WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.080 The following sermon is made available by Lakeside Bible Church in Cornelius, North Carolina. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:19.199 For more information about our church or to find more recorded sermons, 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.760 please visit us online at lakesidebible.church. 00:00:23.019 --> 00:00:25.760 We'd also love to connect with you on social media. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.700 You can find us by searching Lakeside Bible NC on Facebook and Instagram. 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:37.900 For specific questions about the Bible or our church, please email us at info at lakesidebible.church. 00:00:39.540 --> 00:00:49.600 We left our study last week having discovered that the fame of Jesus in Galilee and in that Galilean region has exploded. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:58.460 Mark credits this explosion of popularity to the events of a particular 24-hour period 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:04.620 in which Jesus demonstrated both his compassionate heart and his divine power. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:13.060 And he did so by healing an incredible amount of people who were sick and demon-possessed. 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:19.019 And no doubt, as we discovered last week, it came as a surprise to the disciples 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:26.219 when they discovered that Jesus did not want to remain in Capernaum to capitalize on the growing popularity, 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:34.300 but instead decided that it was time to travel elsewhere in order that he might preach the gospel in other places. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:42.680 Although he desired to heal the people, he had a much greater purpose that involved the preaching of the gospel. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:51.000 They needed to hear his message much more than they needed the temporary reprieve of physical healing. 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:56.900 And of course, Jesus wanted to provide both, but he had a clear priority of purpose. 00:01:57.020 --> 00:02:01.020 And he told the disciples when they're trying to pull him back to Capernaum, 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:05.840 when all the people are searching him out in order that they may witness more healing, more miracles, 00:02:06.240 --> 00:02:09.060 Jesus decides to go to other places that he has not been. 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:16.699 And he says, I want to go there and I want to preach the gospel for that is why I came, he says in verse 38. 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:19.300 And so we take that as an example for us. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.819 Though we should have compassionate hearts for people around us, 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:28.199 so we should desire to feed the poor, we should desire to care for the sick, 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:32.280 we should desire to show compassion and pity toward those who are hurting, 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:34.699 it is not the priority of our life. 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:38.960 The priority of our purpose is to share the gospel. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.620 And of course, we want to do both of those things, but Jesus has given us a clear priority between the two. 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:50.219 The text before us today serves as an appendix to those verses. 00:02:50.379 --> 00:02:55.219 The verses from really verses 21 to 39, this is kind of like an appendix. 00:02:55.219 --> 00:03:03.560 Because chronologically, this event did not take place immediately following that incredible day in Capernaum. 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:11.080 Mark thought it best to include it here because it illustrates so clearly the points that he was making about Jesus' life 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:15.199 in that 24-hour period, in the retelling of it. 00:03:16.060 --> 00:03:24.240 Mark gives almost twice as much time to this event than either of the other gospel authors. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:28.920 Which is unusual for Mark, because typically he's moving very quickly. 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:30.760 Matthew doesn't cover this until chapter 8. 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:34.740 Luke is well into chapter 5 at this point, 4 or 5 at this point. 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:40.300 We're just getting into chapter 1 with Mark, and Mark is already at this point in the life of Jesus 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:42.520 and in the events that he's recording of Jesus' life. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:48.680 For just a moment, Mark slows his blistering pace that he's following at this point 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:57.620 in order that he may get us to really focus in on the truths that he is proclaiming about Jesus. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.340 He identifies Jesus' power and compassion again. 00:04:01.980 --> 00:04:06.560 But those things are meant to be understood through the lens of the gospel. 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:09.840 Not Jesus' philanthropic work. 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:14.520 Mark is not interested in us reading about the miracles of Jesus 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:19.100 and considering how wonderful of a human being he was 00:04:19.100 --> 00:04:23.879 in regards to his compassion for healing the sick and helping care for people. 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:28.079 He wants us to view those things through the lens of Jesus' true purpose, 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.160 which is a gospel purpose. 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:37.160 We can be guilty often of processing the studies of Christ's miracles 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:43.480 with the hope of physical healing in this life as our primary takeaway. 00:04:43.820 --> 00:04:44.320 You know what I mean? 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:47.460 We may come to a story like Jesus healing the leper, 00:04:47.540 --> 00:04:49.000 and we may think, well, goodness grief, 00:04:49.080 --> 00:04:52.800 if Jesus can heal Peter's mother-in-law's fever, 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:56.980 surely he would be willing to heal these issues that I have with migraines. 00:04:57.860 --> 00:04:58.960 Or we come to the leper and we say, 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:02.400 Jesus has this power to heal this leprous man. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:07.759 Surely Jesus has this desire to take away this cancer that I've been diagnosed with, 00:05:07.799 --> 00:05:08.439 or so on and so forth. 00:05:08.579 --> 00:05:10.000 And it's not that those things are irrelevant, 00:05:10.159 --> 00:05:13.199 but we often take those as the primary takeaway of Jesus' miracles. 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:15.779 That's not the point that they are recorded for us. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.899 Gospel authors didn't record the miracles to merely give us hope 00:05:20.899 --> 00:05:23.899 that Jesus would heal our sickness and disease. 00:05:24.859 --> 00:05:26.699 That's not an irrelevant application, 00:05:27.339 --> 00:05:28.759 but it's not the point. 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:35.959 If our tendency is to compare the man's leprosy in this passage 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:39.639 to our own struggles with ailments and terminal diseases, 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:44.759 then we have clearly missed the message that God wants for us to hear. 00:05:45.719 --> 00:05:51.159 The miracles of Jesus are a shadow of a greater, 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:55.420 eternal healing that only He can provide. 