Presentation 17
Presentation 17
Introduction
Often elderly people express disappointment with
the way some young people speak today. To cite just
one example, they often confuse an ability to do
something with a willingness to do something. So
when they ask, ‘Can you run me round to my friends
house?’ they invariably mean is ‘Will you run be
round to my friends house’? It is not their parents’
ability but willingness that forms the basis of their
enquiry. The issue of willingness to help lies at the
centre of our passage . All three synoptic writers
record the healing of this particular leper. What
makes his healing so important? What great lesson
does it teach us about the ministry of Jesus? What
significant application does this passage have for us
today? These are questions we ask now.
Presentation 17
A Man With A Problem
We have very little biographical information
about the man who came to Jesus save that he
was a leper. Luke, the doctor evangelist describes
the advanced state of the disease, "he was
covered with leprosy”.
The description Luke uses describes a disease
that has gained the mastery over the human
frame. The Rabbis taught that the disease was
humanly incurable. The law of God forbade
physical contact with such a man because of the
contagious nature of the disease. And so here we
have a man who knew what it was to be
ostracised by society.
Presentation 17
A Man With A Problem
It is probably true to say that leprosy in that age
provoked the same kind of frightening response in
society that Aids does today. The basic difference
being that mere physical contact with an Aids
sufferer does not communicate the disease.
Try to place yourself in this man’s position. Not only
have you been told that you have an incurable
disease. But you know that the very nature of your
disease means you will be held at arms length by
society and even more heart-rending, your family
will not be able to come near you. In the throes of
death there will be no friend to comfort, no human
kindness, no support, no loving compassion, only an
overwhelming sense of abandonment.
Presentation 17
A Man With A Problem
Think of what that kind of self-awareness does
to a person psychologically. Being branded the
off scouring of society does very little for a
person's self-worth and self-esteem. It can
produce not only a broken spirit but also a
cynicism and disillusionment which in turn views
the whole world as hostile.
So much so that it is hard to believe in the
existence of kindness and compassion – they
seem like empty meaningless words. In this
condition it becomes increasingly more difficult
to relate to others, to unburden ourselves to
others, to believe that we will find others who
will love us for our own sake.
Presentation 17
A Man With A Problem
The experience of this man is not something
held in a time warp belonging to a period of
time 2000 years ago. This is a present day
experience.
Two boys were haemophiliacs as a result of
being given contaminated blood and as a result
they became infected by aids. The boys did not
know what hit them when their friends
shunned their company and treated them like
fairground freaks. The parents of the children
attending the same school as the boys
threatened to keep their own children away
from school if the two boys with aids continued
to attend school.
Presentation 17
A Man With A Problem
We do not have far to turn to meet someone who
has experienced some degree of ostracisation: the
alcoholic, the unmarried mother, the mentally ill, the
person guilty of some notorious sin. These
individuals often know what it is like to be treated as
social lepers. They know what it is to live with
estrangement.
But there is a far wider application even than this.
Leprosy in the Bible is often used to illustrate
spiritually the effects of human sin and guilt. Sin is a
"disease" more destructive than leprosy and
something that lies beyond the power of human
help and cleansing.
Presentation 17
A Man With A Problem
Shakespeare grasped the immensity of the
problem. Recall the words of McBeth after he
murdered Duncan? Looking at his blood-stained
hands he asks,
"Can all great Neptune's oceans wash away this
blood?”.
He knew in his heart no human cleansing agent
could ever deal with his sin and grant him peace.
Sin estranges us from fellowship with God and
has an increasingly destructive effect in our lives.
All men, like this leper, have need of a cleansing
which no human agency can accomplish.
Presentation 17
A Request With A
Qualification
Despite the leper's experience of estrangement
and the mental scarring produced by constant
rejection, he broke with all the accepted
conventions and the prohibitions of the Mosaic
Law and rushed into the company of Jesus. Why?
He believed that Jesus was able to meet his need.
The Jews believed that the Messiah when he
came would be able to cure leprosy. When John
the Baptist depressed by his imprisonment sent
messengers to Jesus to inquire, if he had been
correct to identify Jesus as the Messiah.
Presentation 17
A Request With A
Qualification
Jesus replied.
"Go back and report to John what you hear and
see. The blind receive their sight, the lame
walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the
deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good
news is preached to the poor.“ Matt.11v4ff
Now clearly, the leper in our story believed that
Jesus was the Messiah with the power to do
what no other man could do for him. Of all the
leper's in Israel here was one who was not
content to submit to his foul condition. Instead,
he was determined to do something about it.
