We begin with a brief recap.

We talked about Jesus and the fact that He is the express image of God. What we see in Him is the will of the Father made flesh and walking among us.

Next, we looked at the twenty-two times in the gospels where the writers report Jesus healing large groups, or equipping many to go out and do ministry. We found that Jesus healed all who came to him, no matter background or relationship to Him. We also saw that there was nothing Jesus could not heal, or would not heal. It wasn’t just sickness and disease. He healed the lame, the maimed, those with congenital defects and issues they inherited from their parents.

We spent an hour looking at sickness in the curse of the law, and let it sink in that we have been redeemed from the curse of the law.

Last week we started a look at faith and saw that, as FF Bosworth says in his book Christ the Healer, “Faith begins where the will of God is known.” We looked at nine reasons faith is a critical study:

1.  Without Faith, it is impossible to please God – Heb 11:6
2.  We are justified by faith – Without faith, we can’t be saved – Rom 3:28
3.  By faith, we have the answers to our prayers – Matt 21:22
4.  Those who are justified walk by faith – Gal 3:11
5.  You can not conquer sin without faith – Rom 14:23
6.  We receive our inheritance by faith – Acts 26:18
7.  Spiritual gifts come in proportion to our faith – Rom 12:6
8.  Victory comes through faith – our Shield – Eph 6:16
9.  By faith, we overcome the world – 1 John 5:4

We listened to the Words of Jesus in ten of the nineteen individual healings giving credit to faith for the work of God in the lives of those who came to Him.

1. To the Centurion He said, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.” – Matthew 8:10
2. Regarding the Paralytic and his friends,  “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic…” – Mark 2:5
3. To Jairus, He said – “Do not be afraid, only believe.” – Mark 5:36
4. To the woman with the issue of Blood, He said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” – Matthew 9:22
5. To the two blind men, He said – “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” – Matthew 9:29
6. To the Syrophoenician Woman, He said – “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” – Matthew 15:28
7. To Blind Bartimaeus, He said, “Go; your faith has made you well.” – Mark 10:52
8. To the leper who returned to give thanks, He said, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.” – Luke 17:19
9. The disciples demonstrated faith for the healing of Peter’s Mother-in-law, “they asked Him to help her” – Luke 4:38
10. Of the Royal official whose son was sick, it’s said, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.” – John 4:50

Then we started a look at the miracles of Jesus. We heard Jesus answer the question, is healing God’s will, in a very simple form. He said to the leper, “I will, be cleansed.” Nowhere in the Bible did God ever make anyone sick to teach them anything. And there was never a time when Jesus told anyone it was not the time for them to be healed.

We are going to go, one by one, through all of Jesus’ healing miracles and take a close look at each one from a number of angles. We’ll look at what part faith played. We’ll observe the will of God in the actions of Jesus. We’ll see man’s part and God’s part. We’ll observe compassion in action.

Before we get back to the leper, I feel led of the Lord to show you something He opened up to me this week.

Interlude:

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” – Matthew 9:35-38 NASB

he was deeply moved with pity for them, for they were as bewildered and miserable … (Philips)

confused and aimless – MSG

distressed and dejected – Mounce

troubled and abandoned – NABRE

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. … “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ “Heal [the] sick, raise [the] dead, cleanse [the] lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. – Matthew 10:1, 7-8 NASB

Back to the leper

Tonight we are going to pick up where we left off with the story of the leper.

This event is recorded in three gospels. Each gives us slightly different details and a slightly different perspective.

By the way, and this is probably obvious to you, but don’t ever get thrown by slight or even seemingly major differences in the gospel accounts. Each of the writers saw things from their own point of view and their own unique bent. They each are writing to different audiences and emphasize different aspects of what happened. If you come across something that seems like a contradiction, don’t let it offend you. Put it on the shelf for later consideration. Always err on the side of giving Jesus the benefit of the doubt, so to speak. Don’t let your heart condemn Him because of something you might be missing from the equation. It may be a language difficulty or a cultural misunderstanding. Remember, you have an enemy trying desperately to snatch the word away before it takes root and bears fruit.

So let’s start tonight by reading all three accounts of our first miracle. We’re not going to hurry through these, but we’re going to let the Word speak to us.

Let’s start with Matthew’s account. Remember, Matthew 5 – 7 is the sermon on the mount. Matthew records this healing as happening as Jesus came down off the mount with the crowd following close at hand.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” – Matthew 8:1-4 NASB

They were in a large crowd just coming down from hearing the Sermon on the Mount. This leper had no business being in a crowd of any size. They had to keep far off from other people because leprosy was thought to be highly contagious.

“As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ “He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. – Leviticus 13:45-46 NASB

The Lord spends two chapters in Leviticus, 13 and 14, talking exclusively about leprosy. First on how to examine skin issues to determine whether or not they are leprosy, and then the requirements to be brought back into society when leprosy has gone into remission. The real intent and use of this 2nd chapter were only to be used for cases where there was a false positive. The test in chapter 13 was a 2-week observation. If the skin disease was still going after 2 weeks, they considered it chronic and you would be cast out of the society. You would have to live alone and anytime you were near others, you would need to be calling out “Unclean, unclean.” Life as you knew it was over. It was horrible and debilitating.

Leprosy would numb your extremities, and eventually every part of your body. You could injure yourself and never know about it. You could twist and ankle, and continue to walk on it until it was broken, and never feel it. This is why parts would fall off, and people would start to be deformed.

We knew a great evangelist/pastor, the former pastor of my brother-in-law’s church, who spent her life going to the neediest of the world. She told testimonies of going into modern-day leper colonies and the power of God went with her. I’ll never forget the way she would tell of touching people and seeing parts grow back. She told of pulling a nose out of someone flattened face, and pulling fingers out of a hand where they were missing.

