Healing of the Leper

When Jesus middle upper on the road. The leper said if you are willing, you can heal me. I don't know how developed this leper's theology was at this point, but he certainly got it right. If you will. You can they said to him, I am willing decline demonstrated incredible faith that he didn't wonder if Jesus was able to assist a matter of Jesus willingness to do so today I'm Renewing Your Mind, Dr. RC Sproul returns to our verse by verse study from the gospel of Luke. This will discover Jesus ministry to the needy leper was immediate and complete locust told us repeatedly already that multitudes of people were brought to Jesus and that he healed them of all kinds of calamitous diseases and affliction, but in a few occasions. Luke isolates specific cases where Jesus manifested this ministry and in this case. He singled out the occurrence of the healing of this leper. Now when we encounter lepers in the New Testament, we understand that the concept of leprosy among the Jewish people was not as specifically defined as what modern-day leprosy or Hansen's disease represents there were a multitude of serious afflictions that were subsumed under the general category of leprosy, so we don't know exactly the type of leprosy with which this man was afflicted, but if you go back to the book of Leviticus you will see extensive instructions given to people for diagnostic purposes. To find out if the rash or the scab or the lesion on a person's skin was a harmless problem or was one that was more serious and deemed to be leprosy, and of course it was the priests task in Israel to make the definitive diagnosis as to whether the person's condition was simply a minor skin affliction, or was the dreaded form of leprosy and as you read those texts, they seem so foreign to us and many people grumble at sacred Scripture and lose their interest going through all these detailed matters, but to the Jew in that day. If he woke up with a rash and he didn't know what it was and he was reading those instructions carefully. He knew that his life was at stake and it was in a sense, much worse for the Jew going through this process of diagnosis, then it is for a modern person who's waiting.

The results from the lab of a biopsy that may indicate a malignancy for a person to be diagnosed with leprosy was not only a sentence of a miserable illness, but it was considered among the Jews to be a kind of living that for the simple reason that one who was diagnosed with leprosy was not simply confirmed to be ill but rather he was considered now to be unclean. Notice that in the other diseases that Jesus confronts he heals them but the leper that comes to Jesus doesn't has to be healed. He asked to be made clean. That is, he was asking to be healed, but more than to be healed, to be healed of a disease that made him an outcast from the covenant community of Israel where the lepers had to live outside of the camp outside the community outside of the church as at work and outside of the child. Sometimes they gather together in colonies because the only people with whom they were allowed to have contact was a course with other lepers. But this man is by himself. And obviously, somehow, the word had gone around the countryside about the power of Jesus ministry and this was his last hope in order to get rid of this walking death now.

Luke tells us about this man that he wasn't merely afflicted with the beginning touches of leprosy. But his case was severely advanced as Luke the physician tells us that the man was full of leprosy full of it all over and the most miserable condition when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face in front of him and begged him what I want us to notice it at first this morning is what this leopard said when he was begging Jesus. He said to him, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Lord, if you are willing, you can so the leper made a distinction between Jesus power and his willingness to exercise that power in behalf of this poor wretch now at this level as badly mangled this man's health was his theology was sound was absolutely correct in his assessment that Jesus could make him clean and in his whole life he had never met anyone else who had the power to make him clean and in your whole life. You will never meet anyone else who can make you claim or can make me clean. Save this one. Jesus, who met this poor leper on that day. But notice that when he begged him and made his request. He said if you are willing hey didn't say to Jesus, I know you're willing to heal me if you can, but that's not report the question. I know you can. I don't know if you're willing another way we could say this is that the leper is saying to Jesus if it be thy will, please make me clean. Now there are all kinds of healing ministries sprinkled across the Christian landscape in our day and various types of these movements have come and gone in the past but one of the most dangerous concepts that we hear in these circumstances is the idea of faith healing that maintenance that in order for you to be healed. A necessary requirement or a necessary condition is that before you are healed.

