Be Clean!

12 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.”

· Story of working in leprosy colonies in India

· Our passage

· Take note, lepers were not allowed in cities.

o Stigmatism, contagion

· “If you will” – proclamation of faith

· “make me clean” – not ‘heal me’.

o Leprosy was commonly seen as an infliction imparted by God.

o A leper was ceremonially unclean. To be unclean meant to be unfit for worshipping God

§ For example, pigs are unclean and were unfit for temple sacrifice. Jews should not touch pigs or else they will not be fit to go to worship

· (ESV) You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,

o The commands regarding ceremonial uncleanness was related to one’s spiritual condition.

o The point was to teach about purity, particularly spiritual purity

· Jesus came and taught the purity was first and foremost an issue of the heart, whereas previously it was viewed primarily as external and physical.

o (ESV) While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

· Back to our passage

· Jesus speaks these words, and we should be shouting and celebrating, because His words are “I will; be clean”. And Luke tells us that immediately the leprosy left him. Hallelujah!

o This is our Savior! When any of us approach Him, unclean as we are, He wills it again and He speaks the words “be clean”!

o What beautiful words! And Jesus instructs this man to go and be recognized and pronounced as clean, and to have made the appropriate sacrifice for someone who once was unclean but now is clean

· Brothers and Sisters, this is an incredible healing and not a passage to be brushed over too quickly! But there is one more point I want to make…..

· I’ve seen something very sad in this world. There are those who come to Christ, who receive healing of their uncleanness, who are reconciled to the Father, whose sins have been washed away and who have been made white a snow (if you remember that old hymn). And yet they still think and act as if they are unclean and still in need of cleansing. They do not live as those who have been redeemed, they live as those are yet guilty.

· Brothers and sisters, I want to say one thing and one thing only to us today. He whom the son sets free is free indeed! The devil and all the fallen angels want to prevent you from knowing that truth, from living out your full identity in Christ. Don’t believe their lies.

· This is how I’m going to close. Between the few of us in this room I want to pray for any of us who may be struggling with this identity of having been made truly clean. So here’s what I’ll do.

· Peter: Please turn the camera away for just a minute for privacy. Thank you.

· I’d like us all to close our eyes and listen for the Holy Spirit’s prompting. After a very short time I’ll count to three. When I reach three please raise your hand for a moment. This will be you saying you need to be reminded internally of how Jesus has made you clean. That your identity is no longer sinner, but saint. After you’ve raised your hand you can put it back down again and I’ll pray for us. A very short time of waiting, a count to three, a chance for hands to be raised, and then a short prayer. Let’s close our eyes now. Thank you.

· (Prayer inviting God to reveal our heats)

· (count to three)

· (Acknowledgment of hands)

· (closing prayer)

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon this I see—