Jesus’ Upside Down Kingdom
Mark 1:40-45
Rev. Brian Bill
4/14/13
[Note: Elements of this introduction come from a sermon called “From Leprosy to Life” by John Mayes].
He knew something was wrong...very wrong. But he hoped that if he waited long enough, it would just go away. But it didn’t. In fact, it only got worse. Soon, others started to notice that he looked pale and sickly; and he realized that he would have to take a journey to a far-away city to figure out what exactly was going on.
After several days, he reached the city and made his way to a room where he had never been before in order to speak to someone he had not met before. After what seemed like several hours, the door opened and a man wearing a uniform entered. The man examined the stranger, “It’s here,” as he rolled up his sleeve and revealed an open, runny sore. Again he said, “It’s here,” as he slipped his collar to the side, exposing another oozing sore. “It’s here too,” as he removed his sandal, where there was yet another puss-filled nodule on the top of his foot.
And with that, the priest jumped back with a wild look in his eyes and said to the man, “I declare unto you that you are unclean. Now hear the words of the law: ‘A Leper must wear torn clothes, and his hair must be unkempt, and everywhere he goes, he must cover his mouth with his hand and shout out, ‘unclean, unclean.’ He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.’ May God have mercy on your soul!” And at once, the door slammed shut and the priest was gone.
The man’s worse nightmare had just come true. As he slowly picked himself up, he stood there in that dark room for several minutes in a state of shock. Then, with determination, he started ripping his favorite robe that his wife had made for him. Then he bent down and gathered some dust and rubbed it all over his face and hair until he looked like nothing more than a wild-man. When he stepped outside and squinted at the brightness of the light, he slowly covered his mouth with his hand and choked out the dreaded words, “UNCLEAN! I’M UNCLEAN!!!”
And for the first time in his life, people wretched and recoiled when they saw him. A mother quickly grabbed her children and yelled, “Don’t touch that man! Stay away from him!” A vendor of vegetables on the street corner threw something at him and shouted, “GET OUT OF HERE!”
Quickly the leper made his way outside the city into the open countryside and headed for home. But the worst was yet to come, because he knew he could no longer have contact with his wife or children! When his wife saw him coming from a distance, she and their children ran to their father with joy and excitement, only to hear him growl at them and say, “KEEP AWAY FROM ME! I AM NO LONGER YOUR FATHER! I AM A LEPER!”
A funeral service was held for him in his village by the local Rabbi because he was considered dead the moment he was diagnosed. The man’s health went downhill quickly. He was covered from head to toe with a sickly stench that took one’s breath away. His body started decomposing and the odor of death poured out of every pore. The word “leprosy” is from lepros, meaning scaly. In the Old Testament “leprosy” means “to rot” and that’s exactly what was happening. His skin was like a pool of slime. Dr. Luke mentions in Luke 5:12 that he was “full of leprosy” or “covered” with it. It’s like someone having full-blown AIDS or terminal cancer. He was a dead man walking.
When people saw him they would throw stones at him…as he neared the end of his life, his face resembled a lion’s more than a man’s. He hardly looked human anymore. He was isolated and unwanted. One of the laws added by the rabbis said that it was unlawful for a leper to approach within 50 feet of a clean person. On a windy day the rule changed to 200 feet.
The man’s eyesight was failing; he knew complete blindness was approaching. He had already lost all of his fingers, five of his toes, and one of his ears. The leper had become utterly repulsive to others…and to himself! If this man would have joined us on Easter, and if he could have held a marker in his hand, he would have scribbled out these five words on his sign [Hold up cardboard sign].
Unclean!
Unwanted!
Unworthy!
Unloved!
Isolated!
Pastor Jeff kicked off our new series from Mark’s gospel last week by asking the question, “Who is This Man?” I hope you’ve taken his challenge to read a chapter from Mark every day as we seek to answer this question about Jesus. After being baptized and then tempted for 40 days in the desert, Jesus calls some men to be his disciples, drives out an evil spirit and heals a lot of people, including Peter’s mother-in-law. Mark 1:28 tells us that “News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.” One day, as was His custom, Jesus got up very early and found a solitary place to pray. Peter and his pals find Him anyway and tell Him that everyone is looking for Him.
