Mark Pt 9: Touching the Untouchable

Last month I was studying what is know in Theology as Anthropology. Anthropology is simple the study of Man, or Humans if you want to be more P.C. The teaching I received in this area where from a Biblical World view of course, and when you study that subject out it becomes increasingly apparent how amazing the creation is , and how amazing we are as the crowing glory of Gods creation.

However as a follow on from Anthropology, I also studied Harmatology , I said Harma not Heama, Haematology is the study of Blood, Harmatology is the study of Sin. And when one really studies and look at the catastrophic effects of sin of Gods creation, and the Total depravity of Man, the desperate wickedness of the human heart, and our capability for evil, our love of sin, you cannot but be all the more amazed that Christ died for you and that he saved you and you are adopted into the family of God for eternity.

The human condition is one that is disposed to sin, left to our own devices we have a natural propensity towards sinful behaviour

John 3:19 KJV 1900

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Illustration - Loaded dice - Sin - not always land on it but majority

Our sin has separated us from God, God cannot look upon sin, it cannot be in his presence, thats why Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden. We are lost and have no chance of fixing or rescuing ourselves, we just can’t to it. The only way for us is that if God reaches down and saves us, he touches the untouchable and by Faith in his death, burial and resurrection, we can be restored.

As we come to this mornings passage, we read of the account of the Leprous Man being healed. As we examine this passage I want you to have the Gospel in your mind.

Let’s begin by firstly looking at

1. The Condition of the Man

Mark 1:40 KJV 1900

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.

Exploring the Gospel of Mark: An Expository Commentary (3) The Leper (1:40–45)

Leprosy! The very word filled people with horror. The Jews regarded it as “the stroke of God.” The leper carried about in his body corruption, contamination, and death. Society ostracized and rigidly segregated him lest he contaminate others of the community. If anyone wandered into his vicinity, he had to cover his mouth and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn the other person away. He was excommunicated from the religious life, functions, and feasts of the nation. His only companions were other lepers in the same pitiable condition as himself. He could not work because who would want the goods and services of a leper? He could not come and go as he pleased. He endured a living death, because his disease spread and was incurable. Often, it began in a small way. He lost the feeling in his fingers, in his feet, and in his limbs. Before long, he presented a dreadful spectacle with rotted stumps where once had been healthy limbs. He had no hope. He was cut off from his family, from his former friends, and from the fellowship of the people of God. All he could look forward to was death. No wonder leprosy is often viewed as a type and picture of sin.

This man was a leper indeed Luke tells us he was full of leprosy

Luke 5:12 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

He was unclean, separated, isolated, this mans condition defined him, he was without hope, no wonder they called leprosy a living death!

To go and see the priests of Israel did not offer any healing promise for disease. The priests of Israel differed from those of other religions, who claimed to heal, in that they had no power and could offer no ritual to heal disease. Israel believed that healing was entirely in the hands of God. Priests, therefore, simply declared what was clean and unclean

So the priests could not help this leper, but he had heard of one man, a man of miracles, a man of power and wonder, a man who had been healing in the capernaum, now he couldn’t go into the town, but here on the outskirts of town he had an opportunity, he had a chance to approach the Mighty Miracle worker and that’s what he did

He came to Jesus and approached him the right why, he came beseeching, earnestly implore and cry out for help, notice his wording though

Mark 1:40 KJV 1900

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.

“if thou wilt, thou can”

He did not presume on Christ’s mercy, but he knew he had the power, that was not in question, the questions wasn't could he but would he, that was true faith.

Application: as we think about this Man his sickness and his separation, I want us to think about Sin, and what sin has done upon the creation and more importantly man - Man made in the image of God, corrupted, like the leper, we cannot be clean, before a holy God because of our condition, we have to say to him will you Lord, will you make us clean?

Transition - That is the condition of the Man, unclean, a leper, but what will be the response from Jesus? Well lets examine...

2. The Compassion of the Messiah

Mark 1:41 KJV 1900

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

As a bystander watching all this you would be outraged, because this leper had broken protocol, the leper knew the rules.

The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Healing the Leper (1:39–42)

If the priest declared a particular skin problem to be leprosy, the sufferer was excluded from the community by divine decree (Lev. 13:45–52; Num. 5:2–4). This banishment was not rooted in any fear of spreading the disease but of spreading religious impurity. Leprosy was considered a primary source of uncleanness. Like a corpse, the leper could impart impurity to objects found within the same enclosure. As a result, he or she was viewed as a living corpse, and a cure was likened to raising the dead.17 The leper was confined by a strict set of rules that governed his contact and relations with other people.18 The leper in Mark 1:40, however, does not keep a safe distance but breaks through the religious barricade to confront Jesus. He is willing to chance that Jesus has both the power and the grace to heal him.

So there would have been outrage at the actions of the leper. but then instead of chasing him away we see Jesus respond with compassion instead of chasing him away, he reaches out to touch him! The crowd gasp and are in awe, don’t do it Jesus, you be unclean too, you be smitten with Leprosy!!

Jesus is not working to mans program, and he is overflowing with compassion for this Man

you overflow unless you are filled, and whatever you are filled with will overflow, whatever it is! Good or Bad! Joy or Hate, Compassion or Cruelty

Christ overflowed with compassion and he reached out and touched this man, he touched the untouchable.

What a picture of the gospel this is, we were dead in trespasses and sins, lepers stricken with sin, and God reached out and touched us !!!!

Oh the compassion of the Messiah for this man, oh his compassion and love for us when he died on a cross for wicked filthy sinners such as you and I!!

just an interesting observation to add, they I found when studying out this passage, is that the greek language construction, actually tells us that the stretching forth his hand to touch the leper and the the words “i will, be thou clean” are simultaneous, so the miracle is done by the power of his word, and when Jesus physically touched this man he was the first to touch him as a clean man, and therefore Jesus was not made unclean by touching him.

Next then we want to think about the...

3. The Completeness of the Mending

Mark 1:42 KJV 1900

And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

I wonder have you picked up that the Man didn't ask Jesus to be healed. What did he say? - Make me clean

Remember this disease was associated with Sin, and this leper wanted to be made clean. The master in his compassion hears his cry and responds with compassion and makes him clean!

Now we continue are wonderful picture of the Gospel, with the sinner being made clean, justification- right with God.

But it is not just a partial temporary cleansing its a complete cleansing. The word departed carries forth the idea of separation, this man was completed separated from his condition.

And so it is at salvation we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, we will never have to face the punishment our sin deserves from a Holy God, we are clean in his eyes

1 John 1:7 KJV 1900

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

God is still in the business of touching the untouchable today, praise the Lord!

What a day for this man, the best day of his life by a country mile, but Jesus isn't finished , let’s look then finally at

4. The Caveat of the Miracle

Mark 1:43–45 KJV 1900

And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; 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. 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.

The Lord not only sent the man home but also told him not to talk about his healing. One thing he must do, however; he must present himself to the priest that he might be legally certified clean by the representative of the Mosaic Law. Also, the priest himself needed to know that this unusual Messiah was a healer indeed!

Remember Jesus fulfilled the Law he didn't break it at any point, he knew what the man had to do, so he gave him his marching orders.

Jesus did want to use this man to make a show, to draw a crowd, far from the so called faith healers of today, he tells the man to go and do what is right , be pronounced clean by the priests - Trevvy Alpha Course - 3 resurrections in the city that week? where is the validation?

So, Jesus sends the man on his way, but what do we get? do we have obedience? No he went off and couldn't keep his mouth shut he just wanted to tell the world, and while there was nothing seemingly wrong in telling the world about Christ, it was wrong because the master had other plans and he should of simply obeyed, and his disobedience caused problems for Christ, because he couldn't enter the city’s as freely as before

You know sometimes you witnessing can hinder the work of the Gospel! Illustration of family - rosemary - Got to be following the will of the Lord

So Here the man after his healing, has his first test of obedience and it fails miserably by disobeying, and this is where we pick up our Gospel picture again.

The sinner saved by grace, is a new creation, born again, in a right standing with God, and now the Lord has somethings for them to do, so commands to obey, but what do we do, just like this leper we disobey

Conclusion

Folks, each one of us here this morning either in the position we are in can relate to the Leper

Some of you are still in your Sin, under the condemnation of God, outside of Gods prescience, never have came to Jesus to be spiritually healed, to be made whole, cleansed so that you might have a relationship with God again - You dying and heading to eternal seperation from God - thats hell

There is good news though!

Romans 6:23 KJV 1900

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Good news is that Jesus made a way, you just have to come to him, like the leper did, come in faith knowing he can save you, but asking in reverence, crying out to him - Saying Lord save me!!

Acts 4:12 KJV 1900

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Jesus is your only hope this morning if your lost, he is the only cure for your disease called sin, he is the only way back to God. But you have to come in repentance and faith and cry out to him

Romans 10:9–10 KJV 1900

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Praise God you do that and you will be saved, translated from darkness to light, born again, adopted into Gods family, never to face the punishment for sin that you so deserved, you will be set free from the bondage of Sin, your life will change, you will have peace, a peace that all the money in the world cannot provide, you will have peace with God, and his peace in you.

We were all once the Leper in this account, isolated from God because of our Condition, some of us came to Christ and he made us clean, we were saved by the Grace of God through faith.

Now thats were our comparison with the Leper should end, but unfortunately we are all guilty of continuing the comparison further and following in the Lepers disobedience! He was cured and then he was given instructions, commands to obey, but he didn't.

We we got saved we were left with clear instructions, the bible is here to get us through life, to bring us through it Gods way, which is aways the best way.

What’s God’s plan for my life? that wont be revealed unless you are obedient in the basic things! Baptism for one.

I wonder this morning where are you with God?

Are you lost, are you estranged from God because of you Condition just like the Leper in this account was? Come to Jesus to be Saved

Are you saved, but living in disobedience to Gods commands like the Leper did after he was healed? then determine to do right by God, to trust and obey.

What a picture of the Gospel we have in this account when Jesus in his compassion and mercy reached out and touched the untouchable!