This leper had no business coming to Jesus in the midst of a crown. He was breaking so many laws, but he knew if there was any chance of him being healed, it would be this Jesus who would do it.

In the Old Testament, leprosy is closely linked to sin. The man on the street thought of as a direct punishment from God. Remember Job’s friends pointing to Job’s failings as the reason for his problems which included boils and issues with his skin. Remember when the disciples ask, “who sinned,” about the blind man in John 6. Well, for a leper, the question would not have been asked. It would be assumed he was to blame. Leprosy carried a weight of shame.

Back to our leper – Luke adds just one detail we don’t find in Matthew or Mark, and that is that he was covered in leprosy – or as the KJV states – full of leprosy. He was a physician and so often brings more detail regarding the condition.

Mark’s telling of the event brings some wonderful light, so we’ll do some digging there now.

And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 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.” – Mark 1:40-44 NASB

Let’s drill down on this one a bit.

He came beseeching Jesus. This is an element of faith we often overlook. I’ve heard people declare outcomes and speak positive confessions over and over, but they neglect this one piece of the puzzle. ASK. Asking is part of faith. It’s how we know this man had a measure of faith when the story begins. I would never ask you for something if I didn’t believe you had the power to grant my petition.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount said,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. – Matthew 7:7 NKJV

James tells us in James 4:2, ‘You do not have because you do not ask.”

Falling to his knees… He humbled himself. Pride will stop healing in its tracks. Think of the story of another man with leprosy – Naaman. In 2 Kings 5, we read the story of a Syrian Military Captain who heard tell of the prophet in Israel. Until he was willing to humble himself, he resisted the prophet’s instructions.

This attitude of humility and reverence gains the Lord’s attention.

“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” – James 4:6 NKJV

It’s also a posture of worship. When we come to God, we don’t come with a sense of entitlement, but one of wonder at the great love bestowed on us. We don’t come demanding from God something He owes us but receiving from God the gifts He freely gave us. We come boldly before Him, but with a sense of awe and wonder.

In the Kingdom of God, we hold many roles. We are the sons and daughters of God, and heirs together with the Lord. We are the friends of Jesus, with whom He shares His plans and secrets. We are the Bride of Christ with whom He partners in ministry. But when all is said and done, those who knew Jesus best introduced themselves as the bond-servants–love slaves of Jesus Christ. There is a humility that we carry in our relationship toward Christ.

Next, we see the heart of Jesus. He was moved with compassion. This word compassion comes from the idea of the bowels. Today we say heart, but in earlier days, the bowels were thought to be the seat of the emotions, the feelings. We get that, right? We’ve all had butterflies in our stomach when we’re nervous. I know for me, in times when I have done something wrong and I’m feeling guilty, that’s where I feel it. It affects the digestive, not the pulmonary system.

What moves the Lord? What tugs are His heartstrings, or what moves the seat of the Lord’s emotions? This attitude of humility and reverence gain the Lord’s attention.

“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” – James 4:6 NKJV

We have a number of times in the gospel where Jesus feels compassion.

When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. – Matthew 14:14 NASB

And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” – Matthew 15:32 NASB

Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him. – Matthew 20:34 NASB

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” – Matthew 9:36-38 NASB

We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and [is] merciful. – James 5:11 NASB

Just as a father has compassion on [his] children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. – Psalm 103:13 NASB

He touched him. Consider the implications here. By the law of the day – if Jesus were to touch this leper, He would be unclean, unable to come before God, enter the temple, or synagog. He would effectively have to self-quarantine for a week, before being involved in any spiritual activity, or moving about in public. He would have to suspend His time with His disciples. He would have to move outside the city or village, and isolate.

One of my favorite Bill Johnson quotes comes from this account. He says, “In the Old Covenant when you touch a leper you become unclean, in the New Covenant when you touch a leper, the leper becomes clean.” It’s a much better covenant – wouldn’t you say?

He did not move in fear of the disease that was the most feared of the day. He didn’t make the man move away. He didn’t rebuke the leper for his importunity, the nerve to come into the middle of this great crowd. He just cleaned him.

In the biography of John G. Lake, a medical doctor who gave himself to preaching the gospel, it tells of the time that the Bubonic plague was ravaging India (I believe it was India.) He would go into the villages and lay hands on the sick and preach the gospel. Others would warn him that he was going to get this plague and die himself if he did not stop his ministry. That’s when he showed them something they didn’t understand about the presence of God and the power of faith.

He had them take a live culture of the plague and put it on his hand and then observe it under a microscope. As he predicted, the plague died when it came in contact with Lake’s skin.

Jesus had no fear in dealing with the highly contagious even when the disease was debilitating and deadly. He knew that no evil could come near Him as long as he was moving in the will of God. The key to Jesus’ boldness and fearlessness was being in the center of God’s will. We can walk in the same kind of faith as we set our days before Him and walk in the path He sets before us.

Ok – back to our leper. We see when He approached the Master, he has some faith. He believed that Jesus could heal him. He must have heard some talking about Jesus healing someone else. But, even though he knew Jesus could heal him, he was not healed. Even though he was right there in Jesus presence, he was not yet healed.

So Jesus answered the one question he had. Is it your will? At these words, “I will, be clean.” The leper’s faith rose up and took hold of his healing.

Jesus, in his compassion, answered the question and led the man in a faith journey to the place where He could receive. Next week, we’re going to see the faith that takes hold and people who miss the opportunity to be healed all together in one place.