The Leper & Jesus                                       Mark 1:40-45

Last year we spent several weeks working through the Gospel of Luke, this year I want to do the same with Mark’s Gospel, we will veer into the Old Testament and Paul’s letters from time to time. Last week I said that Jesus birth offered all of mankind a new beginning. This week as we start to look at Mark’s account of Jesus life I want to start with one of the first stories he writes; Jesus and the leper.

Before I start I just want to give a brief history of Mark’s Gospel. Of the four Gospels Mark is the oldest known account of the ministry of Jesus. It was written about the year 65 CE in Rome by an unknown author but many today give authorship to John Mark the cousin of Barnabas and a colleague of Paul and Timothy. The purpose of this Gospel was to furnish evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four having only 16 chapters. And last, it is considered by most scholars to be source material used by Matthew and Luke when they composed their Gospels.

Mark 1:38, “Jesus replied ‘Let’s go somewhere else…so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’” Since this is from the beginning of Jesus ministry I’m sure his new disciples were still trying to figure things out. They left their families and homes to follow Jesus but “What exactly are we going to do?”

Here in the very beginning Jesus lets them know and he sets the trajectory for the next three years. “We are going to travel from place to place so I can preach. We’re not going to just sit here and wait for people to come to us.” This was completely different than what was done by John the Baptist. John stayed in just one place and according to Mark 1:5, “The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.” Jesus is telling his disciples “We are going to go where the people need us,” and so they understand why he is going to do things differently than his cousin John, Jesus tells them that this is the very reason why he came, this is his mission and the format it will take. This is also a shadow of the future, the future where Jesus tells all his followers in Matthew 28:19 “…go and make disciples of all nations…” The kingdom of God is spread by the actions of its members.

So now that the disciples know what to expect Jesus starts his new ministry off in high gear, Mark 1:39, “So he traveled throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.” And now Jesus is confronted by a man with leprosy. Two characters; Jesus and a leper; five verses, and as usual there are layers here to be peeled back and examined.

First we’ll look at the leper. As a leper he was supposed to stay away from people so as not to contaminate them. He did just the opposite; he came right up to Jesus, knelt before him and asked him to heal him.

If we look we can learn three things from this man. One, just like this leper came to Jesus contaminated, scarred and full of leprosy, we come to Jesus with lives contaminated, scarred and full of sin. Too many will try to teach you that you have to make amends, change your life and prove you deserve Jesus before you can ask forgiveness. This man could not change his circumstances and neither can we. The only way we can come to Jesus is just as we are. This leper couldn’t hide his disease from Jesus and we can’t hide our sin from him either.

Second, the leper approached Jesus knowing that Jesus was his only hope. No one else, not the priest, not the physicians; no one else was going to be able to heal him.

John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son so whoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Like the leper, Jesus is our only hope. Trying to live a better life new age practices, trusting in a faith leader to pray hard enough for us; none of that will gain us one sin forgiven, none of that will gain us one second in heaven. I can pray with you, I can pray for you, but only Jesus can save you.

Third, this leper knelt before Jesus and said “…if you are willing…”

We must approach Jesus with respect and humility and an honest desire for him to help us. “Ok Jesus, I’m here. Jesus, I’m ready for you to take my sins away.” This doesn’t show repentance. Jesus, I am a sinner and you and only you can save me, I welcome you into my heart and my life.

Now let’s look at Jesus and what this exchange says about Christ.

First, Jesus deeply cares about us. The King James Version says in verse 41, “And Jesus moved with compassion put forth his hand and touched him…” Jesus sympathized with this man’s disease, Jesus felt the loneliness of this man’s isolation, and Jesus grieved over the time lost in this man’s life. And this compassion moved him to act.

Psalm 86:15, “Lord, you are a compassionate and gracious God.” When we come to Jesus he doesn’t say “Oh, I see what you did, sorry I can’t help.” When we come to Jesus he heals us as quickly as he healed the leper.

Two, Jesus touches our lives. Verse 41, “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.” This man is on his knees, his face is in the dirt and no one has touched him in the years since he was inoculated with leprosy. Jesus touched this man and passed his power to the leper and his life was forever changed. For all mankind over the centuries Jesus is willing to touch those who society has rejected, abandoned and forgotten; these are the sick, the poor, the criminal; the sinner.

