Matthew 8:1-4
Jesus
Heals Leprosy
8:1
"When Jesus came down from the mountain, large
crowds followed Him.
2 And a leper came to Him
and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You
are willing, You can make me clean."
3 Jesus stretched out His
hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be
cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed.
4 And Jesus said to him,
"See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to
the priest and present the offering that Moses
commanded, as a testimony to them."
-
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to
change the way that we think, and the way that
we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
Jesus Cleanses
Leprosy
Throughout history we have
had our share of diseases. In medieval times there
was the plague known as the black death. It was a
horrendous illness and killed off about a third of
the European population.
Today, we are still plagued
by disease, some of which we still have not cure.
There are many types of cancer and we have AIDS to
terrify the people of the 21st century.
During the time of Jesus'
ministry, leprosy was the uncuttable disease of the
day and those suffering from it were outcasts in
the land.
What is
Leprosy?
According to
Dictionary.ComTM,
leprosy is ..
"a chronic, mildly
infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae,
affecting the peripheral nervous system, skin, and
nasal mucosa and variously characterized by
ulcerations, tubercular nodules, and loss of
sensation that sometimes leads to traumatic
amputation of the anesthetized
part."
Today, medical science would
be doing experiments and separating causes to find
a cure. But, in Bible times the disease was
terrifying.
In spite of the leper being
deemed "unclean", Jesus did not hesitate to reach
out, touch him, and heal him. This event shows the
kindness, willingness and the power of Christ. He
risked his life so that this man could live just as
he would do later for us on the cross.
What Disease Do We
Have?
Have you ever thought of sin
as a disease? Well, in a sense, it's the same as
those incurable sicknesses of those days and the
days of the 21st century.
The difference between sin
and a physical disease such as leprosy is that we
all have sin. It's inevitable. As long as we have
thoughts we can not avoid it.
And, as is the case with AIDS
or leprosy, we cannot cure ourselves. We need a
doctor. God is the physician who can take away all
our sins and give us everlasting life beyond this
one.
There is Just One
Catch
We have to act first. The
leper bowed down and asked the Lord to make him
clean. Then Jesus healed him.
If we bow down to Christ and
ask him to be our Lord and Savior, he will "heal
us" by forgiving us of our sins. The things we've
done in the past will be forgotten and we can get a
new lease on life by receiving the spiritual
blessing God has set aside for us.
If there is sin in your life
(remember, we all have it) or, if you have never
accepted Christ, take a moment right now and pray
for God to forgive your sin through Jesus Christ.
God is waiting to forgive
you.
-
-
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Here's Another Study Verse from the New
Testament
Matthew
7:21-29
- Integrity
-
Integrity
is a word often used but what is it and how do we
achieve it? This New Testament Scripture reading
and Baptist study is about doing the right thing
when nobody's watching.
Verses about Jesus healing the leper are
from New American Standard Bible
Comments are welcome. Please email
me with any questions or comments you
may have.
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