This is the fourth message in a series, Plastic Jesus: How Did Someone So Real Become So Fake? We’ve been looking over the shoulder of Luke as he’s written his Gospel to communicate to us who Jesus is. We’ve seen Jesus make His hometown synagogue so angry that they tried to kill Him. We watched as Jesus cast out demons in the town of Capernaum. And we’ve been introduced to some of Jesus’ closest followers as Jesus miraculously provided more fish than two boats could hold. All throughout, Jesus has defined Himself for us – the real Jesus. He has refused to be molded and bended to fit out every whim. Instead, Jesus has been rigid than silly putty and yet more compassionate than us.
Today’s Scripture.
While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And 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 Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” (Luke 5:12-26)
As we continue to explore the real Jesus, we encounter two seeming random stories of Jesus healing a leper and a paralyzed man. We’ll see there’s nothing random in how Jesus deals with these two men and there’s nothing random in how Luke present these stories in order that we may see Jesus more clearly. There’s so much in these two stories and we will not have time to get into every detail. Let’s dig in…
1. The Courage of an Unnamed Man
We know so little about this leper for even his name is not mentioned. We’re not even sure where he lived as none of Gospels tell us where this happened exactly as verse twelve simply says, “While he was in one of the cities.” We do know that this unnamed man is “full of leprosy” according to the medical doctor, Luke.
1.1 Leprosy
Leprosy was a disease of despair for no one could help him. Leprosy in the Bible is not always Hansen’s disease for those of you medical types. As the term for leprosy in the Bible can be described a wide range of skin conditions. You might see lesions, swollen areas of the skin, or nerve damage as well.
Yet to understand the desperate condition this man faced you need look no further than a little more than sixteen miles off the coast of China is Daqin Island. For nearly a century it has been known by locals as a place where monsters lived. Monsters who lacked fingers, toes and even entire limbs. Daqin Island, at its peak, had more than 2,000 lepers whose ugly, distorted faces oftentimes were told to scare children into good behavior. Wu has lived on the island for sixty years and while his first symptoms didn’t appear until he was thirteen and it was eighteen years later when medical authorities finally realized his medical condition and it was then he was sent to the island where he never saw his family again. For much of the twentieth century these men and women had no electricity, no TV, and only the food they could grow. To warm themselves the patients would cut firewood, which only left their bodies with cuts and grazes that often failed to heal. Soon infection set in and amputation would ensue. And although Wu’s story had recently been told through the local media, his son and daughter, both now in their sixties, wanted nothing to do with their father. Patients there fail to go to their parents’ funerals for fear their family members suffering discrimination. The disease is so dreaded that those medical professionals who attend to their needs often marry one another because few others show a willingness. Even then, medical attendants don’t tell others who they work with for fear of social ostracization. One father demanded his daughter break off her engagement to a man who treated lepers. Stretchers are thrown away after carrying these patients.
Back to our story, I think you can understand why we see this man alone and unnamed in our story. Whether this man’s condition was a form of some kind of skin disease or the more dreadful Hansen’ disease, we do know that he was “shot through” with leprosy. Lepers were ostracized not because their condition might be contagious but because they were “unclean.” Here’s how the Lord told His people to treat those with this condition: “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp’” (Leviticus 13:45-46). Consequently, this unnamed name leper spent much of his time in solitude. The leper was emotionally cut off as no one was allowed to get near them. He was not allowed to worship in the Temple with everyone else. Because they were emotionally and socially cut off, they were also financially cut off. Because they were emotionally isolated, they were experiencing a continual financial disaster. For when this unnamed leper wasn’t isolated from everyone else, he was begging from others. This was a living death.
1.2 The Boldness of Leper
Yet, he dared to approach the Lord. Look again at verse twelve: “…there came a man full of leprosy…” (Luke 5:12b). You know what I like about this story and this man? He came to Jesus though no one had encouraged him to come. His mother or father hadn’t begged him to come to Jesus. He came though no one offered him an invitation to come. The leper dared to come though everyone else had written him off. Later, Luke will tell us the story of ten lepers coming to Jesus (Luke 17:11-19). Yet, this man dared to come alone. It’s easier to go where ten are going but harder to go alone. Yes, this man came all by himself.
Today, I encourage you to be bold – reach out to Christ. Dare to approach the living Lord, who can make you clean. The unnamed leper had the courage to come alone.
1.3 Jesus’ Willingness
Notice something about his confidence in Christ from verse twelve: “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (Luke 5:12).
The only obstacle that stood between this man and full health was Jesus’ willingness. Somewhere in the solitude of this lonely life, this man’s mental processes discovered that if only Jesus wanted to heal him, he would be healed. Again, the only obstacle that stood between this man and full health was Jesus’ willingness.
Is Jesus willing to heal you? Is Jesus willing to save you? There is no uncertainty in this matter. The unnamed leper knew Jesus had the ability to cure him. Do you know? Are you equally confident in Jesus’ ability? There is no record that Jesus had healed a leper prior to this man, this leper is sure Jesus can do it. Nevertheless, he was confident in the power of God.
1. The Courage of an Unnamed Man
2. Jesus the Faith Healer
Read the story carefully and don’t miss an important detail. Jesus touches the leper. “And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean’” (Luke 5:13a). Mark, in a parallel account, tells us: “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean’” (Mark 1:41).