Here’s something important to remember. While Jesus did a lot of miracles, He did not want people to just see Him as a miracle-worker, as someone who would only meet their physical needs. He came for another purpose, which was to preach the gospel. Look with me at Mark 1:38: “Let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
That sets the context for our text today in Mark 1:40-45. We’re going to learn that in Jesus’ Upside-Down Kingdom, He loves the unlovely and touches the untouchable.
1. Misery. Let’s go back to the leper and establish our first point today. This man was in misery. Men like him were told to “stand at a distance” like the 10 lepers did in Luke 17:12. But according to Mark 1:40 this outcast “came to Him and begged Him on his knees…” Luke adds that he “fell on his face.” Matthew tells us that he came worshipping and “knelt before him.” The word “begged” means “to beseech strongly.” As he stumbled through the crowd on what remained of his feet, the crowd would have gasped in horror, covered their mouths and noses, and scattered.
It took courage to come to Christ in front of the crowds. It also took great humility. And he did so with reverence. With his vocal chords damaged by numerous nodules his voice would have been raspy, his breath wheezy in sound and putrid in smell: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Friends, this is the right way to pray. The man knew that Jesus could make him clean - he had great confidence in His power; he just wasn’t sure if He would. He came on his knees and begged and yet he was submissive to the Sovereignty of the Savior. Luke mentions that he called Him “Lord.” Would you notice that he didn’t “claim” what he thought was his or demand it with a certain formula like some prosperity preachers have made popular? Essentially he was saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can do anything. This is what I want but I don’t know if it’s your will.” Let me also point out that the leper asked to be spiritually clean, not just to be physically healed.
And so the first thing we see is this man’s misery. Second, we see the mercy of Jesus.
2. Mercy. While everyone else was repulsed by the leper, Jesus was moved by mercy. Verse 41 says that he was “filled with compassion.” This means that it gripped him deeply in his gut. He felt the agony of his isolation, his pain and his plight. It was common for Christ to be filled with compassion as we see in Mark 6:33 when, after seeing the huge crowds running on foot to see Him, we read this: “He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things.”
But He did more than just feel compassion. He was touched in his heart and therefore reached out and touched with His hands: “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.” This was not a tentative touch. The Greek terms refer to Jesus “stretching” out his hand and “fastening or adhering” to the leper. This guy had probably not been touched in years.
The Gospel of Mark majors on the touch of Jesus. Let’s look at a few examples.
1:31 - In healing Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus “went to her, took her hand and helped her up.”
5:41 - When a little girl died, Jesus “took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’”
7:33 - When healing a deaf and mute man, “Jesus put his fingers into his ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.”
8:23 - People begged Jesus to touch a blind man and so “He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’”
9:27 - After healing a boy that had an evil spirit, “Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.”
10:16 - When people brought children to Jesus to have Him touch them, He did much more than that: “And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them.”
Jesus loved to give the touch of tenderness. Don’t miss the significance of this. No one was allowed to touch a leper because his uncleanness would be transferred to the one who touched him. In addition, the leprosy itself could be passed on. But deity cannot be defiled. Incidentally, according to the Old Testament, only the High Priest could touch a leper…after he was healed. This touch would tell others that the leper was clean. Jesus, as the Great High Priest, touched the leper and made him clean. And He’s still touching lives today.
And then Jesus declared, “I am willing…” Everything has to do with His will, doesn’t it? He can do anything but it must line up with His will and His timing in order for it to happen. Jesus then says: “Be clean!” When His will is ready all He needs to do is say the word and it will happen. Verse 42: “Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.” “Immediately” is Mark’s favorite word, used over 40 times in his gospel. This man’s fingers were back. His toes were attached again. His skin became soft and supple. His eyesight was back to normal. He was instantly cured and cleansed. The leper had a new lease on life.
And so we see a man in misery who meets the mercy of the Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ upside-down kingdom, the unlovable is loved and the untouchable is touched. What happens next is a bit surprising and even startling.
3. Mission. Jesus is not done. He sees misery and extends mercy so that this man will live on mission. Jesus doesn’t give a suggestion but actually is about to give an extremely stern command. Check out verse 43: “Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning…” Jesus sent him away, which literally means that “he thrust him out of the crowd” because he had a mission to accomplish. Notice that it was urgent - “at once.” And it was authoritative - “with a strong warning.” This is a very powerful picture for it was used of a horse snorting when it was impatient or irritated. Jesus looked very serious and stern and what He is about to say He says with sharpness.
