Theme: Jesus a friend of outcasts
Text: 2 Kings 5:1-14; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; Mark 1:40-45
Leprosy was and is a horrible and dreaded disease although today it can be cured. Many of us live near the Weija Leprosarium and are not even prepared to go anywhere near the place although many of the people there have been cured of leprosy. A few years ago water to the place was disconnected and many of them with what could no longer be referred to as hands had to walk long distances to fetch water. Very few people showed compassion and concern about their plight. In our contemporary society, we not only have lepers, but other people who are also treated as lepers. We have those suffering from AIDS and cancer, the mentally and physically handicapped, and many others who are alone and forgotten. It’s not just the physical suffering; it’s the isolation, the loneliness, the feeling that nobody wants to be around them. As the body of Christ, we need to be a people of compassion as leprosy is a picture of sin and its consequences. The clothes of the leper are torn just as sin tears our garments of righteousness. Sin has so defiled us that we can no longer know God as He really is. In his book, ‘the knowledge of the Holy’ A. W. Tozer wrote that what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Do we think about His love and compassion? Do we see Christ as He really is? Do we believe that in Christ God has revealed Himself to man, that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form? Do we believe that the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His Being, sustaining all things by His powerful word? Jesus a friend of outcasts demonstrates His love and compassion towards sinful men and women by paying the penalty for sin.
Leprosy was the most dreaded disease in ancient Palestine. This terrible condition slowly consumed the flesh of its victims. Eventually the fingers, toes and other extremities would die, rot and fall off. Compounding the agony of the disfiguring disease were the social stigmas attached to it. The leper lost his identity, lost his dignity and was condemned to live isolated outside the community. He was banished from society and exiled from home. A leper had the responsible to prevent others from coming too close, and was required to cry ‘unclean, unclean’ wherever he went. Leprosy does not only cause a great deal of physical distress, but more importantly it makes a person unclean, separating him or her from God and from God’s people.
Leprosy has long been an illustration of sin’s wasting effects in a person’s life. It begins with little specks on the eyelids and on the palms of the hand. Then it spreads over the body. Penetrating the skin it destroys the nerve cells and the victim gradually loses all sense of touch and pain, initially in the fingers and toes, then spreading up the arms and legs. Without the sense of touch, a person with leprosy eventually damages his toes, fingers, and feet. He will hit objects, cut himself, get infections and not even notice. In one leper colony it was observed that many of the lepers were loosing their fingers and toes during the night. When someone finally stayed up all night to watch and see what happened, they found that rats were chewing off their fingers and toes at night. The victims, however, did not wake up, because they didn’t feel anything. As leprosy advances, a leper even looses the human look. He is completely helpless and becomes literally a walking dead person. Naaman was such a person. He was rich in many ways. He had power as commander of the army of the king of Aram. He had a reputation and a great name because of his many victories in battle. He had the courage and confidence of a valiant and expert soldier. Naaman had all this, yet he was the most pathetic man alive, for he also had leprosy that had no cure. Naaman, however, found true wealth through the gospel, through sound spiritual encouragement, and through humility. The gospel or Good News for him was that the man of God could heal his disease. His servant gave him some much-needed spiritual encouragement when out of pride he was about to leave without being cleansed. In humility, Naaman dipped in the muddy river Jordan seven times, and came out healed. Today there are many people like Naaman. They may have a decent job, a decent family, friends, and money in the bank. But they are infected with sin. They may seem to have it all together but spiritually they are rotting away. Leprosy is a picture or type of sin, which portrays the consuming, horrible effect of sin on a person’s life. Like leprosy sins of the flesh often start as small unnoticeable specks. They slowly spread consuming more and more of our minds. Eventually it has a numbing effect on our conscience and we no longer feel any pain when we do wrong. Leprosy like sin, will steal our life, destroy us and eventually kill us. Like the leper we can also come to Jesus for cleansing. We can go to the throne of Christ, every day, any hour of the day, and ask him to cleanse us of our sin, and he will. “I am willing,” Jesus says.
Christ is the One who cleanses the leper. The leper violated the rules and regulations concerning lepers. He was supposed to shout, "Unclean!" to keep Jesus away but instead he came to Jesus and prayed for cleansing. The leper acknowledged that he could not heal himself or make himself clean. He demonstrated his faith in Christ’s power when he said “You can make me clean.” And he submitted himself to God’s will. He desperately wanted to be clean, yet he left it in the hands of God. The only basis for his request was the love and compassion of Christ.
