In the Shoes of a Leper

Intro

Last couple times I have preached about the Jesus and his interactions with the people around him.

There is always something in Jesus’ interactions that reveals a greater depth of the heart and character of God.

This morning our text is only going to be two verses…there is this small moment/interaction Jesus has with a man that is so special. It is recorded in 3 of the 4 Gospels.

Read a few weeks ago, but keeps coming back to me and I keep going back and reading it. A story of healing…but there is something different about this story.

Before I tell you what it is…I want us all to walk in the shoes of this man

Don’t know his name

Don’t know his story/background

But in one verse we can get a glimpse into his heart

I want us all to do our best to put ourselves in the shoes of this man, because stories in Scripture become so much more alive when we are in them.

Title of my sermon: In the Shoes of a Leper

Turn with me to (pray first )

we are going to read these two verses and then unpack them together!

Shoes of a Leper

Read

First glance this seems like all the other healing stories

The blind see, the lame walk

the lame walk

the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life

the dead are raised to life, the demon-possessed are delivered, and here a leper is completely healed!

the demon-possessed are delivered

and here a leper is completely healed!

Certain details that make this story different.

Lets read it again one verse at a time, and I want to point two things out.

Didn’t ask to be healed

Notice: Blind men asked for their sight, the lame asked to walk again, the crippled asked to be healed. But this leper as to be made clean. Why is that important?

Leprosy was different because it carried with it many social stigmas.

According to Mosaic Law, lepers were considered unclean.

 “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.

45 “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.

So get this…their were 2 specific consequences of this:

Isolation

Lepers had to live outside of the camp in a leper colony

Prior social standing was irrelevant (Imagine job/house you live in, etc..)

Anything/anyone they touched became unclean.

Bible doesn’t say whether this man had a family or anything about his personal life, but he could no longer interact with those he loved

Couldn’t touch family or friends

Parents imagine the feeling of holding your child and then that getting ripped away from you.

Can’t come into church this morning and shake hands/give hugs

Couldn’t come within 6 feet of even family

On a scientific level we can see the importance of touch...when we shake hands or put an arm across a friend’s shoulder, the body releases neurological chemicals that feel good, while also inhibiting chemicals that cause stress.

Babies who are not held and hugged enough will literally stop growing and even though they receive proper nutrition-die.

babies who are not held and nuzzled and hugged enough will literally stop growing and-if the situation lasts long enough, even if they are receiving proper nutrition-die.

Orphanages have 30-40% higher infant mortality rates

The Psychological consequences of leprosy were as serious as the physical!

Dr. Andrew Buchanan Macdonald was a doctor that worked in the Itu Leper Colony in Nigeria, Africa in the 1920’s-1950’s, and in one of his articles he wrote about it, he wrote this: ‘The leper is sick in mind as well as body. For some reason there is an attitude to leprosy different from the attitude to any other disfiguring disease. It is associated with shame and horror, and carries, in some mysterious way, a sense of guilt, although innocently acquired like most contagious troubles. Shunned and despised, frequently do lepers consider taking their own lives and some do.’

Rejection/Shame

They had to cry out “unclean, unclean.”

It was not a quiet shame, but very public.

Imagine walking into church this morning and people keep their distance

To top it off, because of the social stigmas associated with leprosy, many considered lepers to be under the judgement and displeasure of God.

What sins did they commit to be judged with leprosy?

In the Middle Ages lepers were forced to attend their own funeral mass, where they were officially declared dead to the community.

There was this sense that you were dead to people!

You are now standing in the shoes of a man who has hit rock bottom.

Family interaction is out of the picture

Social stature, and honor is out of the picture

Physical wellness is out of the picture

Future aspirations, job security, your home/community…gone!

And according to unfounded belief, even God despises you

One commentator put it this way, “Lepers were hated by others until they came to hate themselves!”

When the man asks to be made clean, it involves his physical healing, but it has much more to do with being healed in the heart.

This is a desperate man, a broken man, a emotionally torn man.

If you will, you can make me clean

But also notice how he appealed to Jesus

If you will, you can make me clean

Many people approached Jesus with phrases like, “I believe” or “just say the word,” or “help my unbelief.”

Many others appealed to Jesus power and their faith… “I believe you can do this!”

This man wasn’t focused on whether Christ “could” do it, but more on whether he “would” do it.

In other words Christ’s ability or power was not in question, but rather his willingness.

He technically didn’t even ask a question.

Maybe the man wondered if Jesus was going to reject him like everyone else

Doesn’t even technically ask him

Imagine the anticipation…what is Jesus going to do

Jesus Response

Read vs. 12 again now that we have a more of an understanding and backstory of this man, and then go into vs. 13.

