FY 22
February 22
Matthew 4:23-25. Mark 1:40-45. The cure of the leper and of multitudes with diverse diseases and torments.
How full of labors of love was our Savior's life below! His principal object was to preach the Gospel, but he confirmed his word by various miraculous cures. These bodily cures represented the spiritual blessings he came to bestow. As he healed all manner of diseases without any exception, so he could forgive all manner of sins; for his blood cleanses from all sin. No disease was too bad for him to cure, no devil too strong for him to cast out; neither was any sin, if repented of, too great for him to forgive. He declared, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men."
We cannot wonder that crowds followed Him, when He bestowed such abundant temporal benefits. We know how men value the health of the body. But Jesus was far more anxious to save the souls than to heal the bodies of men, and therefore he sought for opportunities to preach his holy word. Probably one reason for his charging the leper not to mention the means of his recovery was, that he foresaw that if the miracle were made known, a still greater throng of diseased people would be collected, and that by this means his preaching would be interrupted. Disease of body must have appeared to him very light, compared to that disease of the soul which leads to destruction. We judge of diseases by their end, and not by their beginning. If we have seen a man die in torments from any disease, when we see the beginning of that disease in another we are filled with horror. Jesus had seen souls tormented in burning flames, and he knew that sin was the beginning of hell .
Of all diseases, none represents sin in a more striking manner than leprosy . In the first place leprosy was a POLLUTING disease. It rendered a man unfit to enter the temple, or even to associate with his fellows; as by God's law anyone who touched him became unclean. Thus sin unfits man from entering heaven, and for the society of spotless saints and angels.
Leprosy was also a SPREADING disorder. It covered a man with white scales from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot. Thus sin has defiled all our powers. It has disordered our affections, blinded our understandings, hardened our consciences, and perverted our wills.
Leprosy was a PAINFUL disease. The hands and feet of the poor leper are often eaten away, and in this crippled state he drags out a miserable existence. But what disease is as painful as sin—the swellings of pride, the tumults of passion, the anxieties of covetousness, the gnawings of envy, the gloom of unbelief? Some have been induced to pray for a new heart, not from fear of the wrath to come, but on account of the present misery of their unconverted state.
Leprosy also was INCURABLE. When the king of Syria in former times asked the king of Israel to cure Naaman his captain, the terrified monarch rent his clothes, saying, "Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man does send unto me to cure a man of his leprosy?" (2 Kings 5:7.) Sin also is incurable by MAN. None can forgive sins but God alone; none can overcome sins but God alone. Tears cannot wash out our past sins, nor can good resolutions keep us from committing them in time to come.
Having then a leprosy in our souls, let us imitate the poor leper of whom we read. Behold him falling at the feet of Jesus, beseeching his help. Are our prayers earnest like his? or do we ask for eternal blessings with less earnestness than a beggar asks for an alms?
The leper's prayer is remarkable—"If you will you can make me clean." He doubted, not the power of Jesus, but his mercy. Yet his mercy is as great as his power. It is true that by his power he stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth. But it is also true that, "High as the heaven is above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him." Had this leper known the compassion of the Savior's heart, he would not have said, "If you will!"
Observe how tenderly Jesus felt for him—"Moved with compassion, he put forth his hand and touched him." He showed his condescension by touching the loathsome leper, from whom all others fled. Thus he encourages polluted sinners to approach him. He will not repel them, and say, "Stand by yourself, for I am holier than you;" He invites them to come near, and he offers by his holy touch to heal them. Fear not, penitent sinner; stay not until you are better; believe that Jesus will welcome you as you are. His blood is a fountain for sin and uncleanness; he himself stands by to wash you in it. Come to him to be healed; your cure shall be perfect; all your sins shall be forgiven and cast into the depths of the sea, and you shall be restored to the favor of God, and admitted into the heavenly Jerusalem.