The Man with Leprosy
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Matthew 8:1-4
Matthew 8:1-4
When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
He had just described on the mountain there were two types of people following Him:
Those who were there for food, signs and wonders
Those who were seeking him
Which one are you today?
Leprosy
Mycobacterium leprae
a. Leviticus 13:2-3
“When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean.
a. Skin diseases. - slow growing bacteria spreading to nerves, blindness and paralysis
b. Discharges of any kind
c. Contact with a dead body
d. sin
e. shout “unclean”, live outside the camp, and barred from Temple worship, burn items
“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.’ 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.
f. the presence of the Lord in the camp—uncleanness could not coexist with his dwelling
g. Restoration to cleanness involved remedies tailored to the type of uncleanness, typically
h. washing
i. waiting period
j. Temple sacrifice- scapegoat
He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field.
a. Jesus was killed so that we could go free
k. maintain proper relationship with God.
l. we need to remove anything that keeps us from God’s presence
He knelt before the Lord Jesus
a. He worshipped Jesus before asking Jesus for something
a. He understood the order of things- humility
b. worship before blessing- arrogance
c. he sought Jesus before the blessing of Jesus
d. Lord, if you will- He did not question ability, just His will
a. God reveals His will through:
a. His Word
b. His Son
c. Holy Spirit
d. Jesus never focused on the external only the internal
a. The heart over the body
And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
e. You can make me clean- He understood Jesus authority- Lord (Kyrios)
a. He had faith
b. His faith was rewarded
c. The leprosy left him immediately- Jesus was glorified- Blind man in Luke 9
d. restoration
a. physically
b. socially
c. Spiritually
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
