There Came a Leper Part 2

There Came a Leper Part 2 – the healed leper’s response

Mark 1:40 – 45

How many times have you heard someone say something like, “He meant well,” or, “His intentions were good,” when talking about someone who has done something wrong, even illegal, because he decided that the ends justified the means. The story of Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave it to the poor continues to be loved by many. “Thou shalt not steal,” is ignored when it comes to stealing from those who “deserve it.”

Yet when God said, “Thou shalt not steal,” it wasn’t a suggestion, nor did it depend upon the wealth or lack of kindness of the person being stolen from. “Thou shalt not steal,” is one of God’s commands, and it does not have any conditions attached to it.

When God says something, that should be enough for us. “God said it. I will obey it.” That should be the way we live. Yet all too often, we make a choice to do something our way, justifying it by what we suppose the outcome will be. Let’s look at a man in the Bible who did that.

Mark 1:40 – 45

Jesus spoke and immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

It’s understandable that someone healed of a terrible disease like leprosy would want to tell everybody. Yet Jesus told him not to talk to anyone, but to go and shew himself to the priest. This man, whom Jesus had just healed, did not do as Jesus said, but went all over telling everyone. Wouldn’t it make sense to do that, to let everyone know about how wonderful Jesus is? Let’s look closer.

I. Jesus Gave a command vv43,44

  1. The Bible says, after Jesus healed the leper, “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.”

    1. The law was that a leper was still legally unclean until he followed the proper steps and was declared clean by the priest. Therefore, for this man to even talk to anybody before being declared clean by the priest was a transgression of the law.

    2. The process to be declared clean under the law was a long one, taking eight days and requiring a number of offerings (Leviticus 14:4,10)

    3. Jesus did not tell the man never to say anything about his healing, but told him not to sin by disobeying the law

  2. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin, and are not to sin any more. We are told to stop sinning: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Romans 6:6,12

II. Disobedience v 45

  1. But he went out,

        1. but... this one little word means that the man, after such a miraculous healing by such a loving God, immediately began to sin. Whenever we do what we think we should do, rather than what God tells us we should be doing, it is sin. The ends never, ever justify disobeying our Saviour.

      2. He “…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.”

        1. Rather than doing what Jesus told him to do; that is, following the law and first being declared clean by the priest as God had laid down in the law, this man went out his own way and declared himself to be clean.

          1. By doing so, he disobeyed the law, which Jesus Christ came to fulfill, and he opened the door for his healing to be declared a forgery or incomplete.

        2. When we go ahead and do things our own way FOR God, rather than doing things God’s way in His power by His grace, we sin and take away from His glory, as did this leper.

III. Perfect Healing

  1. When God heals, it is perfect, unconditional healing.

    1. We do not see the man who was healed becoming a leper again because he disobeyed the command of God after he was healed.

    2. God does not change His mind because we disobey Him. He will chastise us when we sin, but once we have put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we have complete forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. Our healing is complete and permanent and cannot be undone. We are sealed until the day of redemption, the day we meet Christ.

      1. “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” 2 Corinthians 1:21,22

      2. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13,14

IV. Don’t Sin

  1. The gift we have been given as Christians is beyond anything we can begin to imagine. Our sins, which were far more filthy than the rotting flesh of the poor leper, were washed away by the blood of our sinless Saviour, Jesus Christ. Fully man and fully God, our Lord came down from heaven to suffer in our place. He died for us, taking the wages of sin for himself. “The wages of sin is death …” Romans 6:23.

    1. The gift of God is Jesus Christ who personally paid our debt and gave us eternal life. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12,13

  2. Don’t sin. Remember what has been done for you. Remember the price that has been paid for your salvation. Remember what you have been saved from, death and hell in the lake of fire, forever, because of your rebellion against God.

    1. Don’t sin, now that you have received God’s great gift. Don’t trample on the blood of Jesus.

    2. Don’t sin by doing what you think is right for the time or situation you are in, if it contradicts the Word of God. Many are doing this very thing, today, in the name of tolerance and inclusiveness. God is not to be mocked by human beings thinking they know better than Him. “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” 1Corinthians 15:34

Conclusion

  1. Remember, the ends do not justify the means. Pragmatism has no place in Christianity. As Christians, we are to obey God. Jesus told us that if we love Him, we will obey Him. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 Beware of the pressure all around you, today, to be like the leper, disobeying God for what is perceived to be the “greater good.” Again, God is not mocked. The leper, once healed, did not become a leper again, when he disobeyed God. But it is possible that he was never again accepted into regular society, because he did not do what he was told. What a price to pay! Christian, after you have been saved, when you openly and knowingly disobey God, there is a price to pay. God’s chastisement will come. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Hebrews 12:6

  2. Don’t be like the leper. Christ has cleansed you for eternity by taking away your sins. Now, take care to do what He says.