Message preached Sunday, October 5, 2014 from Mark 1:40-45
Theme: When we have truly experienced the life-transforming grace of Jesus, we can’t help but proclaim it.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
This morning, we come to a remarkable story in the Gospel of Mark. It tells us of something that appears to have occurred during Jesus’ travels early in His ministry. He had begun to go out with His disciples to preach in the synagogues throughout the regions of Galilee. And in the course of His preaching tour, He was met by a very poor and very wretched man in need.
The man was a leper. We’re told of how Jesus had been healing people with all kinds of illnesses, and was casting out demons. But a leper was a pretty remarkable case. Those who suffered from leprosy in those days were in one of the most pathetic situations of human suffering you can imagine. The leprosy of Bible times may be very much like what we today call Hansen’s disease—a dreaded chronic infection that shows itself in hideous scaly blotches and scabs, and that results in extreme weakness of the body. In some cases, it was a horribly disfiguring disease; because it resulted in a deadening of portions of the nervous system. Hands and feet, and fingers and toes, and even noses and ears became rubbed off and lost because the leper couldn’t feel pain and didn’t know they were being repeatedly injured. No one dared to have contact with a leper. They were the true “untouchables” of society.
In popular culture today, and in a lot of really cheesy movies, people make a lot out of “zombies”. Well; in ancient times, a group of helpless lepers staggering into town might have been viewed with almost the same kind of horror as group of zombies coming into town would be viewed today. They were considered ‘the living dead’. Those who suffered from leprosy were forcefully ostracized from society—even from family and friends. They were not permitted to come into a walled city or town; and if they attempted to do so, out of desperate need for food or care, rocks would be thrown at them to drive them away. Wherever they went shuffling slowly and painfully along, they were required to cover their faces with a cloth or with their mouth, and to warn people who might come near them by crying out, “Unclean! Unclean!” They were in a perpetual state of misery—incurable, hopeless, utterly at the mercy of other people to pity them and leave something for their daily needs.
And as Jesus traveled and preached, one of them came to Him. Jesus was the right Person to come to. He who healed all other diseases and cast out demons was also certainly able to make this man well. But as it turned out, doing so led to problems of another kind.
Mark tells us;
Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction (Mark 1:40-45).
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Now; there’s no way around it. This leprous man disobeyed the Lord who had healed him. Some Bible teachers have characterized him very negatively because of this. But personally, I find it very hard to blame him. Whenever I read this leper’s story, I always think of my own. I was never a literal leper, of course; but I was a very great sinner. And leprosy, in the Bible, is presented to us as an illustration of the desperate situation sin puts us in before God.
The disease of leprosy has a lot in common with our fallenness in sin. For one thing, they are both ‘deep-seated’ afflictions. People often think of leprosy as merely a skin disease; but in reality, it was a disease that permeated the entire body—inside and out, and down the the deepest level. And that is certainly true of sin. We fell into sin with our father Adam. And now, our condition of sinfulness before God permeates every aspect of our being—so that we are not able to do anything before God that does not somehow involve the taint of sin. In Reformed theology, this is referred to as ‘Total Depravity’; and it’s not the idea that everything we do is utterly depraved, but rather that everything we do—even the best of things that we can do—bears the contamination of sin.
Both conditions also put us in a state of loathsomeness. The disease of leprosy made someone utterly repulsive, so that they could not be allowed to enter into the social world of normal humanity; nor were they allowed to go into the temple and appear before God. They had to walk around in shame as outcasts. And that’s also what sin does to us. Our sin makes it so that we cannot enter into fellowship with a holy God. Not even our best works of outward righteousness and religion—done from the standpoint of our fallenness in sin and apart from His redeeming grace—can make us acceptable in His sight.
And just as the condition of leprosy was humanly incurable, so is our fallenness before God. We can not rid ourselves of our own sin—no matter how hard we may try. All we can do is cry out to God and say, “Be merciful to me, the sinner!”
Well; that’s what I was. I was a rebellious sinner before God. I was a spiritual leper before Him. Every time I even thought of Him, my heart convicted me and cried out against me, “Unclean! Unclean!” I was doomed before a holy God, and was destined for eternal judgment—without hope. But in the summer of 1973, I heard the good news that Jesus had died on the cross to take the guilt of my sin away from me, and to make me clean. I put my trust in Jesus, prayed for the forgiveness of my sins, and He washed every stain away. I immediately felt all of the guilt and shame of my sin taken from me, and I finally felt clean inside before Him.