There is one key thing to notice in this, because it reveals the heart of God in a special way.

Before Jesus said anything, he touched the man

All Jesus needed to do was say a word, and the man would’ve have been healed from leprosy.

Remember the Centurion that said to Jesus, “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.

This is where the heart of God is so special, and God’s heart for you this morning is the same.

Before Jesus said anything, he touched the man

Jesus met the man where is greatest need was, he heard the cry of his heart (to be loved, accepted, restored)

The Gospel of Luke Touching the Untouchable (Luke 5:12–15)

The regulations concerning leprosy are in Leviticus, chapters 13 and 14. The most terrible thing about it was the isolation it brought. Lepers were to cry ‘Unclean! unclean!’ wherever they went and were condemned to live alone in a dwelling ‘outside the camp’ (Leviticus 13:45–6), banished from society and exiled from home. The result was, and still is, that the psychological consequences of leprosy were as serious as the physical.

He said, “I want to…be clean”

Then the Bible says immediately the leprosy left him

The word of Christ brought the physical healing power, the touch was the emotional healing love and acceptance

You can see the tenderness in the heart of Christ

It’s the love of God that causes Him to move on our behalf

Jesus didn’t have to touch him

All Jesus needed to do was say a word, and the man would’ve have been healed from leprosy.

Remember the Centurion that said to Jesus, “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.

Application

Now you may say, “what does this have to do with me? I’m not a leper.” Maybe not physically, but I think that situations and circumstances in life can bring about an emotional leprosy.

Emotional Leprosy

They have shut off their hearts from feeling pain.

They have shut off their hearts from feeling pain

Distance yourself from relationships

We can push people away because we don’t want to open ourselves up to pain

Maybe we feel like we’ll find God in the form of the very ones who have rejected us

If a leper wanted to be healed, he needed to leave the safety and familiarity of the colony, he had to expose himself to Christ, and face the possibility of rejection.

It was against Levitical law for the leper to come into the city

He wasn’t supposed to be there

It can be the same with us when we try to pursue healing sometimes…there are these voices of accusation in our head saying, “You aren’t supposed to be here!”

Be encouraged by the heart of God towards you this morning!

I’m sure the man in this story didn’t leave after he was healed like nothing ever happened. I’m sure it took time to process through some things, and to work through this healing process.

Salvation

A - Admit you are a sinner, there is an issue in me that I can’t fix on my own…so how do I fix it?

B - Believe that when Jesus died on the cross he paid my sin debt, someone has the pay the penalty of sin, you can pay for it yourself or you can believe that Christ has paid it for you

C - Confess him as Lord that is in charge of your life from this point on. You let him lead your life

You don’t have to be perfect, just be honest....just ask Him

The Gospel of Luke Touching the Untouchable (Luke 5:12–15)

Dr. A. B. MacDonald, in an article on the leper colony in Itu, of which he was in charge, wrote, ‘The leper is sick in mind as well as body. For some reason there is an attitude to leprosy different from the attitude to any other disfiguring disease. It is associated with shame and horror, and carries, in some mysterious way, a sense of guilt, although innocently acquired like most contagious troubles. Shunned and despised, frequently do lepers consider taking their own lives and some do.’

The Gospel of Luke Touching the Untouchable (Luke 5:12–15)

Lepers were hated by others until they came to hate themselves

The Gospel of Luke Touching the Untouchable (Luke 5:12–15)

First, when we despise ourselves, when our hearts are filled with bitter shame, let us remember that, in spite of all, Christ’s hand is still stretched out. The writer Mark Rutherford wished to add a new beatitude: ‘Blessed are those who heal us of our self-despisings.’ That is what Jesus did and does. Second, it is of the very essence of Christianity to touch the untouchable, to love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable. Jesus did—and so must we.

(2) Jesus sent

The Gospel of Luke Touching the Untouchable (Luke 5:12–15)

First, when we despise ourselves, when our hearts are filled with bitter shame, let us remember that, in spite of all, Christ’s hand is still stretched out. The writer Mark Rutherford wished to add a new beatitude: ‘Blessed are those who heal us of our self-despisings.’ That is what Jesus did and does. Second, it is of the very essence of Christianity to touch the untouchable, to love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable. Jesus did—and so must we.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 8

He does not say he believed Him able, but with a brevity expressive of a confidence that knew no doubt, he says simply, “Thou canst.” But of Christ’s willingness to heal him he was not so sure.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. Healing a Leper (5:12–16)

It was against the law for a leper to come into the city (Lev. 13:46).

It's believed that 1 in 2 people living with the effects of leprosy will experience anxiety and depression. https://www.lepra.org.uk/News/leprosy-and-mental-health