The Healing Power of Jesus

Well Good morning everyone

So by way of announcements

Unfortunatley we won’t be hold service

Over the next couple of weeks

Due to the fact that I will be in Romania

With the 500th

So in fact the next service we will have will actually be the 21st of August

So please don’t show up next week

Cause we won’t be here

Also I have a prayer request

That I was hoping you all could join me in

So many of you know I am leaving

PCSing to Ft Jackson here around the beginning of the year

And while that is something that is to be expected in the Army

I am worried that once I leave

This service is just going to go away

So I do ask that maybe you would pray with us

Over the next coming months

That God would provide someone to come and take over for me

Because I don’t know about you guys

But I have enjoyed being able to bring church to you all

Being able to share in this faith journey with you all

And so please pray that God will bring us someone

That can jump right in and take my place

Anyways

So lets get started

So you know I remember growing up as a kid

I remember one of the hardest things

To do was to try and fit in

And I recall this was especially hard in High School

You know contrary to popular belief

I wasn’t exactly the popular kid in school

I mean when you talk about scrawny,

When I joined the Army believe it or not

I was actually 5’10” tall

and I weighed, now get this

117 lbs

You know how I know this?

I still have a PT card from basic training that actually shows my weight

And believe it or not I believe I required a waiver to get in

Because I was too skinny

Most have to lose weight

Well I was one that had to gain weight

And so if you can imagine

High School wasn’t exactly easy for me

And to top it off we didn’t live in the best neighborhood either

So I remember getting picked on a lot

But one thing I’ll never forget was the feeling of abandonment

Or the feeling of just being completely alone

And while I had it bad

I remember in my particular High School we had the special ed kids

And I recall how they were treated by some of the other students

And what i find amazing is how absolutely cruel some people can truly be

We had a few kids with down syndrome

or were mentally disabled for one reason or another

And I would watch as the cool kids would push them around

Would imitate them, laugh at them

And I recall looking at the special needs kids

And seeing their face

Seeing how sad it made them

And actually how confused they were

You because these kids didn’t deserve

The way they were being treated

These kids didn’t deserve to treated with such hostility

And yet you see this everywhere

In fact unless you have lived under a rock for the last decade

We have witnessed anti bullying movements throughout

Our country and throughout the world

And at the root cause of such behavior

On both ends

is the desire to be accepted

The desire to be loved

And I think if we are honest

To be accepted and to be loved

Is something every single one of want

Need

Desire

I mean its foundational to who we are

And so today as we discuss the healing of a leper

I want us to focus on our mission as Christians

To focus on the potential good we can do as a body of Christ

But at the same time

I also want us to see the hope that is Jesus

In the soon coming Kingdom of our Lord

So if you would please

Open up your bibles to Mark

Mark 1:40–45 NLT

A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.

Prayer

So first and foremost

I want us to dive into the context of the passage real quick

Because like I’ve been saying

over the last couple of weeks

when you get into the context of the story

when you get into the cultural aspect of the story

you begin to understand the characters

in the particular story

and it brings the Bible to life

And so notice here real fast

notice first off

this man is a leper

For those of us that may not actually know what leprosy really is

Its actually a horrendous skin condition

That is caused by Bacteria

And it can actually cause

Fingers, and toes and other parts of the body

To die and literally fall off in the most extreme cases

Other types might include scales

Or sever rashes

But it goes to tell you why people would be so afraid

Of someone with this issue

I mean you really have to think about this

Here comes a man

Whose body is potentially

literally falling apart

Body parts are scabbing up

actually falling off

He probably stinks because he has it bathed properly

because it’s probably painful for him

At the same time

They don’t have the scientific understanding that we do

or even the basic common knowledge of how diseases are spread,

So you can imagine this man is shunned

He’s rejected

He’s even look at as cursed

And so if you can imagine this man

Is in every-way

At the bottom of the barrel

He wasn’t allowed to come near people

He wasn’t allowed to share in fellowship with others

In fact he was required to yell unclean! everywhere he went

And so when you look at this story I want you to really

Dive into the emotion or the desperation that this man must have felt

One commentator said,

This man experienced a pitiful existence due not only to the physical ravages of the disease but also to ritual uncleanness (In other-words he couldn’t partake in church if that makes sense). He would have been absolutely excluded from society. Leprosy brought anguish at all levels: physical, mental, social, and religious. Without treatment in a hot climate many skin diseases were vicious. Not only was the disease painful and debilitating but it rendered the victims religiously and socially unclean. They were required to live outside of cities and towns, have no contact with anyone, and declare themselves unclean when anyone approached.

And so if we dive into the mind of the man who sees Jesus

Into the mind of a man who sees the only possibility of becoming normal

The only possibility of becoming accepted by society

Then you see a man who is willing to risk it all

Regardless of the consequences

I mean think about it

Jesus is his only hope he’s got nothing left to lose,

he has body parts falling off of him

he’s not allowed to have any social contacts

he’s not allowed to live a normal life

he can’t go to restaurants

or bars

or hotels

Here is a man who could never live a normal life

a man who is at his lowest point

he has absolutely nothing left to lose.

And I wanna pause right there real fast

Because I know a lot of us are going through some of the same things

a lot of us have gotten to that point in our lives

when we felt like a leper

when we felt like the outcast

when we felt like the one that doesn’t belong.

