Bible Reading:
Mark chapter 1 verses 40 to 45

A Leper Healed

The Lord Jesus continued to teach Gods truth all round Galilee. A leper came to Him. Leprosy is a very terrible disease. It is contagious. It progressively destroys people's bodies beginning with fingers and toes, noses and ears. Leprosy is sometimes terminal. People with leprosy were cast out and had to live apart from everyone else. Under Old Testament law leprosy represented sin. It was seen as a judgement for some sinful way in the person. Lepers had to be made clean, not healed.

The leper knew he had a terrible condition. Not like the demon-possessed man in the synagogue who thought he was OK until The Lord Jesus disturbed him. The leper could see the damage leprosy was doing to him. He must have been in an awful state, disfigured and outcast.

Sin is like leprosy only sin is worse. Sin progressively destroys people and makes them separate from God. It brings them closer and closer to hell under Gods judgement.

How would you feel if leprosy broke out in you? All sorts of upset, concern and worry.
How do we see our sin? Are we horrified every time we find ourselves doing something Gods law says we should not do? Are we concerned when we find we have not done something God says we should do? Every time we sin it is like the leprosy eating into us, a step closer to a lost eternity.

The leper wanted to be delivered. I expect his mum and dad wanted him delivered, his friends too. Probably any caring person would have wanted him delivered. It was not up to them to decide. There was nothing they could do for him.
The leper was humble. He came and knelt down in front of The Lord Jesus. He acknowledged Who Jesus is, someone to be worshipped, and someone with power. He did not make demands; he showed he understood his need of The Lord Jesus and The Lord Jesus' ability to help.

The leper had faith in The Lord Jesus. He believed The Lord Jesus had the power to heal him.

He submitted to The Lord Jesus' will. "If Thou wilt." He knew he could not dictate. He knew it was not his decision. He knew he was reliant on The Lord Jesus - totally.

What was The Lord Jesus' reaction? He touched the leper! He was close enough to touch him. Leprosy bacteria which cause the infection can be airborne or passed by touch. Everyone kept clear of lepers. How could the Lord Jesus risk doing this? It is because the next moment the leper was completely cleansed from leprosy. There was no infection for the Lord Jesus to catch, maybe. The Lord Jesus had control over all things. He had power over the leprosy just as He has power over what leprosy represents. The Lord Jesus has power over sin. He can take away sin just as he did the leprosy.

Have you come to The Lord Jesus as this man did, not for physical leprosy but for leprosy of sin? We are in greater danger than he if we have not been cleansed from our sin.

Do you see the awfulness of your situation if you have not been cleansed?
All who come to Jesus will be delivered. The Lord Jesus had compassion on the Leper and made him clean He charged him not to sin any more and sent him to be examined by the priest to confirm his cure.

The Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Believe Who The Lord Jesus is and what He can do. Ask Him to make you clean from your sin and you will be eternally safe from the judgement of God that you deserve for your sin. He will change you and you will know He has. The Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He can cleanse people today just as He did then. The day will come for each of us when it will be too late to ask. Ask today.