Leprosy and Disobedience

Mark 1

 
 

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

 40 A man with leprosy[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

 41 Jesus was indignant.[i] He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 "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." 45 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.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+1&version=NIV>

 
 

Our Context - This healing occurs after Jesus has preached on the mountain, after He has had the marathon time of healing in Capernaum, after He has been hard pressed, and finally sought solitude.

 
 

• The sermon on the mount was a long teaching - it would have taken a long time to deliver - describe how you might have felt were you Christ in the midst of this marathon
  

   
   

• There were different sorts of leprosy during the time of Christ - all of which were painful, drawn out, isolating, death sentences - this man who comes to Jesus has no right to approach Jesus - He was ostracized from all society - he would wear special clothes to mark who he was - he would need to shout and announce his presence to all around him - and was not allowed to approach anyone. A leper didn't just have the physical pain of his disease, but the mental anguish that came from being separated entirely from society. Can you think of modern parallels?
  

   
   

• All of us are born into sin, we are told that there is not a single righteous man in the world. We know that God is perfection personified. Have we any right to approach God with any request?
  

   
   

• So, the man can't bear his pain (physical and emotional), and he throws himself at the feet of Jesus. Can you think of a time when you or someone you know needed help so very badly? Take a moment now, and picture yourself at the feet of Jesus with this man.
  

   
   

• Indignant is not an entirely accurate translation, many translate this as "moved with pity" one version goes further and says "to the depths of His being." Can you recall a time when you have been indignant with pity - you are so concerned with someone that you are miserably upset by it, bothered by it until it makes you sick?
  

   
   

• Imagining still yourself at the feet of Jesus with this leper, describe how you want Jesus, who is God in flesh here on earth, to feel about your problem?
  

   
   

• Jesus broke societal conventions and touched this leper. Touching a leper meant contamination, it meant that you might be banished along with him if you contracted the disease. How would you have felt if Jesus touched you in that moment, this man may not have been touched for years?
  

   
   

• In order to be verified as being "clean" a leper who recovered had to go to the priest and go through a purification ritual. This was the only way that he would be admitted into society. How significant is it that Jesus instructed this man to pay attention to this convention? What does it show that Jesus desires for the man?
  

   
   

• What is the result of the former lepers disobedience?
  

   
   

• Why is it that people still, even in the "lonely places" seek out Jesus?