The cleansing of a leper, according to the Old Testament, was a sign of the Messiah’s presence. It was prophesied that when the Messiah came the blind would see, the dumb would speak, the lame would leap for joy, and the leper would be cleansed. Jesus sent this man to be a testimony to the priests. Jesus wanted the priests to see with their own eyes what had taken place, so that they would know that the Messiah had come and see their own need for cleansing. Like Naaman we are often filled with pride and cannot accept our need for cleansing. Naaman was annoyed that Elisha had not even come out to meet him. Instead, he had sent a messenger to tell him to go and dip himself in the Jordan River seven times. His pride was so hurt that he was prepared to leave without doing what the prophet had said. This is actually a true picture of the way we behave with God. We go to God with the most terrible disease in the world - sin. And what does God do? He doesn’t come out and speak to us face to face. Instead, he sends a messenger, maybe a pastor or a Christian friend. And he tells us to do something that seems foolish – be baptized – allow water to be applied to you, and you will be cleansed of your sin. “What is this?” we say. “Why doesn’t God talk to me directly? Is God really speaking to me through this foolish pastor? I am supposed to be baptized? Sounds foolish. This is not the way I think God should fix my problem of sin!” But we have nowhere else to go. Either we do what God says, or we die of sin and go to hell forever. Naaman had nowhere else to go. Either he does what the prophet says, or he decays alive and dies a horrible death. When Naaman did as the man of God had told him, his flesh was restored, and his decaying, dead skin became clean, like that of a young boy. It was as though he had never been sick in the first place. He became a follower of God and returned to his homeland a new man. This is what God does for us. God cleanses us from sin and fills us with the Holy Spirit. We become new and are given a new lease on life.
When Jesus cleanses us we are made new to live His life. We are to live His life of love and compassion. We are to touch those in need and no one should be too disgusting for our touch. We are to reach out to those suffering from Aids. We can only do this when we maintain a daily contact with the word of God and fellowship with other believers. Maintaining the cleansing of Christ requires purpose and disciple and this can also be found in Fellowshipping with other believers. The Christian life requires hard work, self-denial and strict preparation and the Body of Christ keeps us focused on Christ.
When God commissioned Moses to deliver the Israelites Moses asked for a sign to convince the Jews that God had sent him. One of those signs was demonstrated when Moses was asked to put his hand inside his cloak. When he took it out it was leprous, as white as snow. When he put in inside his cloak again and took it out it was restored and like the rest of his body. God was here clearly declaring that he had power over life and death. Through this experience Moses learnt that God could cause or cure any kind of problem. Jesus Christ has commissioned all believers to share the good news and bring people from death to life. As Christians we are running towards our heavenly reward. What really strengthens us for the race and keeps us going are prayer, Bible study and worship. Our spiritual progress depends on it.
The cleansing of the leper is a picture of our cleansing from sin in the blood of Christ. In the Old Testament, the leper who had been healed had to be made clean before returning to the camp. The priest went outside the camp with him into an open field near a running stream. This is found in Leviticus 13. He brought with him two live birds that were clean according to the Law, a piece of cedar wood, a small scarlet cloth, a hyssop branch, and a clay pot. The head of one of the birds was pulled off inside the pot as it was held over the stream and the blood was caught in the pot. Then the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the scarlet cloth, and the hyssop branch were all dipped in the blood of the dead bird. The priest then used the hyssop branch to sprinkle the blood on the leper seven times and pronounced him clean. Finally, the living bird was released to fly away with its wings still wet and dripping with the blood of the dead bird. This is indeed a prophetic picture foretelling Christ’s redemptive death, suffering and resurrection. The bird that was killed symbolised the crucified Christ and the other the resurrected Christ. The second bird was only released after it was covered and dripping with the blood of the slain bird. In a sense we are all lepers because we have been deformed by the ugliness of sin. But God by sending His Son Jesus Christ has touched us giving us the opportunity to be cleansed. When we feel repulsed by someone, we should stop and remember how God feels about that person and about us. God loves us and sent Jesus Christ to cleanse us from sin, no matter the sin or how shameful it is. Jesus Christ is a friend of outcasts and wants to restore us. Let us draw close to Him and ask Him to cleanse us today. Amen!