And very much like the leper that Jesus cleansed, do you know what I did almost immediately? I didn’t know you were supposed to do this, but I did it anyway—just as a natural impulse of my heart. I called my best friend up on the phone the very next morning, and told him, “Do you know what happened to me last night? I got ‘justified’! I prayed with Billy Graham on television, and asked Jesus to wash my sins away; and He did! And now I’m ‘justified’—’just-as-if-I’d never sinned at all’!” I’m sure my friend was looking puzzled at the phone as I told him this. In fact, I began to tell my other friends too. I got into a lot of trouble with them over it. I lost a few of my friends, and even suffered a few things from them because of my faith. I drove my family crazy, and seriously worried my parents.
I have to be honest; when it came to proclaiming what Jesus did for me, I don’t think I did it right most of the time. I don’t think the leper did either. But like him, I couldn’t help talking about the transformation Jesus had made in my life. I didn’t know whether you should tell other people about it or not, and I certainly didn’t understand how I was supposed to go about it. But I did it anyway. So; I guess I’ll always think of this leper as my friend. I can identify with him in the way that he told everyone about what Jesus did for him—as wrong as he may have been in the way he went about it.
And I think that this is the great lesson to be learned from this morning’s passage. When we have truly experienced the life-transforming grace of Jesus Christ, we can’t help but proclaim to others what He did for us. Lepers who are cleansed by Jesus just can’t keep quiet about Him!
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Let’s look at the story in a little more detail. Consider first . . .
1. THE LEPER’S REQUEST.
Mark tells us, “Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean’” (v. 40). I love it that this man took the initiative to approach Jesus. It was a very daring thing to do; because it would be ceremonially unclean for any Jewish person to have contact with a leper; and Jesus was manifestly a holy Jewish man.
I suspect that the news that had begun to spread about Jesus—the story of how He cast the demon out of the man in the synagogue, and of how He had healed the multitudes that had gathered around Him in Capernaum—had reached the ears of this leper. I wonder if, when He heard that Jesus was coming nearby to preach, he realized that Jesus could heal him. But would He do it? Would He show such mercy to an untouchable such as him? And so he came—not to demand anything of Jesus, but just to humbly affirm that Jesus could do it . . . if He only would.
I found a great insight recently from an old preacher from a few generations back—Dr. William Graham Scroggie. He suggested that this poor leper’s prayer to the Lord was worthy of careful attention; and what Dr. Scroggie said about it could almost have been a sermon itself! He said that the man’s prayer to Jesus was . . .
- Expectant, because the man came.
- Reverent, because he knelt.
- Personal, because he had no one but himself in mind.
- Earnest, because he implored.
- Definite, because he asked specifically for cleansing.
- Submissive, because he said, “If You are willing . . .”
- Confident, because he said, “You can . . .”
- Brief, because it took only five words in the original Greek to say it.
- Effectual, because he was cleansed.
“That is the way to pray”, Dr. Scroggie wrote; “Most of the secrets of prevailing prayer are found in this one.”1 What a bold man of faith this leper was!
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And then, notice . . .
2. THE LORD’S COMPASSION.
We’re told, “Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed’” (v. 41). And let’s consider three things about this.
First let’s consider that the Lord had “compassion” for the poor man. The Greek word that is translated “compassion” is an interesting one. It’s splangknizomai; and it’s related to the word from which we get the English word “spleen”. It is Mark’s way of telling us that Jesus felt moved for this man’s piteous condition in the deepest level of His being—down to His very innards. Other people might have turned the man away. In fact, most people would have tried to drive him away by throwing stones at him and threatening him. But not Jesus. Jesus was “moved with compassion” for him. He is moved with compassion for anyone who comes to Him, seeking His mercy.
Second, consider that the Lord Jesus did something remarkable. In fact, I suspect that as the man approached Jesus, all the people around Him—many of whom were moving far away from this leper—would have gasped in shock as Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him. A pious Jewish person would not have done such a thing. But Jesus suffered no ceremonial defilement in doing so; because the moment He touched the man, the man was no longer a leper! I am so glad that we have such a Savior; aren’t you? He doesn’t hold Himself aloof from us. He reaches out and touches us in our need—making us into someone with whom He can have fellowship.