You must have faith that you are going to be healed and if you don't have that faith that you're going to be healed, then the lack of that faith will be probably the fatal impediment against your becoming healed. I've heard this again and again and again and it goes along with this thinking that if you ask for healing or for mercy from God and you preface your request by saying if it be thy will that somehow your manifesting a lack of faith and and actually in the very request you are committing a sin. Years ago I told the story of a young man I met back on our campus in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania, where leader ministry began every January we had a one month course of collegiate studies called a January term because many of the colleges and universities in the eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania area had divided their calendar years between two major terms. Plus the intersession as they called it the January term actually are January term at linear was begun at the request of one of the local colleges and several colleges, then gave academic credits for work done at the study center for the January term so we would have a flock of students coming from all different colleges and among them was our dear friend Harvey Watson and Harvey was an exceptionally bright young man alert and contagious with his loving spirit and attitude and deeply devoted as a Christian, he suffered from a severe form of cerebral palsy. In fact, he used to laugh at himself when he would try to negotiate the pathways on the campus during the snow because it was always a matter literally of touch and go for Harvey but he had a great spirit and then one day he came to me the second time he came for the second January term, and he was very stressed and upset they look the man he said RC do you think that I'm demon possessed somewhat. He said you think I'm demon possessed for Harvey.

What in the world ever gave you the idea that you might be demon possessed and he went on to relate the story to me that he had some friends over zealous charismatics in his dorm and they had prayed together and decided to come to pray and lay hands on Harvey that he may be healed of cerebral palsy and so they came in in the name of Jesus demanded that Harvey be cured of cerebral palsy, but Harvey wasn't cured of cerebral palsy. So the next thing these students did was I told Harvey that the reason why he wasn't cured of cerebral palsy was because he didn't have the faith they need to have faith believing, and then he would receive his is feeling and explained that you had to believe that you were healed before you can actually beat you talk a blind man and save you want to have your site back yet. The believe that you can see before God will open your eyes and imagine these poor souls. Blind people are told that it was okay I believe. I believe I believe their eyes. Not only darkness to believe that you can see when you can't see is not faith, it's credulity is destructive to the soul but anyway these students became more more harsh with Barbie chastising him for his lack of faith which had to be the reason that he hadn't been healed and finally when he persisted in his unbelief. They accused him of being demon possessed. So these young students one from the virtuous posture of concern and compassion for one of their fellow students to serious intercessory prayer for that student and ended up in the point of accusing this poor soul of being demon possessed and leaving him in the state for worse than he was before they began their intersession slot was a story that Harvey gave me an estimate identify thought he was demon possessed was that of course Martin and I prayed with them and I prayed for him and as I was praying for him. My notice that this burden was being removed from him and I was finished praying.

He was weeping unless what's the matter niece and I thank you not only for praying he said you know what happened when you prayed for me and I should know what's that he says when you prayed for me. You said to God, Lord, be merciful to this man who suffered in this manner, he said RC nobody's ever called me a man before. While happy to report that Harvey, who still burdens with cerebral palsy is not let that be, real impediment to them is had a very productive Christian life in the business world and continuances the about-face and brilliant testimony to the Lord because when he would pray would say if it be thy will and he was happy with whatever God responded the same testimony is heard from Johnny Erickson taught a again and again and again, who in her crippled paralyzed condition remains triumphant in her face and she trusts God that God is good, even when God does not answer our prayers.

The way we might want them.

I often hear people talk about the difficulty of dealing with unanswered prayer. I'm not really sure what that is that I've never had an unanswered prayer. Sometimes the answer is no, but that's an answer and if the answer comes from the Lord God omnipotent was more compassionate than any of us could possibly be that it's a good answer because he is saying that's not my will. Right now for you, at least in the immediate circumstances. His promises remain for the glory that awaits us in heaven and he tells us that the afflictions that we have to deal with in this world are awarded, we compare with the glory that he is laid up for us in heaven but in the meantime in between into we may experience great pain. Great suffering and great affliction and it's according to the sovereign will of God. Yesterday morning the best and I worked Florida Hospital visiting our son who was there with their daughter, who has been suffering from birth is a special needs child and has already far exceeded the normal life expectancy of a child with less than several, but she became very ill this week and she's been in the intensive care unit at Florida Hospital and I when Dustin I want to see Shannon and RC Junior and he mentioned that the chaplain had been in and made some small talk with him and asked him how he was doing and and RC said to me said we know he said I'm a Christian them.

