The Touch of the Master's Hand

We left last session with Jesus having definitively called the disciples Andrew, Peter, James, and John away from their lives of fishing and into a life of following Jesus. So committed to this new life of fishing for men were these four disciples that they left the biggest catch they had ever scored, left their families, left their businesses, and followed Jesus.

This call marked a change in their relationship to Jesus. Before this point, discipleship had never interfered materially with business or relationships. Now, however, discipleship separated them from their occupation and required that they abandon all to follow Jesus completely.

I want you to remember the quickness with which they left it all behind. Jesus called them, and the four men did not discuss it, they didn't go home and pray about it, they didn't make a list of pros and cons; instead, they immediately followed. Peter gives us an example of the humility with which they followed as he stated to Jesus, "Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

We are going to fast forward through a few passages, but I will not skip them entirely. I want to give a brief overview of what happens in the next few weeks with Jesus.

Remember that he has set up a temporary headquarters in Capernaum, probably staying in Peter's house or with one of the other disciples from that area. Jesus begins to preach in the synagogue of Galilee on a sabbath day, and as he preaches, Mark chapter 1 mentions that the people listening are astonished at the authority with which he taught. The people that were listening, not yet recognizing the divinity of Jesus, could not understand how one so humble could speak with such authority. The scribes and other religious leaders spoke on the authority of Moses, other elders, or previous great teachers, but Jesus spoke on his own authority. For example, when we get into what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount, we will see repeatedly that Jesus uses the phrase, "You have heard that it has been said... but I say unto you..." He spoke on his own authority instead of quoting others in their small details that were supported by countless other authorities.

Listen, for example, to this passage taken from later rabbinical writings to better understand how scribes and Pharisees often worded their teachings: "Said Adda Mari in the name of Rabbi Nahman bar Baruch in the name of R. Ashi b. Abin in Rab Judah's name that a father's token for a son who yearns after the father is the token of phylacteries."

Contrast this to how Jesus often used the phrase, "I say unto you."

So Jesus is teaching in that synagogue, and everyone is impressed by how he teaches, when all of a sudden a demon possessed man enters (read the whole story in Mark 1 and Luke 4). The demons in the man begins to cry out to Jesus, "What have we to do with you? Have you come to destroy us? I know that you are the Holy One of God!"

So Jesus rebukes the spirit and orders him to come out. There is a great thrashing about that happens, though the man is not injured, and the spirit comes out of the man and he is delivered.

Again, even more amazement by the onlookers because Jesus not only speaks with authority, he has authority over unclean spirits. So by this miracle, Jesus shows that he doesn't just sound like he has authority, he demonstrates his authority.

Of course, word spreads fast all through Galilee about what Jesus has done. When they leave the synagogue, he goes to Peter's house and finds Peter's mother-in-law sick with a great fever. Jesus heals her, and as the evening sets in, a crowd gathers as people bring their sick friends to Jesus, but now also are bringing others who suffer with unclean spirits.

As we go through the life of Jesus, this will be a regular theme: Jesus casting demons out of people. There are two reasons why demon possession may have been so common in that time: 1) the intense wickedness of the nation, 2) the rampant use of witchcraft and magic by those in that region at the time whereby people would invite these demons to become familiar with them.

As they are bringing them to Jesus, Luke tells us that he laid his hands on every one of them. Luke 4:40-41 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. 41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

One comment I read on this passage that I really liked was this: Those who are disposed to frequent spiritual seances and to seek information from mediums should remember that the Son of God permitted his disciples to receive no information from such sources. [Jesus] forbade demons to speak in the presence of his own [followers], even on the most important of all topics.

In like manner, we should never be willing to consult those who claim to be able to commune with spirits to gain hidden knowledge or to tell the future. The use of cards, star signs/zodiac signs, horoscopes, palm reading, Ouija boards, and the like needs to be something that we maintain a far distance from as that invites demonic oppression into the life of Christians who mess around with such things and demonic possession by unbelievers who do likewise.