In verse 44 the command of Christ is quite clear: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” There are actually two parts to this command, one negative and one positive. The negative is this: don’t tell anyone. And the positive is to tell someone: he was to go to the priest. This man, who is in Galilee, is told to make the journey to Jerusalem, which would take a couple days, and to meet with the priest and follow what the Law dictated. We don’t have time to get into all the verses that deal with this so let me just mention two.
• Deuteronomy 24:8 - “In cases of leprous diseases be very careful to do exactly as the priests, who are Levites, instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them.”
• Leviticus 14:2-4 - “The priest is to go outside the camp and examine him.” A ceremony involving two birds and some other items took place. Essentially it worked like this. One bird was killed and its blood was sprinkled on the live bird and then the live bird would fly away, signifying that it’s the blood of a sacrifice that cleanses and that our sins fly away when we put our faith in God.
I wrote down some reasons why Jesus could have wanted this guy to go and proclaim his healing to the priest.
• To validate the miracle. Nothing like this had happened in at least 800 years. I can only think of Miriam and Naaman from the Old Testament who had been healed of leprosy.
• To help the man be accepted socially and spiritually. Leviticus 14 says that the priest would issue a certificate of cleansing after verifying the healing.
• To uphold the Old Testament. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
• To give a strong testimony to the priests. The priests and Bible scholars knew that the Messiah would be able to heal lepers. That’s exactly what Jesus told John’s disciples to tell John when he wondered if Jesus was the Messiah in Matthew 11:5: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk and those who have leprosy are healed.”
But the man disobeys in verse 45: “Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news…” I like how the King James handles this verse: “But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter…” Interestingly, he’s told to not tell anybody, and he tells everybody; we’re told to tell everybody and we don’t tell anybody. He was touched and so he went out and testified, but he ended up harming, more than helping the cause of Christ: “…As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”
What he did was not good for at least four reasons…
• It was disobedient. 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Here’s a question. Have you been delivered like the leper but still have an area of disobedience in your life? It’s common for people to get what they want from Jesus and then turn around and do what they want. Do you find yourself saying, “I know what the Bible says…but?” Friends, in the midst of our cultural confusion, we must determine to follow and obey what God says. God has spoken and He has not stuttered. Life begins at conception and therefore abortion is murder. Marriage is between one man and one woman for life. Children belong to their families, not to the state.
• It hampered Jesus. It’s interesting that now the leper can go into the cities but Jesus can’t.
• It confused the mission. The people flocked to His miracles more than the message of the gospel. Jesus came to preach not to perform for others. The miracles were intended to validate the message and His mission, clearly summarized by Jesus in Mark 10:45: “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
• It short-circuited ministry to the priests. They missed out on compelling evidence that Jesus was who He said He was.
A Miracle with a Message
Within this miracle, there is a message for each of us today. I want to break it down for two groups of people -- first for believers and then for those of you who have not yet committed yourself to Christ.
1. A Message for Believers. Fellow followers of Jesus, we’re called to reach out with compassion, loving the unlovable and touching the untouchable. Some of you know what happened to Kevin Ware who plays for the NCAA champion Louisville basketball team. After suffering a horrific injury to his leg in the tournament, some of his teammates saw what happened and started vomiting. Others were crying inconsolably. But then his teammate Luke Hancock ran over to him, held his hand and prayed this prayer: “Lord, watch over us and let Kevin be OK during this tough time.” He then told his teammate: “The Lord does everything for a reason, and he will get us through this.” He then gently patted Ware’s chest several times as more than 34,000 fans watched in the stadium and millions of horrified TV viewers looked on.
Who do you need to reach out and touch, literally? I wrote down some groups that are treated like lepers today.
• Those with depression and mental illness (Rick Warren’s son)
• The elderly, especially those in a nursing home
• Those from a different political party
• Those of a different race or ethnicity
• Women who get pregnant outside of marriage (celebrate fundraiser for the Elizabeth Home)
• The preborn
• The orphans
• The less fortunate (celebrate Caring Closet)
• Those with AIDS
• The alone and forgotten
• The disabled
• Those with cancer
• Anyone not in your clique or social class
• Or anyone you’re holding a grudge against
Philip Yancey writes: “The modern church rejects the outcasts of society where as these very outcasts were the very ones who were drawn to Jesus.” Here’s a question: Are you moved with mercy over the plight of the miserable?
