Mark 1: 40 – 45
Do You Have Leprosy?
40 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.” 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 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.” 45 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.
In our study today, I am going to let you know up front that there were two other listings of the events that we are going to study today. In case you did not know this, Mark received all his information from the apostle Peter, who was an eyewitness along with Matthew.
Luke was a great investigator. He interviewed, like a police Detective, a lot of people who were eyewitnesses to these events and he is able to shed some more light which I for one am very appreciative.
So, let me just list for you the record accounts that Matthew and Luke gave regarding these specific incidents.
Matthew 8:1-4, “8 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Luke 5: 12 – 16 “2 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 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.” 15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
At first glance you may at first think that there is some irregularity here when you look at all three Gospels. Let me assure you that there isn’t any irregularity.
In Matthew’s account we see our Lord descending a mountain and the leper is introduced. In Luke however, we read, ‘and it happened when He was in a certain city.’
Both writers are correct. You see our Lord had just come down the mountain and was at His ministry headquarters in Capernaum. Remember, Matthew was an eyewitness, so he walks us through the continual flow of our Lord’s activities. Luke on the other hand went back to Jerusalem, and after interviewing eyewitnesses, picks up the story in the area where our Lord and the leper interacted. Okay?
For better or worse our faith affects others. You see you are important to God’s interests in affecting the world. You may not know it but you have an impact on many people. Just think about your own family; your kids, parents, grandparents; neighbors, relatives, co-workers. The vendors, that you normally purchase your coffees or lunch. I am sure you can include many more to this list.
Today we are going to look at a man full of a disease approach a Man Who Is filled with The Holy Spirit. They are not at odds. The one is seeking something more than a healing from the One Who he has heard about as the Promised Messiah, The Son of God.
He will seek to be ‘clean’. This is different. In his condition, this man has been cut off from every human being and more importantly, he has been cut off from worshiping Yahweh Elohe Yisrael – The Lord God Of Israel. This is the area most painful for him to endure.
Now putting all these together, our Lord Jesus has just completed the Sermon on the Mount and is coming down the mountain toward the city of Capernaum. Just before He arrived at the city this man came up to Him; knelt before Him; and worshiped Him.
40 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.” 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
Look at the attitude of this man. No one kneels down and worships a man. This leper understood that Jesus Is Lord and God and worshipped Him.
A point that we need to understand here is that no one can be healed unless he or she comes to the Lord and believes in Who He Is and trusts that He can heal.
You can imagine the crowd screaming at this man to get away. This man would not be deterred. He fell on his knees and implored the Lord to cleans him. Mark’s version tells us something important that Matthew and Luke do not list - 40 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.” 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
Look at the compassion that our Lord had. What a Great God that we have folks. He Is Truly Great. Words cannot express how awesome He Is.
In the book of 1 John chapter 5 we read this, “14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
We all need to totally submit to His Will. If we do then everything flows properly in our lives. If you are having any difficulty, check yourself and see if you are still clinging to your own ways and have not submitted totally to His Will.
If you are willing to fully commit to our Lord then the result is complete deliverance.
42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
Leprosy was used broadly in all kinds of skin disease and ailments such as psoriasis, lupus, and ringworm. No one would come near a leper yet along touch that person for fear of catching the disease.
Please note from our Precious Holy Spirit’s Word that a healing needs confirmation of the truth of the healing.
43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 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.”
The man was instantly healed but our Lord instructed the man to obey the Word that would verify the healing and that is by going to the High Priest. We read these instructions in the book of Leviticus chapter 13 and 14. We pick up the specific instructions in chapter 13 for this man to follow, “ 1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. 3 The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. 4 But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days. 5 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore appears to be as it was, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him another seven days. 6 Then the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore has faded, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.”
Please note that the man in all his faith was disobedient to the Lord’s Will. What did our Lord say to him besides going to the High Priest – tell no one!. Why did the Lord want to keep His miracles a secret? The answer is given.
45 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.
The Lord was now hindered in what He could do. He no longer was able to go into a city without being mobbed. In fact He had a hard time being able to spend some time with His and our Father Yahweh.
Now before we leave I would like to have you do your own inventory. You see it is possible that many of you have Leprosy. Oh, it’s not noticeable on the outside. It is occurring on the inside. You see leprosy is a type or a symbol of sin. If it is going on in your life it is eating you up alive. You may not feel it. You see leprosy kills your nerve endings. When you continually have sin in your lives you are also become insensitive to its pain that not only happens to you but to others.
From our study you now know how to get rid of this leprosy called sin. Go to the High Priest Who Is after the order of Melchizedek and He will heal you and confirm that the healing is real.
