Good Morning. A thought came to me as I was reviewing the lessons this week. Will there be pain in heaven? If you do a Bible search, you find that Revelation 21:4 which tells us NO! We could end it there, but closer inspection of that verse says that that reference is about emotional pain, since it is in connection to there being no more tears, no more death or sorrow, and isn’t really talking about Physical pain. Whatever the answer, we see this week in our Gospel lesson that not all physical pain is bad, and we have ten witnesses who will tell you that there are many good things when it comes to physical pain. In fact, their healing from leprosy meant that they could feel more pain than they had felt in years, and they loved it!
Leprosy, as most of you may know, is a contagious bacterial infection spread from coughing or sneezing which meant THEN an almost always LIFETIME quarantine for anyone diagnosed.
We met these ten lepers as Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem and decided to take a short cut. The short cut brought him through Gentile towns, the region of Samaria and odd villages, like the one today which turned out to be a leper colony. If you haven’t caught it yet reading through the Gospels, Jesus regularly sought out those who were considered “the least” to show how much God loves them, so that His disciples will follow His example.
I think also, one of the first lessons we can take from this is that the closer we are to Jesus, the more He will push us out of our comfort zones.
The disciples were constantly grumbling about spending time with Tax collectors, (Chosen) Gentiles, and especially Samaritans, and no one wanted to spend time with lepers. If we are growing closer to Jesus, If, as Paul says, we are growing the fruits of the spirit which don’t save us but are the sign and evidence of our redemption in Christ, He will move our hearts to reach those who many consider unlovely.
By Luke 17, Jesus’ fame had been spreading so widely that even the leper colonies knew about the man who healed the deaf and mute, raised the dead, healed the blind and lame. And as we read 2 weeks ago, the more he told them to keep it quiet so he could preach concerning the Kingdom of God, the more they couldn’t keep it in, so that they were even going to leper colonies and telling them, …from a safe distance, of course.
Most people back then assumed leprosy was some sort of flesh-eating skin disease which caused your body parts to fall off, which was understandable, because those were the symptoms. What was really happening was that leprosy caused nerve damage, so that the nerves that send signals to the brain don’t do their job. You can’t feel the pain and become numb to things you really shouldn’t be numb to.(like fire or boiling water)
And I find leprosy is a scarily accurate illustration of the effects that sinful behavior can have on our lives. Paul says in our Galatians reading:
17 For the desires of the flesh (Our Sins) are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
This may sound hard, but there is some great encouragement here.
Paul here shares the good news that for those of us in Christ, filled with the Spirit, we will want to do good, and not because we are so intrinsically good, but because the Holy Spirit in us will push us.
We should want to show the fruits of the spirit, (Love, Joy, Peace) which Paul talks about, and not live according to the flesh. And here is where the pain comes in. When we are tempted, or when we fail, it hurts, but that’s not bad!
Because the more we give into temptation, and the more we live according to the flesh, the less it hurts to sin. That’s Spiritual Leprosy. One of the worst things about sin is how we can become numb to it, and not feel it eating us.
Like the leper, sinners become numb and unfeeling to the state of their souls. And because of this, they sit in desperate need, but fail to realize how sin is killing them because their spiritual pain receptors have died.
Sin is Ugly, just like leprosy is ugly. We can’t see the effects of sin the same way we see the effects of leprosy, and I don’t think we would want to see it either. Good News! What is wonderful is that Jesus doesn’t look at our sin and say “disgusting,” but he looked at us like he looked at the lepers love and compassion.
John 3:16-17
The primary point of lessons in the Gospels is almost always about meeting Jesus, coming into contact with him, and what happens after people do. In this case ten people were changed for life. But there is still a problem.
While the healing of the lepers is a real story, it is also a real-life parable about how so many people can miss Jesus right in front of them, just like so many in the world can miss both that they have a spiritual disease, and a cure. And like so many, they can focus on the wrong thing and miss what is most important.
Last year, I asked a question, but haven’t come up with a better question.
So, this may sound a touch familiar. If this morning, we were able to sit down with the ten lepers one year after the great healing they received.
Now we ask them, each one at a time, “What is the greatest day of your life.” I think we can all agree that all ten would pick the same exact date.
But the next question, where you might get some disagreement, might be why. As you read through the story, it would be evident that the 9 who didn’t return would say that it was the day I was healed from leprosy. It changed my life forever. I couldn’t greet people. I was on a separate colony. People avoided me, I couldn’t go to the temple, I was an outcast, and I was only looking forward to death without hope or my family.
Now, we interview the tenth, and what would he say. By what he did, he shows the greatest day of his life was the day
he met the man who could heal leprosy.
The greatest day of his life was the day he met the man who could also heal his spiritual leprosy. He WORSHIPED (only God) Jesus and afterward Jesus said…Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.
One second… made him well from what? Jesus had already cured all 10 lepers from their leprosy, that’s why he came back, right? He was made well from his sin, and his spiritual leprosy was cured.
The greatest day for any of us is the day we meet Jesus, the man who not only can us heal physically, eternally, but who ALONE can heal spiritually. Jesus gives us his Spirit who dwells in us and even helps us to desire those things which are good. And his blood alone can cure us from the true sickness which infects us.