An English cathedral was severely damaged during WWII. A statue of Jesus had read, “Come unto me” but the hands had been completely demolished. If you go there today the statue is still standing and the hands are still gone but the inscription has been changed. It now reads, “He has no hands but ours.”
If you’ve moved from being miserable to receiving mercy, you are now on mission. It’s time to start living that way.
2. A Message for Unbelievers. This story is also about sin and salvation. Leprosy in the Bible was symbolic of sin.
• Sin, like leprosy, starts out small and spreads -- laziness turns to lust; alcohol to alcoholism; petting on a date can lead to pregnancy.
• Like leprosy, sin can deaden and numb us.
• Sin can progressively enslave us. John 8:34 - “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.’”
• Sin defiles everything it touches.
• Sin spiritually disfigures us.
• Sin isolates us.
• Satan presents sin as pleasurable when in fact, it’s putrid.
• Sin can destroy our lives. As someone has said, “Sin will take you further than you planned to go and keep you longer than you were planning to stay.”
• Like leprosy, sin is terminal.
• Anything a leper touched was destined for the fire (Lev. 13:52). Likewise, sin leads to eternal judgment.
Fellow sinner, see your misery as miserable for you are filled with the leprosy of sin and fling yourself upon the mercy of Christ, who is filled with compassion. Some of you have not been saved yet precisely because you don’t see yourself as a sick sinner. But it’s not until we understand the depth of our depravity that we will come to Christ in spite of what the crowd is doing and fall on our face before Him. It’s time now to come to him with humility. It’s time to drop to your knees before Him, like Pastor Jeff had us do last week.
What Jesus did for the leper he can do for anyone here today. He took the place of the leper, and was crucified outside the gate of the city. Friend, nothing is too gross or ugly or dirty or shameful for the Savior to cleanse! Nothing is beyond the scope of Jesus’ compassion. The leper had a transforming moment with the Master. This could be yours right now.
It’s Time to Be Touched
David Dykes summarizes the movie called, “The Elephant Man,” based on a true story of a terribly disfigured man named John Merrick, who lived in London during the 19th century. His own family had rejected him because of his hideous appearance. A doctor found John working in a circus as a sideshow freak and so he took him to a hospital and began to treat him as a person. He provided books for John and soon discovered he was a kind, intelligent person.
After a newspaper reported on John’s progress, a talented actress came to visit him. She was also a committed Christian. On one visit she presented John with a copy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. He felt like an ugly beast cowering before a pretty princess. He was at such a loss for words he opened the script and began to read. His voice was squeaky as he read from the second act: “See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon the hand that I might touch that cheek!”
As he read that line, Madge Kendall slipped quietly into the seat beside him. She responded with the words of Juliet she had memorized from her years in the theater. John read and she recited the rest of the act together. When it was done, she leaned over and kissed his swollen, leathery cheek. From that moment on, John Merrick was a changed man!
Sin has disfigured each of us until even our righteousness is as filthy rags. Compared to the perfect holiness of God, our sinful lives are hideous and grotesque. But the Lord Jesus Christ leaned over at Calvary and kissed our sin-shriveled lives with the mercies of heaven and since that day, none of us have ever been the same.
Dear friend do you need cleansing today? Will you come to Jesus and fall at His feet and say,
“Lord, I need help. I have a sin problem and I’m miserable. I know I’m going to die from this sin unless you forgive me. Please show me mercy. I know you can save me. Will you? I ask you right now to touch my sinful heart and take away my sin and then enable me to live on mission for you.”
I received an email from someone who attended our Easter service two weeks ago. This is what he wrote: “Back to the sign thing, I think I would need a refrigerator box or two to write my sins on it…But I can’t imagine how many boxes I would need to count the ways God has blessed us in these last 18 months!”
After being cleansed by Christ, the leper would need a large sign as well to recount all that Christ had done for Him [hold up sign].
Clean!
Wanted!
I have worth!
Loved!
In community!
Our misery is worse than we think…the mercy of Jesus is deeper than we imagine…and our mission is greater than we realize.