When Jesus touched the leper it said “I love you just like you are and I am before you willing to change and heal you.” When we come before Christ he touches us and our lives. He loves us just as we are and he is willing to change your life for the better.

Third, Jesus heals, verse 41-42, “I am willing…be healed. Immediately the leprosy left him.” This man was healed and restored to full health with no recovery period or labors of penance. This man’s disease was cured and all the disfigurement from the leprosy was removed as well. This should uplift our souls. When Jesus heals us not only are we cleansed of all our sin, we are restored to perfection, God now sees a radiant soul when he looks at us, he sees no trace of the disfigurement of sin. The leper was given a brand new life in the very instant of his healing. When we come to Jesus for forgiveness he gives us a brand new life; 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new is here.”

Now we come to the part many people resist. Four, Jesus sends us out. Verse 43-44, “Jesus sent him away at once…show yourself to the priest…” When we are healed by Christ he doesn’t expect us to be set adrift in life, he sends us to find other believers to fellowship with and to learn and mature in faith with.

Now as this event is before the cross Jesus tells the man no to tell anyone. This is because it could cause just the diseased and sick coming to him for physical healing and overshadow the spiritual healing he has come to provide. This man’s actions do tell us however, what we are supposed to do here on this side of the cross, Verse 45, “Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.”

Our scripture tells us Jesus sent the man on his way, Jesus gave him a mission. Jesus changed this man’s life and now wants to spread God’s kingdom through him and his testimony. When Jesus saves us, when he works in our life; he sends us on a mission, he tasks us with telling people about him and his miracle of salvation in our life. Many people shy away from this but the truth we all need to accept is there will always be people who need to hear our testimony, people who need to hear what Christ Has done for us.

And the fifth lesson we see here is within verse45, “Instead he went out and talked freely…as a result Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.”

We all know that if we believe in Christ our sins are forgiven but do you know the mechanism in which this is accomplished?

A shadow of this mechanism is seen in the Old Testament sacrificial system. Before the animal is killed one laid his hands on it. In this way the animal’s perfection and the person’s sin change places. After this the animal is killed as punishment for the person’s sin and the person now has the animal’s flawlessness placed in them. When we accept Jesus as our savior our sins are placed on his person at the cross and his perfection is instilled in us, Jesus perfection is all God sees when he looks at us.

This reality is shown in our reading by looking at the relationship between Jesus and the leper. At the beginning the leper had to live outside the town and Jesus could move around freely within it. But after Jesus healed him the man could now live within the town while Jesus had to remain outside of it. They exchanged places and it can be seen as a shadow of the relationship between us and Christ at the cross. It’s a shadow of the mechanism that accomplishes our forgiveness. Now instead of dying for our sins we get to live while Jesus dies in our place.

The Gospels give us accounts of Jesus life. They describe the events in his life. But each event,        each encounter is not just a description of a physical event, each event and encounter in the Bible is layered with spiritual meaning.

Today’s encounter is between Jesus and a leper, a simple event layered in spiritual meaning. Like the leper we come to Jesus as we are, with all our sins exposed.

Also like the leper, when we approach Christ and ask for forgiveness, when we ask him to cleanse us of our sin he is willing. Jesus heals us and his healing is instantaneous and complete.

I think it’s important for us to understand how our salvation is accomplished, why Jesus had to go to the cross. By our faith in his deed our sins are placed on him to be punished by thorn and whip and nail and his complete and glorious perfection is passed into us for eternity.

As the healed, what Christ has done for us comes with an expectation. Jesus expects us to share what he has done for us with others. It’s true that if the leper never said a word to anybody and just left the area his disease would not return but he would still be living without his family and a restored life. It is also true that if you never give your testimony to others salvation will not be removed from you. But you will miss the opportunity to work for the kingdom. And in some way you will be missing some of the blessings God has for you.

And this goes along with sharing Christ with others. Like Jesus told the twelve they would be going to where the people needed them he tells all his modern day disciples we also must go to where the people need us. It’s one thing to talk about the blessings of Christ here among ourselves, but it’s for the glory of God when we talk to people at work or in the store or as I like to say; in any dusty manger we find them.

Peace and joy to you,

Christ’s love and God’s blessings to you,

Amen.