In
Luke chapter 5:12, a man came to Jesus in a certain city and he was full of
leprosy. He sees Jesus and he falls on his face and implores him, saying, “Lord,
if you're willing”. This happens right after Jesus called the disciples to
follow Him, and to become fishers of men. Leprosy is a picture of sin. Here is
a man who is an untouchable leper, an uncurable disease, but he sees Jesus. That's
the first thing we need to help people do and that is to see Jesus.
Seeing
Jesus will never fail to awaken hope in the darkened, sin-crushed heart. This
leper had doubtless heard of Christ's "mighty works", and now his
dull, despairing eyes suddenly brighten with a new light as they gaze upon the
living Person of the merciful Wonderworker. He believed the report, and his faith
has been turned into sight. What a contrast is here between the Man, Jesus,
"full of compassion", and the man, "full of leprosy." A
seeking Savior and a seeking sinner come together and a miracle takes place!
Notice
the prayer of this leper. His prayer reveals he had a knowledge of the
character of Christ. Out of this knowledge there springs up an intelligent
faith in His power. “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Genesis 18:14 asked the question, "Is
anything too hard for the Lord?" And of course, the answer is no! To doubt His
divinity and almightiness is to knock at a locked door.
This
man recognizes his desperate condition and knows he needed to be cleansed, and when
he came to Jesus, he came to the right person because the Lord is always
willing to save the lost. Jesus “is not willing that any should perish but
that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). It doesn't matter who
you are. It doesn't matter how much sin you've committed. It doesn't matter
whether it's murder, adultery, or any type of immorality. It doesn't matter
whether it's stealing, lying or cheating. It doesn't matter what your sin is.
We
are all guilty of breaking the law of God (Romans 3:23). We are all under the
condemnation of sin. And my friend, you can come to Jesus, and you can ask him,
“are you willing”? And you know what, he'll always answer, “I am
willing, be cleansed”. And Jesus “put out His hand and touched him”, and
immediately the leprosy left him. This is important to understand and to see. Jesus
“put out His hand and touched Him”. In the Old Testament to touch a leper was to
be unclean yourself. If anyone touched a leper, they became unclean in the
sight of the law and God.
Did you notice
how after he got healed that Jesus to him to go show yourself to the priest and
make an offering just as Moses commanded. Why? Jesus recognized the law, the
law of sin and death. Jesus is making it clear, “I didn't come to destroy
the law, I came to fulfill the law”. When Jesus touches the leper, it was a
beautiful picture of Jesus taking our sin upon himself. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells
us: “For God made Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him”.
My
friend, the touch of Jesus makes all the difference in the world. Why? Because
He was first touched with our sin. Jesus was punished for our iniquities. He
was bruised for our guilt. He went to a cross and took our transgressions. He
paid the price in our place for our sins (Isaiah 53). No matter how bad your sin is against
humanity or against God, Jesus will forgive you. He will cleanse you. He'll
wash away your sin. He'll cast them behind His back, and as far as the east is
from the west He will remove your transgressions from you. Why? He already took
them on Himself and paid the price. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God through
his death on the cross and his resurrection. You can trust Him today.
This is what the disciples were sent out to do. That is,
to bring sin sick sinners to Jesus to receive His touch! And that's what we can do today too. And I
trust that's what you're doing for the glory of God.
God bless!