Why did Jesus touch this leper? To heal him? No, Jesus didn’t have to touch the leper to heal. For evidence, look at the next story where Jesus healed a paralytic man without touching him. Jesus doesn’t have to be physically present in the same area to heal. Jesus not only healed this man physically but emotionally and socially as well. Nobody else would have touched him, but Jesus touched him. “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:8-9). This is the attitude of all Christ-followers down through the ages. We are to explode with gospel urgency. We are to meet legitimate needs when we see them and be generous to all. Luke records Jesus’ words in the very next chapter: “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them” (Luke 6:32).
Again, I challenge you to invest into three people’s lives this year. Disciple them, share Christ with them, and bless them. You always find Jesus surrounding by what the world calls, losers. Jesus is surrounded by the racial outcasts of His today – gentiles. Jesus is surrounded by the gender outsiders of His today – woman. Jesus is surrounded by the social outcasts of His today – lepers. Jesus shatters all the categories. Again, nobody else would have touched him, but Jesus touched him. Touching a leper would normally have made you unclean, polluted. Here’s an act that normally would have a caused you to go through an entire procedure to get back to “clean” status (see Leviticus 13-14). Yet, Jesus reverses this. Normally when a clean person touched an unclean person, the touch made the clean, unclean. But with Jesus, His touch made the unclean, clean. Jesus was clean itself. Jesus was moral purity. He was/is holiness. Again, Jesus shatters all the categories.
No matter who you are, when Jesus touches you, you’re fit for the presence of God Himself. You can’t make Jesus unclean no matter how defiled you. No matter how stained you are, you cannot make Jesus tainted. No matter what you’ve done, no matter your record. Jesus simply replies to this man’s humble request, “I will.” Jesus never says to willing people, “I will not.” If you cast yourself as His feet, you will always hear the Master say, “I will.” With one touch, Jesus can turn sinners into whole saints. The words, “I will,” when spoken by a President, can send entire armies into foreign nations for war. But those same words on the lips of Jesus, can send death and hell away as the sun’s light casts out darkness. All of this happens when you get in touch with Jesus.
1. The Courage of an Unnamed Man
2. Jesus the Faith Healer
3. Yes, He’s Claiming to be God.
One more time we have a powerful example of Christian compassion. We have a powerful example of evangelism. These men went to a great deal of trouble in getting their paralyzed friend to Jesus. We are not told what the owner of the home thought when his roof was destroyed, but we immediately see the stubborn compassion of these four men. There would have been a staircase to the roof for homes in this day as people spent a good amount of time on their roofs. The roof would have been one of a normal Mediterranean house where wooden crossbeams were overlaid by a matting of reeds, branches, and dried mud. These men tore up the roof. These men demonstrated a tenacious faith.
Watch the story carefully beginning in verse twenty: And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone” (Luke 5:20-21)?
There are two groups of perplexed people when Jesus says, “your sins are forgiven you.” The first group was the man’s friends. They’re thinking, “That’s not what we came for…” The four men wanted Jesus to give their friend a gift that would last a lifetime. Jesus gave him a gift that lasted for eternity. The most fundamental problem for this man wasn’t his legs, it was that he was alienated from God. “Are you put right with God through Jesus Christ,” is your first problem. Where Jesus had the ability to raise the dead to life, make lame people walk, and deaf people hear, He was sent to meet a deeper purpose. What Jesus said to the paralyzed man, He says to all who trust Him: “…your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20b)
The second group was the religious leaders. The religious leaders are first introduced to us here in Luke’s Gospel. You’ll note the Pharisees in both volumes of Luke’s writings, Luke and Acts, and they were mostly non-priests. Luke will tell us that one of the greatest conversions in the history of the world was a former Pharisee named Paul. They regularly act as the foil to Jesus, or the bad guys in the narrative with few exceptions (see Luke 13:31). They were traditionalists as they sought to adhere to a body of teaching that was handed down from the fathers. The Pharisees are right – only God can forgive sins.
Jesus is hanging a shingle out that said, “I am God. God is walking among you.” Yes, Jesus is claiming to be God. Think of it this way: if you hit Chris in the face and I say to you, “I forgive you…” No one would think it’s my prerogative to forgive you. You didn’t hit me, you hit Christ. It’s Christ’s prerogative to forgive you. Jesus is saying, “You’ve sinned against Me. I forgive you. I’m God.” Later in Luke’s narrative, we are told that the great John the Baptist questions if Jesus is really the ONE. John is in prison for standing up to wicked Herod and he asks, “Is Jesus the guy?” And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (Luke 7:22).
A few weeks ago, we encountered Jesus telling an Old Testament story while teaching in his hometown of Nazareth. It was the story of a Syrian army general that came to Israel, his enemies, to be healed of leprosy. Because the two countries had such animosity toward one another, when the king of Israel heard that Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria was coming to be healed of all things, leprosy, he remarked: “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:7a)? Rabbis thought curing someone with leprosy was equal to raising them from the dead.
Yes, Jesus is claiming to be God. “In His former life,” we might say in our day, “He ran the universe.” If you encounter someone who says, “Jesus never claimed to be God,” don’t believe it. Indeed, whenever people worshipped Jesus, Jesus always accepted their worship. The Savior has come. He is willing. He brings a salvation wider and deeper than what anyone had previously thought.
The salvation Jesus is offers is more comprehensive than you’ve previously though. Jesus is willing. He brings grace to the humble. Just as with the leper, no matter who you are, when Jesus touches you, you’re fit for the presence of God Himself. Jesus isn’t just another leader, telling you how to be fit for God to accept you. He is the very presence of God. If you simply come into contact with Him, you’re in.
INVITATION
