the leperous person came close to another person or group of people, he must cry, "Unclean, unclean!" Leviticus 13:1-3, 45.
In II Kings 5:1-14 we recognize that Naaman was a mighty man, but he was a leper. We also recognize that although his illness was a plague, Naaman and all lepers like the one in this portion of the Scripture are loved by the Lord Jesus Christ for His love is impartial.
Sin is a type of leprosy, and just as the disease of leprosy brings total illness, total death with no cure, sin does the same thing spiritually for everyone. Friend, with no cure for leprosy, Jesus only could heal the man and make him whole. So it is with the sinner. Sin is incurable. There is only One, who can cure it. His name is Jesus.
Here is a description of the sinner found in Isaiah 1:6, "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." Romans 3:12 also tells us, "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
Let us give thanks to God that Jesus Christ can heal the leper, And He can make us whole spiritually. In healing the leper, we have a perfect, true historical experience that gives courage to saint and sinner. If He healed one leper, If He raised one Lazarus, He can forgive my sins and make me whole. We have seen the disease that held the leper. Now, let us consider his desire.
The problem with so many in Jesus' time, down through all ages and in this present time, is that people see no need of coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for help; therefore they do not want to come to the Lord. They have no desire for forgiveness, no leaning toward the Lord. The leper saw Jesus as more than a good man, more than a good master, more than a good Rabbi, and more than a good prophet. He saw Jesus as Lord.
He fell on his face and besought (begged) the Lord. His heart was centered on the Lord. No one else and nothing else mattered. "The leper is guided to the Savior. Jesus is teaching beside the lake, and the people are gathered about Him. Standing afar off, the leper catches a few words from the Savior's lips. He sees Him laying His hands upon the sick. He sees the lame, the blind, the paralytic, and those dying of various maladies rise up in health, praising God for their deliverance. Faith strengthens in his heart. He draws nearer and yet nearer to the gathered throng. The restrictions laid upon him, the safety of the people, and fear with which all men regard him are forgotten. He thinks only of the blessed hope of healing.
"He is a loathsome spectacle. The disease has made frightful inroads, and his decaying body is horrible to look upon. At sight of him the people fall back in terror. They crowd upon one another in their eagerness to escape from contact with him. Some try to prevent him from approaching Jesus, but in vain. He neither sees nor hears them. Their expressions of loathing are lost upon him. He sees only the Son of God. He hears only the voice that speaks life to the dying. Pressing to Jesus, he casts himself at His feet with the cry, 'Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.'" (Desire of Ages, E.G. White, p. 263)
"And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him." Luke 5:13. The Holy Spirit had drawn and guided the man to the Great Physician. The Lord listened, and the Holy Spirit guided the man's prayer. The first word of the man's prayer is "Lord," and the remaining words are left to the will of the Lord. Perfect Lord and perfect prayer bring about perfect victory.
Jesus made the leper whole, and Jesus can make you and me whole. His love brings grace, mercy, and peace, and we are complete in Him. (Titus 1:4) Jesus is that divine Physician who can make old things pass away, and all things become new. In Him is life. He can quicken us and revive us by His Spirit. He can cleanse our heart, open the eyes of our understanding, renew our wills and make us whole. Friend, if we are lost, it is not because we cannot be saved. There is no case of spiritual leprosy too hard for Christ.
We see the victory complete in verse 13 quoted above. Jesus placed His hand on the man, and the Holy Spirit touches us. Jesus willed the man clean. We are adopted, willed into God's family. The leprosy departed from the man immediately. These same things take place when a person is converted. We are justified, make spiritually whole, and our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We are victorious with new life.
We have seen the disease that held the leper, and we have discussed the desire that helped him. Now, let us consider the dismissal.
One of my professors had a saying, "It's all right to brag if you know who you are bragging on." Friends, the healed and cleansed leper knew who made him whole, and he was telling people about the Saviour. Let us look at the man's honor.
1. Honor to go to the priest - The priest could and would pronounce the man clean. The status of leprosy and the authority of the standing of the diseased leper was in the hands of the priest. What an honor to go before the priest as a former leper who had been cleansed and made whole!
2. Honor to participate in the ceremonial laws of Moses - "...and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded...." Luke 5:14, last part. The Saviour knew that in a short time the ceremonies of the mosaic law would end. They were only shadows and figures of good things to come, but as long as they were in existence, the man should participate in them, and Jesus also would obey them. The system of the Mosaic institution was ordained by God Himself and should be treated with honor.
3. Honor to pass on his testimony - "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities." Luke 5:15. Friends, the work of the Saviour, the Word of God and the wonder of the miracle were passed from Jesus to the leper, through the leper and to the great multitude of people. All miracles are for a purpose, and the purpose is to extend the message of the gospel to others.
Jesus still works the miracle of saving sinners. If we will come to Him each day, He will make us whole and make our lives a miracle of testimony to others.