And the reality is

that if thats you

If thats where you’re at

Then you feel this story

You feel whats going on here

Deep in your soul

And you know as I was coming up with this sermon

I began to think on those that come to see me

I think the bulk of the formation that I see

Is either dealing with the effects of being rejected in the past

Or is right in the middle of it

And what is even more unique is that arguably

most of our sin and our disruptive behavior

comes from a desire of wanting to belong

wanting to feel loved

wanting to feel accepted

wanting to have a close intimate relationship with anyone

And when you think on it

There is not a single person on this planet

That doesn’t want to feel loved

To be accepted

Relationships are built into our DNA

I dont’ care who you are

Or what meme’s you post about

Hating everyone around you

Whether its one person or many people

Each one of us wants to belong

We all need someone

And that’s exactly what you’re seeing here in this story

what you’re seeing in our every day lives

is somebody that deep down who just wants to be loved

just wants to be accepted

for once in their life they want to be a part of the group

to feel like they belong UNCONDITIONALLY

And so when you see Jesus look at this man

This man who not only has a disease that could potentially kill him

But here is a man who has been pushed to the side

Thrown away

hated by everybody around him

When you see Jesus walk up to this man

with no fear with no concern for his own health

You can almost feel the emotion coming off of the page

you can almost feel the tears coming out of this man’s eyes

looking at the messiah begging him for help

I mean ask yourself

have you ever been at that point

when you’ve just fallen to your knees

pleading with God help

Saying help me I need you

I can’t do this alone

I think each and everyone of us

If we are honest with ourselves

Has been there at one point in time

And if you haven’t

You’re not special

That day will come Trust me

But this is where the story truly gets amazing

because if you look at the next verse

Jesus changes this man’s life forever read with me here

Mark 1:41 NKJV

Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

He touched him

He touched him

This is what I love about Jesus

Not only did he know exactly what this man needed

But he did it in a way that would change him forever

I mean think on this

This man probably hasn’t been touched in years

And yet Jesus touches him

Changing his life forever

How often in our lives

Do we push God to the side

Until we are in so much pain

That the only thing that will heal us

Is the touch of Jesus

You know and I think

many times

it takes some of the hardest moments

To force us to look back at where we came from

To force us to look back at where we know we belong

And as I look at this story

I see a man who is so familiar

Who is living out what I see on a daily basis

I think one of the most devastating part of being a chaplain

Is watching this story play out in real life,

watching the pain

Watching the hurt

Watching it all play out in real time

And you know the ones who make it through

The ones who are able to stand back up on their feet

During some of the hardest times in life

Its the ones who are closest to God

Its the ones who understand what they have in Jesus

It’s why I push so hard in getting each and everyone of us to understand our identity in Christ.

Because life isn’t fair

Sometimes life will throw a curve ball

Sometimes life will give you leporsy

And if you’re not solid in your identity in Christ

If you’re not solid in understanding what he promises

And what His kingdom will bring,

Then you’re going to have a hard time facing hard times

Which leads me to my final point

And if you’ve been to my sermons before

if you’ve listen to me preach on healing before

there’s a deeper understanding than most of us realize

Than most of us even give credit to

and I like how one commentator said it

Like Jesus’s exorcisms and other healings, this one has end times significance. The power to heal, is evidence of the power of the Kingdom of God at work in Jesus and the promise of what is to come!

How many of you have read the end of this book?

How many of you realize what is in store

What is promised

And prophesied

And guaranteed in this book!

Christ victory over disease

Over death

Over sin

Directly correlates and guarantees your promise of eternity.

Jesus Christ comes into the world

claiming that the kingdom of God is here

and when you see Christ taking away the curse of sin

The cause of disease

The cause of war

The cause of pain

you are seeing an end times theme to the Bible that begins to focus on your home in everything that will be made new.

1 Peter 1:3–5 NIV

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

The reality is

the world that you live in right now

The world you are familiar with

The world cursed by sin

Filled with death, disease, war

That world is going away

And the promise of our victory in Christ

Is a new beginning

Getting back to the Garden

Getting back to perfect

When you see Christ coming in and taking away sin

you are seeing a foreshadowing of what it is going to be like

Which leads me to my last point

And i’ll make this quick

Look at verse

Mark 1:43–44 NLT

Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

So real fast

Notice what did here

He commands the man to go and have himself examined by the priests

Not only was this required

But let me ask you a question

You ever met that one person that was always a step ahead of everyone

Look what one commentator says

And I love what Jesus does here

Because he’s setting up the priests

In a way I had never thought of

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 1:43–44

The cleansing of the leper was an undeniable messianic sign (cf. Matt. 11:5; Luke 7:22) that God was working in a new way. If the priests declared the leper clean but rejected the One who cleansed him, their unbelief would be incriminating evidence against them.

Don’t you find that fascinating

I mean when you read the Gospels in their context

Its almost like watching a movie

Jesus knew he was challenging the priests authority

He knew He was gonna be set up

And he knew they would do everything to try and kill him

And so what does Christ do

He uses their religion against them

Not only to prove he was the Messiah

But to back them into a corner

Ultimately keeping them quite

Mark 1:45 NLT

But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.

You know

As much you’d I’d like to be mad at the guy

Can you blame him

The man had been given a death sentence

Now healed by the power of God

And given the gift of life once again

You know I remember when my aunt finally got the result

That her cancer was in remission

I remember the joy,

The excitement

You know how hard it is

to keep that to yourself

Its nearly impossible

To be handed a death sentence

To be taken from a life of total rejection

Of total abandonment

Of total misery

To being visibly healed

I mean can you blame the guy

When was the last time you rejoiced in your own salvation

In the promises of God

Made for you