Sermon Tone Analysis

Bible Reading

Introduction

We come this morning to another wonderful example of Christ’s great authoritative power that He exercised.

Over the past few weeks in our study in the Gospel of Mark, we’ve seen numerous instances of this power of Christ being exercised, and the awe and wonder of the crowds of people as they see this man working these mighty miracles in their presence.

As can be expected when true miracles are performed, the crowds flocked to Christ, all hoping that the sick that were with them in their own households could also receive this healing touch in their own lives.

And they weren’t disappointed!!

This morning we turn ourselves to another healing that Christ performed.

But this healing was more than merely a healing.

This healing of a man with leprosy (which disease I’ll discuss more in a moment) was particularly called a “cleansing” in this passage.

When the man affected comes to Christ, he says to Christ “if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

As I prepared for this message, the amazing parallel that can be found in this example of the cleansing of the Leper compared to the cleansing of a sinner coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for spiritual cleansing was unmistakable.

In fact even in the Scriptures, we find that a parallel is drawn between sickness and sin.

One of the well known examples is where Christ speaks to the teachers of the law and the pharisees, and says to them...

“...It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

(Mark 2:17)

A similar connection between sin and sickness was conveyed by the apostle Peter, when he wrote in 1 Peter 2:24...

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

(1 Pe 2:24).

And so as we go through this text this morning and consider this profound healing / cleansing that is performed by Christ, I’m going to do just that:

I will draw out for us what I believe is a wonderful spiritual parallel, and I do trust that this will encourage us and challenge us as we see just what it is that God has done for each one of us who are in Christ, as He has brought cleansing and healing in our own lives.

Just by way of setting the context, and where this is taking place...

Mark doesn’t include for us the details of where precisely this took place, or what was going on at the time.

Matthew however states that this event took place after Jesus had preached the sermon on the mount.

And it’s as Jesus came down the mountain following His teaching, with a significantly sizable crowd of people following him, that the lepor approaches Him.

Luke further makes mention that this happened in one of the towns, rather than out in the wilderness areas (Luke 5:12)

1.

The Cry

1.1 The Physical Picture

We begin then by considering this morning “The Cry” of the man who came to Jesus, and we’ll see that in verse 40.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

(Mk 1:40).

The first thing that I’d like us to consider at we look at this cry of the man to Jesus is this disease known as or described as leprosy.

We need to understand and recognise that the term used here covers a wide variety of chronic skin diseases that were highly infectious and contagious.

It was not limited to the leprosy (Hansen’s disease) of our day.

Leprosy was one of the most common, and also one of the most feared of all diseases in the world at the time of the writings of Scripture (Old / New Testament period).

The terrifying reality for anyone in that day who suffered from one of these leprous skin diseases was not only that it ravaged the body and was sometimes life threatening, but further to that it resulted in the infected person’s utter excommunication and expulsion from society.

In the book of Leviticus, there were extensive directions recorded for the priests in terms of how they were to diagnose and also deal with the person who had such diseases.

God gave to the nation of Israel very strict instructions to send away those who were Leprous in order to ensure that the dwelling place of the Israelites, and more importantly the camp in which God Himself dwelt, was kept pure.

The leprous skin diseases were seen as unclean, and thus those suffering with these diseases needed to be expelled from the camp.

Listen to the words in Numbers 5:1-4...

The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body.

3 Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” 4 The Israelites did this; they sent them outside the camp.

They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

(Nu 5:1–4).

If you have evern in your life had to experience some kind of isolation from life with others, you’ll know how unbearable this existence would have been.

In fact we get a sense of the burden that this situation presented to those who suffered from it both from the Scriptures and from other external writings.

In Numbers 12, we read the account of Aaron and Miriam who grumbled against and spoke out against Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.

As a result of their grumbling against Moses (who was God’s chosen servant to lead Israel) God came down in a pillar of cloud and reprimanded them, and when the cloud lifted again, it was found that Miriam was leprous like snow.

