Encountering Christ - Jesus Cleanses A Leper

Title: “Jesus Cleanses a Leper” Scripture: Lk. 5:12-16

Type: Series life of Christ Where: 2-4-23

Intro: Have you ever been around someone who was filthy, but who did not seem to be aware of his condition? How would you like it if that person were your doctor? Just as he is about to examine you, you notice that his hands are grimy and caked with blood. Do you know that as recently as 150 years ago, medical doctors did not know that infection is spread by dirty hands and filthy environments? The finest hospitals in Europe were losing 1 in 5 women after childbirth to what they called “childbed fever.” A doctor’s daily routine would begin in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the hospital to examine expectant mothers without ever washing his hands! In fact, surgeons prided themselves on NEVER washing their surgery coats because it demonstrated their experience! Has anyone ever used Listerine? Powerful stuff! Parents used to make us gargle when had sore throat. Named after Joseph Lister, a British physician who in the middle of the 19th century, to the consternation and disapproval of peers, introduced the principle of antiseptic surgical care and wound management while working as a surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Lister introduced phenol to sterilize surgical instruments, the patient's skin, sutures, the surgeon's hands and the ward. Immediately Lister’s patient’s death rates dropped to 1/10th of the average! Today we are all grateful. People outside of Christ are spiritually defiled, caked with years of filthy sins, but they are oblivious to their need for cleansing. Every day their minds are filled with pride, lust, greed, jealousy, anger, hatred, vengeance, ingratitude, and a host of other sins. Their lips spread damaging gossip, they distort the truth when it is to their own advantage, they tell off-color jokes, their common speech is punctuated with filthy words, and they even take the holy name of the Lord in vain. Their behavior is motivated by whatever is to their own advantage, even if it hurts others. And yet, if you ask such a person, “Why should God let you into heaven?” invariably he will answer, “Because I’m a basically good person.” Unbelieving doctors of Lister’s era needed a microscope to see the connection bt bacteria and infection. The person outside of Christ needs the Holy Spirit and the WOG to open his/her eyes to their filthy condition before a Holy God. (Illust idea from Steven Cole sermon)

Prop: Exam. Lk 5:12-16 we’ll realize 3 important elements about Jesus in the Cleansing of the Leper.

BG 1. Our text shows us a leper who came to Jesus for cleansing. In the Bible, leprosy is a dreaded disease that is a picture of sin

2.

Prop: Exam. Lk 5:12-16 we’ll see 3 Important elements about Jesus in the Cleansing of the Leper.

I. Jesus is Willing to Engage People Whom Others Consider Outcasts.

A. A Leper Comes to Christ for Cleansing.

1. A filthy and ceremonial defiled Leper came to Christ for Cleansing.

a. This is alluded to in our text by the fact that the leper does not ask for healing, but for cleansing, which Jesus granted. The words “clean,” “cleansed,” and “cleansing” occur three times (5:12-14) to underscore the analogy. Leprosy rendered a man ceremonially defiled, so that if he was healed, he still had to go to the priest and carry out an extensive ritual of cleansing before he could be accepted back into the religious community and worship.

b. What was leprosy? If you are not medical or have not read the Bible very much may not know. In the Bible, “leprosy” could be anything from a minor skin discoloration that would clear up on its on in time to what we now call Hansen’s disease. In its most cruel form nodules would grow on the body and then break open emitting a foul odor, hair would fall out, eyes would begin to be somewhat fixed, vocal chords ulcerated and hoarse, wheezing breath, loss of feeling in extremities, body parts fall off, insanity begin to set in…over the space of years! Years in this condition in which a man or woman died by inches.

2. How would this man’s Leprosy have affected his life?

a. In the Jewish community at the time of Christ, a person with leprosy was completely cut off from society. Cast out of homes, out of synagogue, markets, had to live alone or with other lepers. If seen in public without announcing presence with shouts or bells, fearful citizens would hurl stones at them. He had to wear torn clothing, have his head uncovered, cover his lips and shout “Unclean! Unclean!” wherever he went to warn others to keep their distance (Lev. 13:45).