I'm a Christian on that particular stripe that's reformed in our theology and where those people that really believe in the sovereignty of God's festival what the chaplain say she grants it and want to discuss that so that that was over, but only some people act like their Stoics are not Christians like Mason case are also raw as if their victims of some fortuitous fate and so none of the believe in the sovereignty of God is to believe in the sovereignty of a holy God, a righteous God, a good God who does all things well and a God who was filled with mercy and compassion. That's the God who sovereignty we trust. Well I don't know how developed this leper's theology was at this point, but he certainly got it right. If you will. You can, and so we see how Jesus reacted to that, he said to him, I am willing decline.

I am willing to hear your prayer and my answer is yes typically and it's not as if, as we hear with so many modern faith healers.

That's our of the name and claimant variety who say though, that healing maybe is evident right now but we prayed the prayer of faith in your healing has begun and you just have to wait a little while for it to be manifested in this case, just like in every case that Jesus healed people the response and the reaction was immediate and immediately the leprosy left this man and he was claimant and then he charged them to tell no one but go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing as a testimony to them. Just as Moses commanded what was Jesus referring Harry said look you been made clean. But just because I've cleaned up your body does not mean that the church as it were in Israel knows that you have been cleansed and will welcome you back into the fellowship of the village and into the synagogue and into the temple before those things can happen and before your exile from your family and your community is lifted. You have to follow the prescriptions of the law that God gave through Moses in the Old Testament, and that means you have to go and see the priest, I can cleanse you, but only the priest can verify that you have been cleansed and that you are now legally permitted to join your family and the community. And you have to go through all the ritual that's involved, including the offering of the sacrifice. Let's take just a moment and look at a bit of that ritual cleansing that we find in the 14th chapter of the book of Leviticus we read this then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, this shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing, he shall be brought to the priest and the priest shall go out of the camp and the priest shall examine him. And indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command it take for him was to be cleansed living and clean birds cedarwood scarlet and his and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel overrunning water. As for the living bird, he shall take it the cedarwood scarlet in his and dip them in the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water, and he shall sprinkle it seven times, and so on.

Then after this cleansing right.

The man can be determined to be clean and is allowed now to come from the wilderness back into the camp, we have to understand this language of the Bible of being clean and of being unclean.

As we sing dramatically how the most unclean, the leper is now made clean through the power of Christ. And so we come back to the text and he said the report.

However, one around concerning him all the more and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities so himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed when my car runs out of gas were almost runs out of gas before runs out of gas as it is running out of gas.

I go to the gas station because I know it won't work. Once it's completely out of gas. When Jesus wasn't driving around Galilee and a Honda court. You know the Bible says that in the book about they were all together in one accord and some people argue that, therefore, they were driving cosmologies was driving a Honda but every time he healed somebody. It cost some occasions we read it's explicitly with the power when out of him. And the more the people came in, the more they demanded from him. The more important it became for him to withdraw to get a loan with the father to have his strengths recharged and I close this morning by simply saying to you that if it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to find that strengthening and intimate power from being alone with the father. How much more important is it for us to be before the father gaining strength from his what a wonderful reminder for us today from Dr. RC Sproul you're listening to Renewing Your Mind on the Sunday time we web and I'm glad you could be with us today. Each Lord's day, we continue Dr. scroll sermon series from the gospel of Luke gaining insight from each passage, Luke was a physician and a great historian.

So as we study we are learning important and intriguing details that we don't find in the other three Gospels, we invite you to continue your own in-depth study of Luke when you contact us today with your gift of any amount to leader ministries. We will be glad to send you a digital download of Dr. scroll's commentary on this gospel is nearly 600 pages or offices are closed on this floor statement you can give your gift and make a request online@renewingyourmind.org winter ministries exist to support believers and churches around the world teaching series like this would bring sound biblical doctrine to people you and I may never meet. But we do know that the word of God is living and active. So we thank you for your financial support of our ministry like something Dr. scroll returns to take a close look at the controversy that arose among the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

They were incensed Jesus claim to have the power to forgive sin.

I hope you'll join us again next week for Renewing Your Mind