And thirdly, consider what Jesus said to him. The man had pleaded, “If You are willing, You can make me clean”; and as if to answer in just the manner as He was asked, Jesus said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” I have to tell you; from the standpoint of a helpless sinner—dirty and filthy with sin and guilt and shame, and who longs to be clean before God—there’s nothing better to hear than the Lord Jesus say to you, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
And may I just say this? If you feel the guilt of your sin, and if you feel that you are too bad of a sinner to ever be forgiven; and if you feel that you wouldn’t dare to come to Jesus and even think to ask to be forgiven and washed clean—come anyway. You and I will never be turned away by Jesus. He will never say, “I am not willing to help you. You’re too far gone.” Instead, we will always find Him to be a compassionate Friend, glad to reach out and touch us, and very willing to make us clean before God. That’s why He came into this world! That’s why He willingly died on the cross for us.
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And then notice . . .
3. THE INSTANT CLEANSING.
Mark tells us, “As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed” (v. 42). That would have to mean that anyone who was standing nearby would have seen the man come to Jesus as a horrible, limping, disfigured “zombie” of a man—with scabs and scales and hideous bleeding ulcers all over his body; that they would have been horrified to see Jesus reach out and touch him; and then that they would have stood in awe as they saw that he was—quite suddenly—no longer a leper! He was instantly well! He himself would have been gasping, and then laughing, and crying, and rejoicing—and so would they all!
And consider that this would have meant that there was no recovery time—no gradual healing. Jesus didn’t touch the man; and then have to tell him that, over the next few weeks or so, he will find that his body was beginning to heal. He didn’t tell the man to ‘go forth and claim his healing by faith’—even though he was still clearly covered with leprosy. Immediately and manifestly, the leprosy left him—and no trace of it remained.
If I may, that’s how Jesus also delivers us from our spiritual condition of leprosy—that is, from the horrible guilt of our sin. On the very evening that I prayed to receive God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ, the guilt of my sin was completely gone! I didn’t simply stand before God with the promise that I would begin to find myself to gradually be increasingly acceptable in God’s sight over the weeks and months to come. I wasn’t told to simply wait, and that forgiveness and the cleansing of my soul would begin to take root and grow. Before I rose up from my knees that night, I was completely forgiven and made 100% accepted in God’s sight though His Son Jesus Christ. As the apostle John put it; “f we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 5:9).
If you have never placed your faith in Jesus, and have never come to Him for the forgiveness of your sins, don’t wait first until you have a personal plan for self-improvement. You’re a leper; and lepers can’t ‘improve’ themselves. They can only come for mercy. Do as this leper did; and come to Jesus just as you are. Let Him wash you make you instantly clean in His sight. Let Him do the cleansing first; and then, the program of improvement can begin afterward!
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Now; as that man stood before Jesus completely well—no longer a leper, something else quite remarkable happened. I wonder if it surprised the people who were up close enough to witness it. It seems that Jesus’ manner with the man changed. I believe He was still loving and compassionate to the man. But He then also became very stern with him.
This is where we see . . .
4. THE STRICT WARNING.
Mark tells us, “And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them’” (vv. 43-44).
The word that Mark uses to describe Jesus’ strict warning is one that means ‘to puff at’ someone. I think of it as describing Jesus—in almost an angry tone, and perhaps with eyebrows scowling and nostrils flaring just a bit—telling the man, “Now; you listen to Me! I’m about to tell you something; and you had better heed what I’m saying!” This would be a charge Jesus was giving to the man that was serious, and stern, and somewhat vehement. We’re also told that in saying it, the Lord “sent him away at once”; and the word that Mark used means to ‘cast out’—to eject forcefully. It’s the same word that is used to describe how Jesus would cast a demon out of a person. I certainly don’t believe that we are to take it literally; that Jesus physically cast Him out of His presence. But we’re clearly meant to understand that the Lord was sending the man on his way decisively. And Jesus even used a double-negative when giving this charge to this man; literally, “Behold! Nothing to nobody say!” Jesus did not want this cleansed leper to say anything to anyone along the way about what had just been done for him.
