Christ Cleanses the Most Defiled

Background Scripture: Leviticus 13
Lesson Scripture: Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16

Introduction

We all are deficient in many ways; these deficiencies include physical, emotional and spiritual needs. In seeking to fill these needs, we are tended to exhaust our own abilities first, then turn to others, and finally to God. Would it not be wisdom to go directly to God for direction as to what to do to have our need supplied?

This verse in song directs us to the source of cleansing for sin:

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.1

Key Verse

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

The accounts we are studying today are about the same leper. The actions of both the leper and Jesus are the same in all three passages. The fact that three of the Gospels record this act indicates its importance.

Leprosy was a dreaded disease. It took a physical toll on the sufferer and separated him from others. It was sometimes a judgment from God. Miriam was stricken with leprosy for speaking against Moses (Num. 12). Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, received his leprosy for taking gifts from Naaman (2 Kings 5:20–27). Uzziah, king of Judah, transgressed the law and became a leper (2 Chron. 26:16–21). Our background scripture shows how seriously this disease was taken. Unlike many other diseases, it caused the sufferer to be cast out of Jewish society because he was defiled and unclean. Priests looked carefully to judge between the clean and unclean. Until the leper could show he was healed, he remained an outcast.

The leprosy mentioned in Scripture accounts may include several diseases, including what today is called Hansen’s disease. This disease is an infection that slowly damages the nerves, mostly in the hands and feet. Until recently it was incurable; most nations quarantined lepers because of the risk of infection. In ancient times leprosy was both incurable and progressive. Barring divine intervention, a leper remained a leper until death.

Lepers must have been very lonely people. They not only had to live “without the camp” (Lev. 13:46), they also had to cover their upper lip and call out, “Unclean, unclean” (Lev. 13:45). This warning was usually enough to keep people away; however, it did not keep Jesus away.

In all three accounts, the leper came to Jesus and acknowledged that He could cleanse him if He was willing. The man’s posture and words show a humble request for help. Jesus touched him, declared he was willing to make him clean, and commanded, “Be thou clean.” His command caused an immediate change. While Jesus did not have to touch a person to heal, He chose to make this man clean as He touched him.

Next Jesus commanded the leper (who was still considered a leper until pronounced clean by the priest) to say nothing to anyone. He told him to go show himself to the priest and to offer the sacrifice required by the law for a testimony to the people of his cleansing. Possibly this was the first time this priest could say that a leper had been cleansed. It was certainly a testimony that something unusual had happened.

Practical Truths for Today

I came defiled and guilty,

To Jesus the mighty to save,

He took my sins and sorrows,

And beauty for ashes gave.2

Leprosy is a physical disease, with physical symptoms. When someone notices that he has the symptoms, he chooses whether or not he will ask for help. Sin is a spiritual disease with both spiritual and physical symptoms. We have the same choice as the leper when we notice the symptoms.

What keeps us from asking for help? We may not think we need help because we seem to have been this way a long time. We do not see anything so wrong. Perhaps we justify ourselves with the thought that others are the same as we are. When our symptoms become apparent to others, we ignore their questions and think that if we do not admit we have a problem, we do not have to deal with it. The disease of leprosy works much like this. The nerves are deadened, so injuries are not felt. Repeated injuries cause death to otherwise healthy tissue, resulting in the loss of fingers, hands, toes, and, eventually, feet.

When we are ashamed for some evil behavior, we may be too proud to admit we have a problem. What will people think? Perhaps they see symptoms, but if we do not admit the whole truth, maybe we can preserve our reputation. We consider the embarrassment of admitting what we did and begin to loath ourselves. No one will want to have anything to do with us if they knew the truth. We will be an outcast and rejected like a leper. In some cases the law may be involved, requiring time and money. Lost friends, lost opportunities, lost trust. A life defined by loss.

The leper was bereft of earthly possessions and lived at the edge of society where people overlooked him. He must be content with what others cast away or gave him in pity. Lepers often lived in company with other lepers. What would they talk about among themselves? Did they long for shelter, food, and clothing? Could they talk about their deep desire to be restored to life as it was before they were pronounced unclean? Did they wonder what had caused their leprosy? Was it something they had done or something they had neglected to do? Did God care about them and want them to be whole? Did they blame God? Perhaps there were some awkward silences as they thought about these questions.

The leper came to Jesus, facing the possibility of rejection. He acknowledged Jesus’s power to heal and Jesus’s right to decide whether or not to heal him. This leper was at the mercy of the Great Physician. He could ask, but he could not decide what would be done. He had faith, but no authority.

What does it take to decide, “I will do whatever it takes to be clean”? Naaman was willing to journey to an enemy’s country, put himself at the mercy of a foreign ruler, and come before a prophet of the God he did not know. Then he became unwilling to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman expected more attention and ceremony. Because he was not willing to do something small he turned away in anger from the simple command Elisha’s servant gave him. His servants pled with him, showing him the truth he had missed. Though it was not in Naaman’s power to be healed, he could choose to be obedient to God who had given him the remedy through His servant. Naaman’s obedience confirmed his healing—his disobedience would have kept him a leper.

Jesus is willing to touch and to heal. He cleansed me. I must tell others that He will do the same for them.

Questions

1. What causes us to not see our defilement?
2. What are ways to encourage others to seek cleansing?
3. How do we answer those who say they cannot be saved because they are too defiled?
4. 1 Robert Lowry (1826–1899), “Nothing But the Blood”
5. 2 D. Otis Teasley (1876–1942), “Glorious Peace”
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).