ONCE A LEPER
Matthew 8:1-4, "When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."
The man knew something was wrong...very wrong. He hoped that if he waited long enough, it would just go away. But it didn’t go away. 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 and present himself to the experts, the priests, to figure out what exactly was going on.
He 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 priest entered. The priest examined the man, “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.
The priest looked coolly at the man. There was no compassion in his voice when he said “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!”
His entire life, he had known about the lepers. His mother and father had warned him about them. They were unclean. They were disfigured and monstrous to look at. They were to him, as a young child, monsters. They were surely cursed of God. They must have committed a terrible sin for them to become lepers. He remembered his friends throwing rocks at lepers outside the gates of the city.
With the terrible diagnosis came the awful knowledge that there was no cure. Once a leper, always a leper…
And now he was one. His worst 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 the robe that his wife had made for him. 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 AM 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!” And so, you can imagine that as this leper walked down the street, he was shunned. Little children looked at him, got scared, and ran away. Older children kept their distance by throwing rocks at him and making cutting remarks. Adults walked on the other side of the street, shaking their heads in disgust or just looking away.
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 oozing sores. His body started decomposing and the odor of death poured out of every pore. 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.
As he neared the end of his life, his face 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! Unclean! Unwanted! Unworthy! Unloved! Isolated!
But then he heard a story, a rumor. There was a man who could heal people of their afflictions. There was a man who had power from God. He did not believe the stories right away. He had never heard of anyone finding a cure, once having been declared a leper. The law had a provision for those who were cleansed of leprosy. They were to present their selves to the priests again, who would declare them clean. But that had never happened, as far as he knew. Once a leper, always a leper. How could it be that a man could heal him? How could it be? Did he dare to hope? He had given up on being a husband to his wife. He had given up on being a father to his children. Could it be? Was there a chance?
I don’t know how long he waited. But, finally, he decided to give it a try. When life is hopeless, you will find yourself trying things you never thought you would. The story of this healer might have sounded strange and unbelievable at first. But in his desperation, he thought he would give it a try.
Leprosy in the Bible represented sin. Sin begins small, but grows until it consumes your entire life. It will isolate you from your family. It ends in death. There is no cure for it in the world.
The Alcoholic is taught that he will always be an alcoholic! The drug addict is taught that he will always be a drug addict! The man addicted to sin sees no way out. All the world can do is attempt to control how much alcohol, drugs and criminal activity that people do. The world does not have the power to set men free from anything!
One day the leper saw his chance. Jesus was outside the city. He was coming down from the mountain. The leper, who was not allowed within the gates of the city, knew he had to catch Him before he entered the city.
The leper, in desperation, violated the law in coming so close to Jesus. He threw himself down at His feet. He came to Jesus and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. There must have been something about The Lord that caused the leper to believe. He must have felt something, something must have stirred him. The presence of The Lord is that way. You hear the story of one who can save you, one who can deliver you. It sounds too good to be true, but you come to church, and find yourself suddenly in His presence. Something stirs within you, and you realize you believe what was said about Him. You believe He can save and deliver.
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.
Imagine what it must have been like for the leper. He had gone so long without feeling the touch of another human being. He was unclean, filthy, running with sores. But Jesus touched him.
Imagine what that must have meant to the man. He had been isolated from human touch. He was hideous to look at, covered with oozing sores. But Jesus touched him!
Oh He touched me…
Jesus did not have to touch him in order to heal him. In fact, normally under the law, when anything unclean touched anything holy, the holy thing was made unclean. But now, for the first time in history, the opposite happened. That which was holy touched that which was unclean, and the unclean thing became holy. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed!
Jesus said, I will! Oh, He is saying that today!
ALTAR CALL
“If any man come to me, I will in no wise cast him out.”
When God says, “I will,” miracles happen. When God says, “I will,” people get touched.
If you need rest, He said, Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
If you need revival in your soul, He says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Healing – Jesus says I will –James 5, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
Isaiah 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Do you need the Holy Ghost? God says, I will. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Joel, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams…”
Isaiah,” for with stammering lips and another tongue will I speak to these people, to whom He said, this is the rest whereby He calls the weary to rest…”
Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you..."
Do you need joy? “Therefore with joy will you draw water from the well of salvation!”
“Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
Deliverance – Jesus says I will - Isaiah 46:4, "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."