Now; it isn’t that Jesus didn’t mean for the man not to report anything about it at all. Rather, He told the man to go to the priests in the temple and show himself to them. Jesus was telling the man to get right up and do immediately what was commanded in the Old Testament law—way back in Leviticus 14—regarding the ceremonial ritual to be followed when someone was cleansed from leprosy. A cleansed leper was to go to the priests—who functioned, at that time, in something like the role of public health inspectors—and let them examine him and confirm that, indeed, the leprosy was gone. And he was also to bring the offering that was required in the law that was to be made in the case of such a cleansing. Even in this miracle, Jesus was insistent that the law of God be strictly followed.
And do you notice that Jesus said that this was to be done by the man before the priests “as a testimony to them”? Do you realize that, in all of biblical history, we have no record of any Jewish person ever coming to the priests—in obedience to this Old Testament command—to make the specified offering for the cleansing from leprosy? Not even once! What a stunning thing this man’s coming would then have been to the priests! It would have been unprecedented! They would have had to scramble to their copy of the law, and read up on what was to be done—because they’d never seen such a thing before! I even venture to wonder if that Old Testament law had been written long ago—in the Old Testament era—and kept on reserve just for this particular man’s testimony of healing! The priests themselves would then have known that the Man Jesus was the promised Messiah!
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Now; why would Jesus have told this man not to talk to anyone? Why would He tell Him so strictly to only go to the priests and make the offering according to the law? I think that the reason is plain. We have already seen what happened when the word about Jesus got out. The crowds came to Him and gathered around Him in such massive numbers that He could barely move! He didn’t come to this world, after all, to heal people of their temporal illnesses. He came to preach the message of the kingdom; and then to bring that kingdom to pass by His atoning death on the cross.
And if that’s the case, then this makes me love the Lord Jesus all the more. Even though it wasn’t what He came into this world to do—and even though it ran the risk of making things very difficult for our Lord in His earthly ministry, He still couldn’t tell the man no. Jesus—if I may dare to put it this way—couldn’t help Himself. He healed the poor man anyway.
But all that leads us to . . .
5. THE DISOBEDIENT PROCLAMATION.
In spite of the Lord’s stern warning, the man just couldn’t help himself either. Mark tells us; “However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter . . .” (v. 45). Whether or not he faithfully went to the priests is something we will never know for certain. But even if he was on his way to do so, as he met up with people along the way, he just couldn’t contain it within him any longer. He began to proclaim publicly that Jesus had cleansed him of leprosy. Perhaps other needy people heard what the man was saying, and he told them where Jesus was. Soon, they all came to Jesus, “so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction” (v. 45).
The man was disobedient in proclaiming what Jesus did for him—no doubt about it. Jesus told this man to say nothing to anyone, and the man went out and told everyone. But as someone has once very wisely pointed out, the resurrected Lord Jesus now tells us to go out into all the world and tell everyone about Him, and we hardly say anything to anyone about Him at all. Whose sin is the greatest?
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I believe that the lesson to be learned from this story is that when we have truly experienced the life-transforming grace of Jesus—and we know it—we can’t help but proclaim it. We all love to tell people about good news we received in the mail. We all love to tell people when we’ve gotten a new car. We put it up on Facebook when we’ve gotten good news from the doctor. How much more so when Jesus has cleansed us of our spiritual leprosy! How much more so when He has had mercy on us, has forgiven us of all our sins, has made us righteous in the sight of God, and has secured for us an eternal home in heaven!
And I believe that all I have said depends on the condition of first knowing that you are a sinner that needs desperately to be saved. It depends on you first having the conviction that you are a spiritual leper in the sight of a holy God—one who is horribly guilty before Him and who desperately needs to be cleansed by Him. If you have never felt the burden of your sin in that way; then I pray—with the greatest love I can have for you—that you will feel the reality of that burden profoundly; just as I did. I pray that it will make you desperate to be cleansed of your sin; just as I was. And then, that you’ll come to Jesus—run to Him, in fact—to be made clean in God’s sight; just as I ran to Him and found Him to do for me.
Once that happens, you’ll never be able to keep quite about Him!
W. Graham Scroggie, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), pp. 44-45).