We possess, in God's word and through His Holy Spirit, all that pertains to life and godliness, the Bible says.

After this, Jesus gets up early in the morning to pray.

Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

And this is where we get into our story this morning.

Jesus gets up in the morning, 'fore day, and goes of to a solitary place to pray. Jesus prayed in different circumstances and in various conditions, but something that we see over and over during his ministry is him going off alone to spend time with his Father.

It is a mistake to think that we can pray equally well at all times and in all places. We often can speak better to God when we are alone, away from distractions, even away from the company of our dearest friends.

Let's continue reading. Mark 1:36-38 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. 37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. 38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.

Poor Jesus. He gets up extra early in the morning to be able to spend some time alone praying, because all day yesterday he was surrounded by people, and just as he gets to his solitary place, Peter realizes that Jesus is gone, grabs the other disciples, and goes after Jesus, noting on his way that others are starting to make their way to his house again to seek Jesus.

So as Jesus is praying, in comes Peter with the interruption. "Hey Jesus, there's people looking for you!" And can't you hear it... Jesus thinking to himself, "Yes, Peter. That is exactly why I am way out here..." But he doesn't say that. He says, lets go into the next towns so that I can preach. That is the reason I came."

Yes, part of Jesus' coming was to be marked by healings and miracles, but Jesus' main goal was to prepare people for the Kingdom of Heaven. Peter and the disciples thought, mistakenly, that Jesus should be back in Capernaum healing others as his first duty. But they did not fully understand Jesus' mission yet.

Jesus never encouraged those that sought him out of simple curiosity or even admiration. Capernaum had accepted the benefit of his miracles, but as we will see later (a couple years later in this timeline), they rejected his call to repentance.

And as we see in Luke 4:40-43, it wasn't just Peter and the disciples that found Jesus, the crowd found out where Jesus had gone also. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. 43 And he said unto them, -- I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

So Jesus goes on a preaching tour, his first real missionary journey, if you will, travelling all throughout Galilee. What the disciples no doubt thought was a very large work in Capernaum, was small compared to Jesus' vision of going to all 204 villages and towns in Galilee.

Mark 1:39-40 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. 39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus' travels at this time were not confined to just Galilee, but he went out to Decapolis as well.

Decapolis is the light purple area. It was a part of Syria and the region was made up up 10 cities that were allied to each other. In Jesus' time, they were inhabited principally by Greeks and Syrians. The historian Josephus expressly called the cities of Gadara and Hyppos "Greek cities."

As Jesus is travelling through Galilee, he is stopped by a man with a horrible condition.

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.

This man is described in Luke 5 as a man "full of leprosy." What Luke is describing is a leper in his final stages. What the Bible calls leprosy is one of several skin diseases we know now as Psoriasis, Elephantiasis, and Hansen's Disease. To my understanding there are different types of psoriasis and elephantiasis that vary in there severity. Some of these diseases not only affect the skin, but would also spread inwardly, causing lungs to fill up with fluid, resulting in death by suffocation.

This man was in his final stages of leprosy when he approached Jesus. Put yourself in this man's shoes for a moment. This man is an outcast. Leprosy was one of the worst diseases you could have. It was a death sentence. It would be slow and painful, but not only that, you would be confined to living outside the city walls as a homeless person. At best, you might be able to find lodging in a special home specifically made to house lepers and keep them quarantined. All your belongings would be taken and burned or buried, up to and including at times the house that you had once lived in.

Leprosy was such a horrible disease that later in medieval times, after crusaders and pilgrims carried back the disease to Europe, churches would have a sort of funeral for those who had contracted leprosy. This "funeral" was done while the leper was still alive. They would bury a casket with some of the personal belongings of the diseased person, signifying that they had been cut off from society.

Leprosy in Bible times was thought to be a disease brought on by God to people who were particularly sinful. Yes, there are times that the Bible mentions people contracting leprosy because of certain sins and as a punishment from God, but it is a dangerous thing to view illness as God's punishment on others unless there is very clear evidence to that.