But listen to the words of Aaron as he turns to Miriam and sees her condition (Numbers 12:10-12)...

Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.

12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

(Nu 12:10–12)

Aaron recognised that for Miriam to be cursed with this infectious skin disease would render her as good as dead!!! Like a stillborn infant.

We see something similar in the writings of Josephus (the early Jewish historian) when he writes concerning Moses...

And for the lepers, he [Moses] suffered them not to come into the city at all, nor to live with any others, as if they were in effect dead persons; (1)

Those who suffered with Leprosy were as good as dead dear friends.

And this is the nature of the man who now approaches Jesus.

A man who knows and understands what it means to be with such a condition that he has absolutely no hope in life, but is destined to live a pitiful life in utter isolation.

Now dear friends, we need to realise and recognise the boldness and desperation of this man.

If those who were looking on had seen him approaching, not doubt they would have caused a big fuss and stir.

As a leper, it was required of this man to walk around shouting out “unclean, unclean” for everyone to hear.

He was not permitted to go near those who were clean.

It’s interesting to note that Luke records that this leper was covered in Leprosy.

His entire body was affected and infected!!!

It would have been obvious to all those looking on that here was a man who was certainly unclean, and who should be avoided at all costs.

But this man recognises his unclean condition, and took a great risk, and approached Jesus as he saw the opportunity.

What’s important for us to consider next concerning his approach to Jesus is the fact that he threw himself down at the feet of Jesus.

In Matthew 8:2 it says he came and knelt down - he was on his knees.

In Luke 5:12 it says that the man fell with his face to the ground, and begged Jesus to make him clean.

And so we see this man running up to Jesus, and as he approaches, he falls down on his knees, and he throws his face down to the ground and lies prostrate before Jesus, knowing that he as a person has no hope in this world for healing, apart from divine intervention!!!

And here before this man stands Jesus, the One who is healing people and changing their lives radically.

And so the Leper, recognising his pitiful condition, cries out to Jesus!!!

He begs Jesus!!! - “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”

These are profound words from this man.

It’s not that the man doubts the power of Jesus.

He comes to Jesus with utter faith and trust in the ability and power of Jesus to heal.

“If you are willing...”

What we find here is a man who is humble in spirit.

A man who knows his feeble condition, and his lowly place.

Here is a man stripped of all pride and haughtiness in his life.

He’s an outcast, a nobody.

And he comes to Jesus, recognising that this is his only hope for a healed and full life.

And he pleads with him - if you are willing, you can make me clean!

1.2 The Spiritual Reality

Friends, before we move on to consider the response of Jesus in this instance, let us pause for a moment and consider the wonderful parallel between this leper and the spiritual condition of all people in their sin.

While people in general (perhaps some of us here this morning) may in a sense have great pity on the man who was suffering from leprosy, the fact that is often missed by mankind is that all man is in a desperately ill state spiritually, apart from the healing touch of Christ.

We could say that at the very least, this leper had full knowledge and understanding of his leprous condition.

It was a physical sickness and affliction upon his body.

He lived day in and day out suffering under this affliction.

He lived day in and day out experiencing the isolation which the sickness brought him, as he lived apart from the society which was regarded as clean.

But friends, we need to understand that all man, apart from the gracious hand of God, suffers under a condition far worse and of far greater consequence that this man who suffered with leprosy.

All mankind, since the day that Adam and Eve rebelled against and went in contravention of God’s command in Genesis 3, has suffered as slave to sin.

Romans 5:12,19 - just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners

Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Sin is that which makes mankind (all of mankind) unclean before a holy and a pure God.

Sin is that which results in our separation and banishment from the presence of God.

The sad reality is that so often man fails to see just how serious and sinful sin truly is.

Extent of Sin (compared to Leprosy)

We need to understand clearly that just as the man with leprosy in this instance had his entire body covered with leprosy, so it is that our entire lives - body, soul and spirit - are affected and infected with sin!!!

The prophet Jeremiah wrote: