Judge Not!

If a non-Christian knows any part of the Bible then it is usually these two words: “Judge Not!”  Of course that is about as far as their understanding on this subject goes when it comes to the Bible.  Sadly this can be true of some who are believers.  No one wants to feel like they are being judged.  However, the biblical teaching on judging goes much deeper than those two words.

If we are truly disciples of Jesus then we will search out what our master is trying to teach us and give ourselves to living it out.  God will not be satisfied with disciples who merely quote his teachings out of context.  Our passage for this sermon is Luke 6:36-42.  However, by way of remembrance let’s look at the last part of verse 35, “For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”  Here we see that the reason we are to love our enemies is because God wants us to be like Him.  He is being kind to those who will never thank Him and are evil.  The present tense in that verse reminds us that there is still a future judgment coming, but for now, God is being kind.

A Call To Mercy In Judgment

In verse 36 Jesus transitions from the kindness to mercy.  Mercy is a type of kindness that involves our judgments of one another.  Think about this from God’s perspective for a bit.  God knows who will continue into eternity rejecting His kindness and who will eventually turn and give thanks to Him.  He even knows these things before we do them.  We are all evil in the sense of being sinners and needing salvation.  But most do not want to be saved from it.  Yet, even then God is still kind.  He is kind by delaying an inevitable judgment.  But, even more, He acts in love and mercy towards those who will continue to be unthankful and reject His love.  Here we see that His heart is merciful.

Mercy is not a concept to pursue, as if it was mere inspiration to something nobler.  It is more than that.  It is a description of something that God is.  He is the one who will define mercy for us through His actions and words.  Thus mercy is not up for us to define.  We need to become merciful in the way that God is merciful and not as the world or our heart would define it for us.  God delays His judgment and lovingly reaches out to the lost up to the last moment before His judgment is poured out.  Therefore, we need to hold our own judgments and instead, give people the love of God even if they will never embrace the gospel of Jesus.  We need to do this right up to the last moment when they slip into eternity.

It is also important to recognize that mercy is really a facet of love.  If love is seeking the well being of another then mercy speaks to the “Why” of love.  To continue in love with anyone will involve the love of mercy.  The word mercy here literally means to be distressed at the condition of another to the point of pity and compassion.  It is a feeling that leads to a particular action of restraint on one hand and help on the other.  Thus, God is distressed at mankind’s choice to follow Satan’s rebellion, to the point of taking pity on him and having compassion.  God has restrained himself in judgment and given time, instruction, and encouragement for man to turn to him for salvation.  It is too easy for us to think we know who will change and who will not.  We tend to give mercy to those whom we think it is worth giving mercy too.  But this is not God’s mercy.  This is a twisted self-serving mercy.

Any time we talk about judgment we need to recognize that it is a word that covers many different things.  Thus, when Jesus says judge not, we should ask ourselves how he is using that word.  There is a difference between judging an outward action as bad or good and judging the heart of a person as bad or good.  If I punch you in the face, are you being judgmental to say it was wrong?  Yes and no.  Yes you are making a judgment.  But few would say you are being judgmental, but the person throwing the punch.  How about the judgment of what kind of food you like?  Is that what Jesus is talking about?  It is impossible to live life without judging what is good to you and important to you.  Yet, in verse 37 Jesus follows up the word judge with the word condemn.  It is clear that he means to further clarify the word judge.  Thus judgment here is more than an opinion.  It refers to the calling down of punishment or censure upon someone.

This gets even trickier when we take in account whether a person is a Christian or not.  In 1 Corinthians chapter 4 Paul takes the church to task for their judgments about him.  He tells them to not be so hasty to judge the value of his ministry and person until the Lord comes, “who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.”  They had “judged” the quality of Paul’s ministry and motivations as a low value.  He is challenging them not to judge in that way.  However, in 1 Corinthians 5 he deals with a person in the church who is having sexual relations with his step-mother.  Instead of rebuking him, they were proud of their great grace with him.  Paul tells them that, when it comes to outward actions and outward refusal to change, they needed to make a judgment.  Yet, he points out that this is because the guy is a believer within the church.  If he was an unbeliever they wouldn’t be called to make a distinction.  Let’s read some of that passage:  “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.  For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside?  Do you not judge those who are inside [the Church]?  But those who are outside, God judges.  Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person.”  Notice that God’s Word is that within the Church we shouldn’t judge the value of a person, motivations, or heart.  But, we should judge their actions even to the point that the actions may cause us to separate from them.  Yet, we wouldn’t separate from a person who wasn’t in the church doing the same thing.  Later Paul tells them that the purpose for excommunicating a person from the church is so that they will see the error of their way and, through the destruction of following their flesh, repent.  We need to judge when we shouldn’t and not judge when we should.  We need a teacher!

So in verse 37 when Jesus cautions against judging notice that there is a present vs. future aspect.  Don’t judge and you won’t be judged later.  Don’t condemn and you won’t be condemned later.  Who is the “later judging” referring to?  Jesus is not saying don’t judge people and they won’t judge you.  Have you found that to be true?  Have you tried not judging others and they all quit judging you?  Hardly!  Jesus is warning us of God’s judgment.  What goes around is going to come around when you give account before God.  So be careful what you send around.  Also, judging is modified by the word condemn.  Jesus is not talking about making distinctions of good and bad actions.  We are to leave people’s judgment and condemnation up to God.  But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to say something when they sin against us.

Not only will it “come around,” but it will come around in “like measure.”  Verse 38 is often quoted in regard to money.  But the context here is mercy.  What standard of judgment do I use?  Is it harsh or careful?  What do I accept as evidence against others?  Whom do I condemn and censure in life?  Be careful you will find God treating you the same way.  In the Old Testament there had to be two witnesses in order to find someone guilty.  Thus one of the 10 commandments was, “You shall not bear false witness.”  A false witness is not just a person who lies.  It is also a person who presents themselves as evidence of another’s guilt and yet we didn’t actually see it.  Even if your best friend told you, you cannot be a witness only the people who saw it.  The difficult thing in life is that we do not always have enough evidence to convict.  Yet, we often do so anyways.  Even then, sometimes the witness and or the evidence is false.  Is this how you want God to judge you, based upon hearsay and the whims of others?  Thus verse 38 is a scary verse if you think about the unmerciful.  God will bring His wrath upon us, “pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing.”

Parables Given To Explain

Now Jesus gives 3 parables to help us understand this.  I will only look at two of them today.  The first is the Blind Teacher.  A student by nature cannot see or understand things around him.  He needs a teacher, “one who can see,” to teach him.  If the teacher is “blind” they will both end up in a ditch.  They will be unable to move forward on the road to Truth.  The intended question for each student is: “Who am I following?”  Am I following my own desires and lusts?  Am I following some wise person I admire and want to be like?  Am I following the spirit of this age?  My destiny can be affected by who I am taught by.  Ultimately, no pastor is your teacher.  Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the ultimate teachers.  God does use humans to point us back to himself.  But, that is the best we can do: point people back to God and His Word to better understand Jesus.  This is exactly what the prophets of old did.

The second parable is the Speck in the Eye.  This famous parable refers to a speck of chaff, or dirt that can get in the eye.  Jesus challenges his disciples to ask the question first, “Am I able to help them currently?”  I might be a great doctor, but if I have been drinking heavily or haven’t slept for 2 days, then I shouldn’t go into surgery.  Likewise, if I am going to deal with a speck in someone’s eye, I had better be sure I can help and not just because I have the correct information.  Even deeper than this is the issue of hypocrisy.  The sins of others are always so obvious to us.  But that also means my sins are just as obvious to them.  Self-inspection must be more than a hypocritical acceptance of a beam in my eye while I point out specks in yours.  Specks easily get in our eyes without us wanting them.  But a beam is not easily moved.  If I have a beam in my eye, It probably took a lot of work and compromise to get it there.  God is not hypocritical and neither should we be.  Notice Jesus doesn’t end by saying, therefore leave the specks in everyone’s eyes.  He says, “then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”  Listen, it is irritating to have a speck in your eye.  It is also difficult to remove it by yourself.  Wouldn’t it be great if you knew someone who was trustworthy, gentle, and cared enough that they would help you remove it?  Let us hear the challenging words of our Lord and learn to make right and good judgments, so that, when we stand before Him, He will be pleased.

Judge Not Audio

The Coming Blood Moons II

Today we will finish up this two part series on the blood moons and look at exactly what should we do with this information.   So first let’s just review what is being said.

Bible prophecy refers to the fact that God will use the sun and the moon to signal people on the earth that He is getting ready to bring judgment.  In these descriptions we see evidence that eclipses and or atmospheric disturbances will cause the sun to be dark and the moon to appear blood red.

In looking at the scientific data of when eclipses have happened in the past and will happen in the future, a pattern has emerged.  It is rare for four total lunar eclipses, called tetrads, to happen in a row (54 times in 2,000 years or less than 3 times per century).  But it is even rarer for these “tetrads” to land on the biblical feast days (7 times in 2,000 years or 1 every 300 years).  The last two tetrads that landed on biblical feast days happened within 19 years of each other in 1949 and 1967.  Both these dates happen to be significant events in the life of modern Israel and the next one will begin in April 2014.  Is something significant on the horizon?  Is God signaling believers that He is about to make a change in the status quo?  It sure seems that way.  On top of all this is the fact that there will be a solar eclipse as the religious New Year begins.  Here are the dates:

2014 Apr 14  Passover—Total Lunar Eclipse

2014 Oct 08  Tabernacles—Total Lunar Eclipse

2015 Mar 20  Religious New Year—Solar Eclipse

2015 Apr 04  Passover—Total Lunar Eclipse

2015 Sep 28  Tabernacles—Total Lunar Eclipse

Times of the Gentiles

In Luke 21:24-28, Jesus warned His disciples to be alert and recognize the prophetic times.  He also gives a rough outline of the events leading up to His second coming.  They are: Israel defeated and led captive into all the nations, The Times of the Gentiles, Signs in the heavens and on the earth, The Second coming.  Now it is a no brainer that the first two have happened.  Israel was destroyed along with the temple of the Lord.  They were scattered to the nations as God’s grace turned towards the Gentiles.  This times of the Gentiles will continue until it is fulfilled.   Thus as the times of the Gentiles come to a close, God gives signals in the heavens and on the earth that He is getting ready to come back.  So how will we know when the Times of the Gentiles is over?

In Romans 11:11-12, 25-28 we are told that during this time of the Gentiles Israel as a whole would be blind to salvation and the true messiah.  However, when the full number of Gentiles has been brought in then God will turn back to Israel and draw them to a salvation experience.  Thus, as the times of the Gentiles draws to a close, so the time of Israel’s national salvation is drawing near.  God’s turning back to Israel is not a rejection of the church.  Rather, it is an emphatic exclamation point on God’s heart for the lost.  Israel rejects the messiah and God’s riches are given to the Gentiles.  But even more riches will be given to the Gentiles through the drawing of Israel back to God.  Israel’s salvation will be proof that what God did in sending His Gospels to the Gentiles was indeed righteous.  So a dark time of tribulation detailed in the book of Revelation will come upon the unbelieving world and in this dark time Israel will come to see its sin and turn in repentance to Jesus.  This is spoken of in Zechariah 12:10.  Here the prophet says that Israel will look upon the one whom they pierced and a spirit of grace and repentance will be poured out upon them.  They will mourn  over what they did to Jesus Christ the Firstborn of the Sons of God.

Now in Luke 21:36 Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray that they would be counted worthy to escape this time of Great Tribulation.  The key is not to be so fascinated with blood moons, the nation of Israel, or weather anomalies that we lose sight of the other things we should be doing.  We should be praying for ourselves, for each other as believers, and for the salvation of the lost around us.  We should also be an active witness of the salvation of Jesus to those who are lost.  The blood moons should only add another signal to us from our Lord to be even more confident in our prayers and in our witness.  It should cause us to separate ourselves even more from the temptations and seductions of this age.

So let me encourage you, these dates are not important in and of themselves.  Historically it has been either before, in the middle or after the tetrads that something has happened.  These are not predictions of the rapture or the second coming.  They are simply signals from our Lord to not be asleep spiritually and to be about His business.

Yet, just as the spring Feasts of the Lord prophetically pointed to the first Coming of Christ, so the Fall feasts prophetically point to His second.  The first coming events happened on the very feast days: Jesus, the Lamb of God, was slain on Passover.  He was then buried and became our heavenly bread on Unleaved Bread.  He was resurrected along with a select group of saints on the feast of Firstfruits.  And, He poured out the Holy Spirit to enable a global harvest on the feast of Pentecost or Weeks.  Now Christians have debated for years whether the Rapture is actually going to happen on one of these Fall feasts.  I am of the opinion that our Lord wanted us to understand the times without being focused on figuring out what day He will come.  Thus I encourage you, keep your eye on Jesus and the duties that He has given you.  Keep sowing the seed, watering it, and harvesting as the Lord provides.  When it is time to go He will let you know.  Maranatha!

Blood Moons II Audio

Of Angels And Shepherds

Today we look at Luke 2:1-20, which shares the birth of Jesus, our Lord.  It is appropriate to spend this week of Christmas thinking about these events and the meaning they have for our lives today.

It would be easy to discount all that the Bible tells us under the heading of “pure myth.”  However, if you really are a Truth-seeker, you know that it would be an intellectually dishonest thing.  The Bible is not a collection of myths, but a recollection of what God did in the lives of real people.  These things were written down within the life spans of people who could prove or disprove the veracity of the documents.  Also these things were often written down by people who had no gain in writing such things.  In fact, they were often killed for their “views.”  Let’s look at the story.

God’s Unseen Hand

In these first seven verses we see something that is evident throughout all of the Bible and it is this.  God often works in ways that are not obvious to us as humans.  Much like the story of Esther, we can go through life and think that God isn’t involved at all and yet He is.  Part of the problem is that when we imagine what we would do if we were God, we think of all kinds of fantastic things we would do.  Yet, in the Bible we see a God who can do the fantastic thing, but most of what He does is invisible to those who don’t know what to look for.  Just remember this, the unseen hand of God is always at work, whether we recognize it or not.

 These verses give us the timing of the birth of Jesus.  Galatians 4:4 says, “when the fullness of time had come God sent forth His Son.”  So from God’s perspective this was the perfect timing.  When it mentions Caesar Augustus it gives us a historical reference point.  It was the right time because Rome is the 4^th Beast-Kingdom prophesied by Daniel and it has just entered its imperial stage.  Next to this was the fact that there was a relative, military peace that would open the door for the gospel to be preached and spread throughout the then known world.  It was also a time in which Israel had great need for a deliverer and yet very little hope in those promises that God had given her.

God’s hand is also shown to be at work through the prophecies that are fulfilled here.  It is in Micah 5:2 that we are told the messiah would come out of Bethlehem Ephrathah.  Yet, this happens, seemingly, at the whim of an earthly emperor.  Yes, the home town of Jesus would be Nazareth, but the birth place would be Bethlehem.  These are things Jesus could not have plotted to accomplish.  Also recognize that the name of Bethlehem itself promises to be a place of bread.  So there is a further enrichment of the prophecy in the fact that the Messiah would be the bread from heaven as symbolized by the manna in the desert.  Another interesting fact is that there are two cities of David.  Bethlehem is the City of David because it is where he was born.  But the other City of David is a reference to the initial beginning of Jerusalem.  David took the stronghold of Jebus and it became the City of David.  Thus the place and timing of the birth point to the prophetic significance of his first coming.  He comes to be a sustainer of life and yet he is also destined for conquest.  All of these things are coming to past at a time when it looks like God is doing nothing.

The details that point to the lowly circumstances of the birth of Jesus help us to see why God’s activity often goes unrecognized by most.  God loves to work through the lowly things of this world.  When Paul says, “When I am weak then I am strong,” he does so after pointing out that God’s strength comes into our lives through our weaknesses.  So when he says, “I am strong,” he is literally saying that God is strong through me.  Could it be that the Greatest Being of all the Universe would have a penchant to showing His strength through those who would be weak in the world’s eyes?  This is the contention of the apostles.  The King of Israel and the Lord of all the Earth is born away from his home, in a stable, under the tyranny of an Emporer, and under threat of death from a power-hungry king.  Can you imagine King David seeing such a condition?  He who had conquered all the kingdoms around him and amassed all the wealth needed for his son to build the temple, would have moved heaven and earth to give the ultimate Son of David a better birth.  Yet, David would have understood because he too had learned that God’s strength was perfected in our weaknesses.  Of all people, David would understand that God was at work especially at the times that we think He is not.

God Announces His Activity In Advance

Verses 8-14 move to a scene in the outskirts of Bethlehem.  For over a thousand years God had been pointing to the birth of the Christ and Savior through his prophets and angels.  So it continues as the child is born that prophets and angels are very busy in this account.  Yet, this story is strange in that it is lowly shepherds who receive the revelation of the birth of Messiah.  Why to shepherds?  I am sure that many received their news with wonder in Bethlehem, but what about other places?  This would be the equivalent of a group of loggers from Idaho saying that angels had told them who the next president of the United States should be.  That may be received in the logging towns of Idaho.  But Washington D.C. would be another matter.  Why didn’t the angels tell the great princes of the land or a contingent of priests?  Most likely because both of these groups had proven to be cutthroats to God: Herod, Annas, and Caiaphus.  Now we must recognize that false prophecies and false angel sightings are not new things.  Just because someone says they heard from an angel doesn’t mean you blindly believe everything they say.  However, do you blindly resist everything they say?  The Bible warns us to not let the false prophecies cause us to despise true prophecy.  This is a real tension within man.  We tend to be gullible or cynical because it takes too much work to test everything against Scripture and wait upon the Lord for better understanding.  Truth will always prevail in the end and God did not do these things in secret.  He announced them and did them in the open.

The angels also announced that this was a day of Great Joy!  Not all of God’s messages are about good things.  But it was this day.  “Don’t fear.”  This message to the shepherds is the comfort that they are not there for judgment, but rather, for a message of grace and mercy.  All mankind should be quaking in its boots before a holy, and righteous God.  It is not to our credit that we “ho-hum” when He is mentioned.  Yet, His ultimate desire is not for a relationship of fear, but one of joy and love. 

A savior has been born today in the city of David!  This word savior sounds like a Christian term.  But it actually ties back to the Judges of old.  Before Israel had kings God would raise up deliverers who would save Israel from tyranny.  The term translated as deliverer is literally “savior Lord” or “saving Lord.”  Thus at a time when Israel, once again, was without a Jewish King and were under the tyranny of foreign lords, God raised up from among Israel a “saving Lord,” a deliverer.  The terms used of him are more not just titles, but also descriptive of what He was and would do.  He is Messiah the one anointed by God to deliver Israel.  He would have God’s Spirit and blessing.  He is Lord, the king and sovereign of Israel and, in fact, all creation.

God often gives signs to confirm that the prophecy was really from Him.  Now the angels would be a pretty strong sign already.  But we are warned against deceiving angels in Scripture.  So a sign is given to the shepherds that they would find a baby laying in an animal’s feed trough.  A baby in Bethlehem would be no great wonder.  But one being in a manger on that very same night would be one chance in a million.

Now consider this sign because the Scripture also warns against false signs and wonders in the last days.  The angel’s message that day of peace and great joy is a message that false prophets love to preach.  They did so in Jeremiah’s day and they will do so in the end of times.  But the sign is one that is done in God’s signature style, humility.  Now I know that even humility can be faked.  But in the end Satan is not humble.  God chooses to work through the lowly.  Satan only works through the lowly when he is forced to do so.  Thus be careful that you are not wowed by great promises and amazing, powerful signs.  God is often working in the hidden, humble, unseen ways to the power hungry hearts of mankind.

Come And See!

In verses 15-20 the shepherds are invited to be a part of the Messiah’s welcoming committee.  How fitting for one who is the Son of David to be welcomed by shepherds.  The shepherds become the ones who verify the details of what God was doing.  They witness these things with their eyes and then they tell others.

Yet, they are also encouraging Mary and Joseph who were also witnesses to what God had said and done.  That night must have been a unique moment as Joseph and Mary share stories with the shepherds in wonder.  Their faith must have been enormously strengthened at that time.  Now, no matter how much we want to be the one who hears, sees, and verifies, the truth is that no one gets everything.  We all have to take some things on faith.  And, to all who had ears to hear that day, it was quite believable that the Messiah had come in the person of this little baby.

Let me close by reminding us that this call to come and see is still happening today.  This is a hallmark of God that He loves to show us.  He rewards faith with the joy of discovery.  Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who trusts in Him.”  Today we do not see these angels or shepherds because God is not doing that right now.  But He is working all over this world and it can be seen for those with eyes to see.  Today He is calling you to come to His Word (the Bible) and hear the Truth that has been hidden from you.  “Come and see My Wisdom,” He says.  Today He is calling for us to come to His Son by faith and find release from the guilt of our sins.  “Come and see My salvation.”  Today He calls us to come to His people and create an environment of loving help within His Church.  “Come and see (be) My people.”  Yes, you may want God to do something more spectacular, but that is only because you define spectacular by the world’s standards.  I challenge you to read this Gospel and let God change your standards of what is spectacular.

Of Angels and Shepherds mp3

The Spiritual Sickness of Sin

One of the effects of sin and The Curse is sickness and disease.  God created the earth and it was very good.  However, because of man’s rebellion it went from very good to death and decay.  Now today we are going to see the problem of Leprosy in Luke 5:12-16.  Though the term used in those days is not the technical terms that we use in medicine today, the descriptions of the disease are very clear.  It was contagious and thus those who had it were quarantined outside of the city.  What started as a small spot on the skin would eventually cover their whole body.  From what we know today, leprosy does not actually cause flesh to rot.  Rather, starting in the extremities and on the skins surface it destroys the nervous system and our sense of touch.  The lack of pain and feeling is what leads to injury and destruction of the flesh.

The late Dr. Paul Brand, a pioneer in treating leprosy, said, “I cannot think of a greater gift that I could give my leprosy patients than pain.”  He later co-authored a book with Phillip Yancey, “The Gift of Pain.”  It is a sad irony that those who suffer in this way should lose physical pain and yet gain even greater inner pain.  Let’s look at this passage.

Leprosy Is A Picture

In verse 12 we are told that Jesus was in a certain city when a man who is full of leprosy falls down before him and begs, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  We often wonder why God allows things to be.  I don’t want to make the mistake of being so quick to say Jesus even heals leprosy, that I miss the fact that this leper is a human being who has been through much grief.  Even his statement to the Lord evokes pity and compassion.  Why was he a leper?  For whatever reasons, we do know that God didn’t create the world with lepers in it.  We are the ones that brought sin, sickness, and death into the world.  One thing is true leprosy is one of those diseases that gives us a very horrible picture.

Leprosy first is a picture of incurable disease.  Regardless of the name of the disease and the century that one lives in, mankind will always face diseases he cannot “fix.”  People in these situations end up spending all their money and their emotional capital on treatments and experiments that leave them poor, broken and without hope.  Often they are quarantined or in a bed isolated from others and under a death sentence.  They have become a danger to themselves and others and they feel all alone.  Regardless of whether or not we find a solution for leprosy, there is always something else, whether it be AIDS or Cancer, etc… 

Leprosy is also a picture of the reality of sin.  Because the inner effects cannot be seen, we can tend to think that there are none.  One of the reasons why God allows sickness, disease, and death is because it gives us a material picture of what sin does spiritually.  Just as leprosy destroys by first desensitizing the God-given nervous system in our bodies, so sin desensitizes the individual’s God-given conscience.  We come to think that our sin is no big deal.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Over a series of being desensitized we come to no longer feel the bite of conscience and spiritually injure ourselves and others, even to the point of spiritual death.  The hideous images of what leprosy can do in the natural should point us to the hideous things that sin does in our heart.  The contagion of sin can only truly be appreciated in the face of the bacterial and viral onslaught in our own day and age.  These things always start small, only a small spot.  Yet they spread and destroy the whole body if not brought in check.

If you think I am stretching it use disease as a metaphor for sin then look at 1 Corinthians 5:6.  Here Paul told the Corinthians, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”  He uses yeast as a picture of what sin does within an individual and a group.  If you put up with just a little bit it is going to affect the rest.  So you need to deal with it before it gets hideous and horrible.

The Solution For Both Is Jesus

Whether we are talking about a physical problem or a spiritual one, the solution for both is Jesus.  The leper had come to believe that Jesus could heal him, because Jesus had been healing others.  Why not me?  Even though he has the most horrible and fearful physical curse of his day, the man breaks the law and social custom to beg Jesus for health.  Somehow we need to get to that same spot in our own life where we are on our face before Jesus begging for spiritual health.  The good news is that God is looking for you.  In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost.”  Later he gave his disciples a Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”  This aspect of Christianity is coming into more and more ill repute: calling people to turn to Jesus.  Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice.”  In all of these we see two things.  We need to find Jesus, and graciously he is calling and looking for us.  If your heart truly wants healing, you will find Jesus and He will find you.  Now clearly spiritual healing is far more important than physical healing.  And, even if we are physically healed, all will eventually grow old and die.  No matter how hard we pray for “healing” of old age, God is going to let us grow old and die.  Yet, he has promised The First Resurrection to those who believe.

The second thing we find with this leper is that he humbled himself.  He is not supposed to interact with people.  He is breaking the law and he knows it.  Yet, he has his face in the dirt begging Jesus for a miracle.  Now it is not as important that his face is in the dirt than that his heart was that humble.  Until we are spiritually humbled to the point that we cease worrying about what we look like, we may never reach the humility needed to receive salvation from Jesus.  We have to see ourselves and others as completely unable to fix the problem.  Jesus is my only hope!  This cry is the cry of the humbled and thus humble.  When we get to the place where we are humble enough we are free to ask him to do what we cannot do for ourselves.

Notice the word “clean.”  We must want to be clean.  It seems obvious that a sick person wants to be well, but it is not always the case.  Have you ever encountered a person with emphysema who needs to carry an oxygen tank around with them and yet still wants to smoke?  Often getting well requires us to give up things that bring on the problem.  Am I asking Jesus to clean the surface but not deal with the root of the problem?  Jesus heal my lungs so I can smoke them to death again!  Is this what we want?  “To want to be clean” is not wanting only our problems fixed, but rather, wanting the root of those problems and sin cleaned away.  The leper speaks of his skin being cleaned, but the same word is used of moral and spiritual cleansing in our hearts and life.

We must also believe in Christ’s ability or power to heal us.  He would have never approached Jesus if he didn’t believe that Jesus could actually heal him.  Now many look at Jesus, the Bible, and His Church as antiquated relics of a bygone era that never had any real power.  Now I would challenge you to recognize that no matter how ancient this culture was, these people understood the devastation of disease for which even today we do not have a cure.  We can only mitigate the effects and speed of progression.  It is quite patronizing to the point of idiocy to think that they couldn’t recognize and be amazed that one day a man who had been blind from birth could all the sudden see.  One day a man whose skin was obviously covered with leprosy was suddenly completely clear skinned.  This is something that takes real power.  This is the kind of thing that Jesus did frequently.

The man also cries out to Jesus.  It is one thing to want healing and salvation.  It is quite another to step out and ask.  Many people get to the tipping point of calling upon Jesus and yet hold back.  If you have been holding back from calling out to Jesus for salvation, don’t hold back any longer.  You must cry out to him for mercy in order to receive it.

What Jesus Shows Us About God

Now let’s look at the response of Jesus.  Now in Hebrews 1:1-3 we are told that Jesus is the “brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.”  The point is this: if you have seen Jesus then you have seen God the Father..  God who is invisible makes himself visible in Jesus.  Thus in this situation Jesus helps us to see the Truth about God’s heart for the hurting, both physically and spiritually.  The actions, thinking, and words of Jesus are exactly the actions, thinking, and words of God the Father.

First we see that God wants to touch the sick.  Though quarantines were involved to protect people from the sick, God can touch the sick.  He cannot be affected by sickness or sin and so he has no fear to touch them.  I mentioned Dr. Paul Brand earlier.  He tells a story of when he first went to India to work with lepers there.  He didn’t speak the language and had patted a leper to let them know that he would help them.  The person broke out in tears.  Why?  His Indian helper explained that the man had not been touched by anyone for many years.  Something so simple as human touch can convey a world of care, compassion, love, and help.  In Jesus God touches us.

God is also full of compassion.  Jesus couples his touch with the words, “I am willing.”  This is such a tender picture of God’s compassion toward mankind.  There is a part of us that might rebel and say that he hasn’t done that for everyone.  But the point is that the physical often is what brings us to see our need of the spiritual.  Even in the midst of our sinfulness and fallenness, God is compassionate toward the lost and works to bring them to himself so that he might heal them.

We also see that God is full of power to do what we need Him to do.  Jesus could heal the body, but also could heal the sin-sick soul.  Physical healing is never an answer in and of itself.  Even in perfect health, these bodies will grow old, decay and die.  Short of the Second Coming, we will have to face death.  It would be a tragedy to only be physically healed and yet not ask for our sins to be forgiven and covered; to not ask that our hearts be set free from sin’s grip.

Lastly, Jesus sends the man to go to the temple and be a witness to the priests and his community that God is still moving in power.  Has God touched your sin-sick soul?  Has he touched you and made you clean, and whole spiritually?  I testify to you today that he can take your life no matter how ruined, destroyed, and damaged it is and heal it if you will only cry out to him like I did.He

Spiritual Sickness audio