A new lease on life

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."  Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere (Mark 1:40-45).

Leprosy is a terrible skin disease.  It kills the nerve endings, so the victim feels no pain.  As much as we dislike pain, we need it to stay healthy.  The pain of a burn tells us to keep away from fire.  The pain of a broken bone tells us to move carefully so it will heal properly.  The pain of a cut reminds us to go wash out the wound so it won’t get infected.

But a leper doesn’t get these warnings.  If you have leprosy, you can’t feel the pain of a cut—if you don’t notice that you have been injured, infection can set in without you realizing it.  Left untreated, infection can result in gangrene or even death.  Leprosy makes it easy to die.  To make matters worse, leprosy is contagious—it is not safe to touch or live with someone who is infected.  In the early stages, leprosy can be hard to detect—the only evidence of infection is a patch of discolored skin.   Worst of all, there is no cure for the condition.  Leprosy is a very dangerous disease. 

Being that it was both contagious and deadly, God told His people to quarantine any victims.  The leper could only live in remote places where others did not go, typically caves or even cemeteries.  If you caught leprosy, you lost your home and your job.  You lost contact with your family and friends.  You could not even pray in God’s house of worship.  Leprosy guaranteed you a short life of suffering and an early, lonely death.

No wonder, then, that some people disobeyed God’s rules.  A wife might keep her husband’s leprosy a secret so the family would not be separated.  Of course, this decision put everyone in the house at risk of infection.  In Bible times, no disease was more terrifying than leprosy.  When a leper was healed, this was big news indeed. 

Which brings us to Jesus.  Our Lord is the Son of God, born on earth in a human body.  His hands hold the power of life and death.  His words have the power to quiet storms, forgive sins, and raise the dead back to life.  Nothing is too hard for Him—not even curing leprosy. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

What an incredible miracle!  The incurable is cured!  The man got his health back, his family back, his job back.  He got his life back.  No wonder he disobeyed Jesus and told everyone about this great blessing.  Jesus had taken away the worst thing in his life, giving him reason to be happy again.

Leprosy is a disease with no cure.  Why did this man even bother coming to Jesus, asking for the impossible?  It’s because he had faith.  He said, If you are willing, you can make me clean.  The sick man believed three things.  First, he believed that Jesus represented God’s power on earth.  He believed that Jesus could heal something that no human doctor could.  Second, the sick man knew that Jesus was under no obligation to help him.  He had done nothing to deserve a favor from God; he was a sinner from birth.  Third, the leper believed that Jesus had a loving heart.  He was confident that if he came to the Lord in humility, asking for help, Jesus would have mercy on him.  He trusted in Jesus’ compassion.

His trust was not misplaced. Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.  Jesus shows no fear of getting infected—He reaches out and touches the man, the first touch that leper had felt in a very long time.  Jesus speaks words of love—I am willing.  And then our Lord performs an incredible miracle—at His command the leprosy goes away.  Faith brought the leper to Jesus, and Christ rewarded that faith with a new start at life.

This should give you confidence.  There is no medical condition that’s too hard for Jesus to fix.  He can cure ailments of the body like cancer, Multiple Sclerosis and AIDS.  He can give relief from problems of the mind like addiction, bi-polar disorder and Alzheimer’s.  If He is willing, Jesus can cure anything.

Of course, there’s the rub.  A lot of the time, Jesus does not cure our ailments.  He has the power, but He does not use it on us.  And that leaves us to wonder why?  Why doesn’t Jesus cure me of this problem?  Why isn’t He willing?  Have I made Him mad?  Is He trying to teach me a lesson?  Does He love me?

Understand this—death is inevitable.  The wages of sin is death, Paul writes in Romans 6:23.  Death is God’s curse on sin.  Everyone sins; everyone dies.  Some die sooner, others later, but death comes for everyone at some point. 

Sickness and death go hand in hand.  Sickness leads to death.  When we get sick, we feel the touch of death brushing against our skin. 

Death cannot be avoided; for that reason, health problems cannot be avoided.  If Jesus were to cure every sickness, no one would die.  But God has decreed that all must die, because all have sinned.  Sooner or later, everyone will face a health problem that is fatal.  Although Jesus loves us and often cures us, He will not oppose His Father’s will—that in the end, each of us dies.

Thankfully, Jesus has done something much more impressive than curing leprosy.  Our Lord suffered God’s curse on sin when He died at Calvary.  Jesus never did anything wrong; His life was perfect in every respect.  But the Messiah took responsibility for our sins; that’s why He suffered and died.  He suffered God’s curse on our misconduct.  We conjure up evil thoughts; we speak hurtful words; we push others around so we can get our way.  We deserve God’s punishment for breaking His law, which commands us to love.  But Jesus suffered the penalty for our wickedness.  Through His bloody death, we are rescued from the hell that we deserve.  This is the greatest miracle that Jesus performed.

Christ does not end every ailment of body or mind, but He does love you.  He loves you so much that He endured hell in your place as He died on the cross.  He suffered more than you or I ever will—He suffered for every sinner in the world. Jesus has taken away the worst thing in your life, giving you reason to be happy again—He has taken away God’s curse on you for being a sinner.

Now it’s true, you still have to die—we all do.  But death can be a blessing, not just a curse.  Death is a curse if it leads to hellish suffering for eternity.  But death can be a blessing if you trust in Jesus’ power and compassion like the leper did.  If you have faith in Jesus, death ends suffering.  It ends the suffering of body and mind, tormented by poor health.  It ends your struggle with sin—in Romans chapter six Paul writes, anyone who has died has been freed from sin.  For the Christian, death leads to heaven; God sends His angels to lift you gently from this world and take you to His side.  In heaven, all is brightness and joy.  In heaven, all believers participate in a grand celebration with Jesus that will never end.  Revelation chapter 21 says, There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

The leper who came to Jesus on his knees serves as an example for us all.  He believed that Jesus is God’s Son, able to do anything He desires.  The leper knew that he was a sinner, unworthy of Jesus’ touch.  He came to the Lord in humility, because he trusted in Jesus’ love and compassion.  That faith was rewarded with the start of a new life.

Do you believe that Jesus is God’s Son?  Do you believe that He has power over storms, sickness, even death?  Do you believe that with faith, anything is possible?

Do you see yourself as God sees you, a sinner?  Do you take responsibility for your evil thoughts, words, and deeds?  Do you understand that a holy God owes you nothing but His anger for failing to obey His law of love?

Do you trust in Jesus’ love for sinners?  Do you believe that on the cross, His blood satisfied God’s anger that you provoked?  Do you approach Christ humbly on your knees, confident that because He loves you, He will make your life worth living? 

If you do, you have already experienced the greatest miracle of all—in Christ, you are reborn!  You have a future that’s worth living for!  You are forgiven; sickness and death will lead to an eternity of happiness.

I’m not suggesting that bad health is a good thing.  Jesus cured many people during His years on earth, and to this day, He cures all sorts of ailments throughout the world.  But far more important is this: He wants us to trust Him.  He wants us to have confidence in His power and compassion.  He doesn’t want us to give up or live in bitterness because of hardships.  Jesus can overcome any ailment of mind or body—but whatever tomorrow may bring, He wants you to have faith just as did the leper did.  That faith will be rewarded with happiness and peace.