But think. This man has no family, no belongings, no home, nobody to turn to. He is considered unclean by Jewish religious standards so he can no longer go to the temple. He can no longer offer sacrifices to God. If he needs to go into the city or if he is travelling and comes across people, he has to announce loudly that he is a leper so that others can have ample opportunity to get out of his way. When people see him, their first thoughts are not usually, "Poor guy... that's horrible." Instead, their thoughts are more often than not, "I wonder what sin he committed for God to punish him like that." And don't let a parent and their children see the man because that dad's reaction would be to tell his kids, "See kids? If you don't want to end up like him, you need to follow God's laws. That man is like that because he is a sinner."

This man, this utterly reproached and hated man approaches Jesus, Matthew 8 tells us, by worshipping him. He begs Jesus (Luke) to heal him. Remember that the fame of Jesus had gone out through all the land, so this leper begs to be healed of Jesus.

And this act showed great faith on the part of the leper, for up until now, there had only ever been one recorded instance of a prophet healing leprosy (2 Kings - Naaman). But trusting that Jesus had power from God, he makes his request in an interesting manner: "If you will. Jesus, if you want to, you can make me clean."

This leper approached Jesus knowing full well that Jesus could cleanse him, but is unsure if he is willing to do so. As one commentator put it - "The leper believed in the power of Jesus, but doubted his willingness to expend it on one so unworthy and so unclean."

Note the man's request in verse 40 - "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." This man, a Jew, valued cleanness more than health. To the Jews, uncleanness was more horrible than disease. It meant that he was an outcast, lumped together in the same category as dogs, pigs, and other unclean animals.

So what does Jesus do? Mark 1:41-42 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. 42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

Mark often mentions people's feelings and emotions, and in this story, it is Mark that makes mention of Jesus' compassion. Jesus, moved with compassion, reaches out and touches a man who had probably not felt purposeful and loving human contact in years.

- This touch was not accidental, it was intentional.

- It was not out of anger or repulsions, but out of compassion.

- The touch was not an act of rejection, but of acceptance.

- The touch did not make Jesus unclean (as it would have made any other person that would have touched the leper), instead, because of the divine power that Jesus has, it made the unclean leper immediately clean.

Jesus' answer to the leper echoed the request as he reached out and said, "I will. Be clean."

And Mark describes two events. Where Luke mentions that the leprosy departed (indicating physical cleansing) and Matthew mentions that the leper was made clean (indicating ceremonial cleansing), Mark makes it a point to describe both things happening.

Now, look what happens next. Jesus does something that seems counter-productive to his ministry.

Mark 1:43-44 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; 44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

He sternly tells the man to not tell anyone how he had been made clean, and instead tell him to go to the priest who would ultimately be the one who would examine him physically and be able to declare him part of the congregation of Israel once again.

But why does Jesus tell him not to tell anyone? Wouldn't telling others make Jesus even more famous? Wouldn't that bring even more people to hear Jesus preach?

There may be a couple of reasons as to why Jesus did not want this published, or maybe even a bit of both of these reasons.

1. Jesus came to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. His mission was not to rule, but to serve; not to live a life of luxury, but to ultimately be rejected and die on the cross. The Israelites were looking for a Messiah that would overthrow the Roman government and rule them, and this would have made Jesus a prime candidate for a ruling Messiah.

2. In the short term, Jesus was on a mission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God throughout the towns of Galilee. Too much popularity and crowds that were too large would impede the ability to go into the towns and preach within the city limits.

So Jesus gives this command to this ex-leper, to not tell anyone about him. The man, however does not follow this. He is too happy and begins to publish the news everywhere he can, and it causes one of these consequences we just mentioned.

Mark 1:45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

Jesus was unable to go into the cities with the message that he was intent on spreading. Not because he would be physically unable to go, but because now, the message of the Kingdom was being overshadowed by the miracle of the healing. But which one was more important? The Gospel of the Kingdom!!

