CLEANSED BY GRACE
(The Leper Healed)
(Mark 1:40) “And there came a leper to him, beseeching
him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and
touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou
clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy
departed from him, and he was cleansed.”
(Rom. 9:15) “For he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shewed mercy.”
Leper: A person who suffers from leprosy. They are
usually separated from being around others. Leprosy: Leprosy
is a chronic bacterial disease of the skin and nerves in the hands and feet
and, in some cases, the lining of the nose. Leprosy can cause the nerves in the
limbs of the body to dry up, deteriorate and sometimes decapitated.
Lepers, in biblical times, by law, were isolated and treated differently than other members of society in the
area they lived in. They were not allowed to live inside the city
with the people, because they had leprosy (Numbers
5:1-3). Leprosy was considered contagious, an "unclean disease"
and lepers generally lived in colonies with other lepers rather than their
families. Whenever they came near people, they would have to shout out “unclean”
so people would move away from them. Lepers
could not live among people that did not have the disease nor could they stand
among them for fear the disease would be rapidly spread. One could contract
leprosy by respiratory means, breathing the same air if infected, or by contact
such as touching a person with leprosy.
(Click link to view video clip)
One day
as Jesus entered into the city, a leper approached him to ask for healing of
his leprosy. Here we see “Humanity in the presence of Divinity”. According to
the law, it was not appropriate for anyone to come near a leper. The bystanders
who were following Jesus perhaps pondered in their minds what would he do. Jesus
knew the law, yet he knew what he had been sent to earth to do. God’s grace was
sufficient for this leper at his moment of need. Jesus’ compassion for this man
suspended the law and offered grace to him. Jesus didn’t ignore the law but came
to fulfill the law. He touched the leper and immediately he was healed of his
condition. After the leper was healed, Jesus said in (Luke 5:15) "And
He charged him to tell no one, 'But go and show yourself to the priest, and
make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses
commanded.”
When
you come to Jesus, his grace is sufficient for you. It doesn’t’ matter what
condition, disease, sickness, situation, drama, sins you’ve committed or what
your past consists of, he offers and extends His grace towards those who will
receive it. This leper didn’t have to do anything but ask for help and it was
granted to him. He didn’t have to pay for his healing but it was freely given to
him. Today, because of Jesus’ blood and sacrifice on the cross we can obtain
grace from God.
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