Presentation 17
A Request With A
Qualification
However, the request the leper makes though it
demonstrates faith in the ability of Jesus,
nevertheless is uncertain of his mercy. It is a
request with a qualification, "Lord, if you are
willing, you can make me clean".
This is surely not merely the language of
submission. The leper was correct in believing that
healing was not a right he could claim or a blessing
he had earned, or indeed, that there was any
obligation on the part of Jesus meet his need.
Presentation 17
A Request With A
Qualification
This man is unsure of his worth and value, society
had devalued him. Would Jesus consider him worth
helping? Many people consider themselves to be
small fry, too unimportant for Jesus concern. But
Jesus the fisher of men never throws back the
minnows. He says, "Whoever comes to me I will
in no wise cast out," Jn.6v37.
Are you uncertain of the willingness of Jesus to help
you? The sore experience of rejection by the society
of which we are a part or even worse in the church
fellowship of which we are a member can profoundly
colour our expectations and understanding of Jesus.
Presentation 17
A Saviour With A Solution
The leper may well have been tentative and unsure
but the reply of Jesus was unequivocal, "I am
willing,” he said, "be clean". How we need to open
our eyes to the willingness of God to stretch out
towards us in our need.
Francis of Assisi tells us that it was the response of
Jesus towards this leper that was the means of
changing the whole direction of his life. We read
that in v13 that "Jesus stretched out his hand and
touched the man". Can you imagine what that touch
meant to a man who for years had seen the great
lengths people would go to in order to avoid any
physical contact with him.
Presentation 17
A Saviour With A Solution
Not long after the Aids scare first hit Britain
Princess Diana visited an Aids ward and reached
out and touched some of the aids victims whom
others in society had gone to great lengths to
avoid. She of course had medical assurance that it
was safe for her to do so. But that touch meant a
great deal to Aids patients around the world.
Jesus was doing something infinitely greater than
that. He did the unthinkable. Jesus disregarded the
Jewish ceremonial law and touched a man who
was contagious to the touch. Not that Jesus
thought the law unimportant but it was in this
instance displaced by a higher law, the law of love.
Presentation 17
A Saviour With A Solution
Jesus did something very simple for this man but
you can be sure that it meant more to him than
words could express. In that touch Jesus was doing
much more than healing his leprosy. He was
showing his love, not a gooey sentiment but a
willingness to identify himself with his broken and
disfigured humanity.
One of my abiding memories from childhood was
hearing a soloist in church describing this incident in
song; with the repetitive refrain in the chorus "HE
TOUCHED ME". It spoke of a Jesus who reached
down to identify with and deal with a world of
human need.
Presentation 17
A Saviour With A Solution
There is a sense in which Jesus touched not just a
sick man but a sinful humanity when as our
representative upon the cross, he bore the
punishment in his own body which rightfully
belonged to those he represented.
Isaiah writes:
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our
sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God
and afflicted, But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon
him and by his wounds we are healed.” Isa 53v4
Presentation 17
A Saviour With A Solution
The history of the Christian church is a history
of men and women, who are able to say,
"He touched me".
The Jesus who cleansed the leper is the Jesus
who cleanses us of the moral leprosy of our
sin. When the guilt-ridden man discovers
peace with God he is able to say,
"He touched me".
When the man whose life has been scarred
by sin finds that emotions are healed he is
able to say,
"He touched me"....
Presentation 17
A Saviour With A Solution
Jesus told the healed leper to do two things. First
he was to keep his healing secret. Why? Jesus did
not want his office to be reduced to that of a
mere miracle worker and wonder healer. He did
not want to be so hounded by those who love to
gawk at the spectacular that he had no time to
proclaim the good news of the kingdom. The
healing which was the priority of Jesus’ mission
was not physical healing but spiritual healing, not
merely to restore men to physical wholeness but
to spiritual wholeness. In some church circles it is
considered more important to see spectacular
healings than to hear the proclamation of the
forgiveness of sins, and of reconciliation with
God. They have failed to learn from J's priorities!
Presentation 17
A Saviour With A Solution
The second thing the healed leper is told to do is to offer the
appropriate sacrifices as laid down in the Law of Moses for his
cleansing. In other words he is encouraged in his religious duty.
If this is what the Law of Moses called for by way of response
to physical healing what ought the response be of those whose
hearts have been cleansed of the guilt and stain of sin? The
sacrificial system was brought to an end in the death of Christ.
However, Paul calls upon those who have experienced God's
salvation to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God. In other words to consecrate their lives to
God's service, to live for him and serve him with all their
hearts. Is that really too generous a response to make for who
have experienced the healing touch of Jesus in their lives?
Presentation 17