To go into the cities, towns and villages with this growing crowd of people would have also roused the concern and jealousy of the government officials, something that was not wise to do at this time in Jesus' ministry. Later on, when it came close to the time of his death, Jesus had no issues with things like that, but now was not the time for that.

So we see that now Jesus has to go to desert places to preach, which limits his audience as he spreads the news of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

By this we can observe that the well-intentioned disobedience of the leper interrupts Jesus and prevents him from accomplishing his mission of visiting the villages in Galilee.

"Disobedience, no matter how well-meaning, always hinders the work of Christ." - J.W. McGarvey

APPLICATION:

There are two things that I really want to home in on this morning from this story.

1. Jesus' loving and powerful compassion. The leper was an outcast, a nobody, a zero with the ring rubbed out, but Jesus reached out his hand and not only healed him, he cleaned him. That is what Jesus wants to do for you this morning.

If you are not saved, you are an outcast of heaven, you are not in the family of God, and you have not future. Your sins have separated you eternally from God, yet God loved the world in this manner, that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Like the leprosy that condemned the man in our story today, sin is a terminal disease with which your soul is riddled. There is no cure outside of Jesus. Today is the day that you can have your sins forgiven and washed away if you'll simply come to him in faith for salvation.

Christian, you have a past, we all do. That past is a sin riddled past. Before Jesus we were as hopeless spiritually as this leper was physically, but then we put our faith in Jesus to save us! When we cried out to him, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean," He made us clean. The moment we confessed our sin to Him he forgave those sins, but 1 John 1:9 says he did something else: He cleansed us from all unrighteousness.

Satan will try to keep you feeling guilty of all the things that you're already forgiven and cleaned from. He'll make you feel like an outcast, like you don't belong, like you're nothing, but because of Jesus you can turn to Satan in those times and say with confidence, "I am a NEW creation. Those old things have passed away, and I have been made new! I am not guilty, I am righteous because of Jesus. He Justified me in the eyes of God, meaning that He made me 'just as if I had never sinned.' I am not an outcast, I am part of the family of God. I am not rejected, I am seated with God already in heavenly places. I am not useless, God has a plan for my life." And you can carry on, free from guilt and the guilty feelings, to walk with Christ daily.

But then there are some Christians who are saved, but have not been walking with Christ. Perhaps you are one of them. You have fallen into sin, you've become complacent, or whatever the case might be. That will make you feel like an outcast. It will make you feel unclean, because sin always is a polluting agent. But you don't have to stay there. You don't have to live defeated. All you need to do is go to the Master and confess your sin knowing that he is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse.

2. The second thing I want to point out is this. Well-intentioned disobedience hinders the work of Christ. There are certain things that God has called us to do and to be. There are certain things that we can read explicitly in the Bible that we are to follow: as individuals, as families, and as a church. Disobedience to those things will always hinder God's work, no matter your intentions behind it.

If you are a member here, you have covenanted to be a part of this body. When you willingly and deliberately separate yourself from fellowship with others in the church, you hinder God's work in your personal life, in your family's life, and in the church.

If you refuse to trust God with your substance, you hinder God's work in yourself, in your family, and in the church.

If you refuse to be teachable and discipleable, if you refuse to participate in the opportunities to disciple others, your hinder God's work in you, in your family, and in your church.

If you try to live your life one way at church and another way at work or at home, you hinder the work of God.

We often talk about doing the right thing for the wrong reasons and how bad that is, but doing the wrong thing for the right reasons is just as bad.

Invitation

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Home Groups

Was there anything that stood out to you or resonated with you from the message today?

How does the leper's experience resonate with you personally, especially in terms of faith, suffering, or the search for healing?

Jesus, moved with compassion, intentionally touched the leper, providing him with a human connection he might not have experienced for years. We as a church are called the body of Christ. How important is it for us to reach out to people that others (or even we) might consider outcasts?

How can we make sure we do that as individuals? As a church?

What are areas of obedience that seem hard to follow in your life? (Offerings, witnessing, church attendance, church involvement?)

How is well-intentioned disobedience a demonstration of a lack of faith in God?