WHAT IF I'VE RUN EVERYONE OFF?! | Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

Have you been overlooked? mistreated, rejected, abandoned, perhaps unlike David much of it has been your own fault. This morning we come to a situation that is quite shocking. Our Lord Jesus Christ touches a leper! What does that mean, you ask? Already we have seen the Lord Jesus deliver the demon possessed man in the synagogue, Peter’s mother-in-law, and hundreds of others many of whom were hopeless in their condition. Here we witness something remarkable. Jesus receives a man with leprosy into his presence. This was actually against the law. A person with leprosy in ancient Israel was cut off from society, quarantined, as it were, for the safety of the population at large. When other came near to them they were to warn them by shouting to them that they are “unclean.” Yet this man approaches Jesus with full confidence that Jesus would not run away or repel him. We noted earlier that leprosy in the Bible was associated with sin and God’s curse. This didn’t mean that every person with leprosy was cursed by God but it was used many times by God to curse individuals. As result of this, leprosy took on a metaphoric meaning. It became a symbol of sin. The leper was cursed by God. The leper was cut off from the covenant community. The leper was ‘unclean.’ And only God Himself could save or deliver a person with leprosy.