00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:58.960 They're not an end in and of themselves. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:00.920 They are meant to point us to something greater, 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:02.819 and that greater thing is the gospel. 00:06:02.960 --> 00:06:05.660 Therefore, the healing of the leper in Mark chapter 1 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:08.700 is primarily an analogy to the gospel. 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.400 And so our takeaway as we come away from this passage 00:06:12.400 --> 00:06:13.379 is not to be, 00:06:13.840 --> 00:06:16.080 wow, I wonder if God will heal my sickness. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:17.680 No, the takeaway is, 00:06:17.960 --> 00:06:21.400 wow, God can heal the sickness of my soul. 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:25.040 Kent Hughes said it this way, 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.840 all Christ miracles were parables 00:06:27.840 --> 00:06:30.560 that visibly portrayed the effects 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:33.600 of His Spirit's work among mankind. 00:06:34.640 --> 00:06:38.200 Realizing then that Christ miracles were parables, 00:06:38.320 --> 00:06:40.000 not that they didn't actually happen, 00:06:40.060 --> 00:06:41.240 but that they were illustrations, 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:46.439 we must note that leprosy was especially symbolic of sin 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:48.480 and the healing of it, 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:52.759 especially a parable of deliverance from sin. 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:56.539 So let's take a moment and look at how the healing of this leper 00:06:56.539 --> 00:06:59.620 is really about the gospel of salvation 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:02.099 that is provided through Jesus Christ. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:03.980 We'll probably only get to the first part of it today, 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:05.980 and we'll finish the rest next Sunday. 00:07:06.159 --> 00:07:08.719 But let's first look at the man was cleansed. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:11.860 The man was cleansed. 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:17.800 Now the setting is an unknown or unnamed town in Galilee, 00:07:18.520 --> 00:07:21.420 probably in the vicinity of Capernaum. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:25.020 Jesus often, at this point in His ministry, 00:07:25.340 --> 00:07:27.160 really stayed around the home base. 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:30.060 He hadn't yet ventured out to other places within Galilee. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:32.580 So it's probably near Capernaum, 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:34.240 but it's a town that we're not told of. 00:07:34.740 --> 00:07:39.360 Matthew puts this account immediately following the Sermon on the Mount, 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:42.520 and he says that it takes place as Jesus was, 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:46.600 or after Jesus had descended from the mountain where He had taught. 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:51.120 Luke's account tells us that this took place openly 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.759 in the midst of a certain city, 00:07:54.020 --> 00:07:57.240 not a rural location, but inside of a town. 00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:00.180 So Matthew says that a multitude of people 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:02.960 had followed Jesus down from the mountain after His teaching, 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:05.860 and the fact that this took place openly in a city 00:08:05.860 --> 00:08:08.939 tells us that it's almost guaranteed 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:11.480 that there was a presence of a crowd 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:13.360 whenever this took place, 00:08:13.379 --> 00:08:14.740 which is important for us to understand 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:15.920 as we make these applications. 00:08:16.900 --> 00:08:20.020 Perhaps the fear associated with this man's disease 00:08:20.020 --> 00:08:22.180 is what had cleared a path for him 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:24.540 to get to Jesus and to interact with Him, 00:08:24.780 --> 00:08:27.000 but how the man got to Jesus 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.500 was absolutely irrelevant to the Lord. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:33.340 He didn't care. 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:37.820 The fires of his compassionate heart 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:39.840 were once again ignited 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.840 as he desired to free this man from this disease. 00:08:44.920 --> 00:08:47.000 Now, let's pause for just a second 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:50.540 and compare what our response would likely be to this man 00:08:50.540 --> 00:08:52.800 versus how Jesus responded to this man. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.860 There were strict laws about what this man could do 00:08:56.860 --> 00:08:57.600 and could not do. 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:00.400 He was in a place he was not allowed to be. 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:03.040 He was not allowed to be around people. 00:09:04.220 --> 00:09:06.300 He has broken a number of not only biblical, 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.399 but civil laws in his day 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:11.639 in order to get to Jesus. 00:09:12.100 --> 00:09:14.420 And he's, we'll get to it in a moment, 00:09:14.560 --> 00:09:15.860 is absolutely filthy. 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:20.280 I mean, grotesque probably is the way that this man looked. 00:09:20.860 --> 00:09:22.100 And he's made his way to Jesus. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:24.720 Now, you may be better than me, 00:09:24.800 --> 00:09:27.420 but typically my response in the moment, 00:09:27.660 --> 00:09:29.280 as soon as something like that happens, 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:32.059 is to not look compassionately on that individual, 00:09:32.139 --> 00:09:33.899 but say, how did you get here? 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:36.039 You're not supposed to be here. 00:09:37.199 --> 00:09:39.459 There's a way these things are supposed to happen, 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:41.779 and this is not the way this is supposed to happen. 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:43.759 And we immediately would cast judgment, 00:09:43.959 --> 00:09:45.959 maybe, on this man for being where he wasn't supposed to be, 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:48.919 making everyone else susceptible to this thing that he has been. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:50.480 But Jesus didn't care about all of that. 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:52.659 He didn't care about how the man got to him. 00:09:52.939 --> 00:09:54.120 As soon as he sees him, 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:57.539 the fires of his compassionate heart are fired for this man. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:00.779 All he wants to do now is to cleanse this man, 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:05.539 heal them, and free him from this incredible disease. 00:10:06.299 --> 00:10:10.179 Well, let's look at what takes place here first. 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:12.159 Three things, if you're keeping track of your notes. 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:13.480 But first thing, write this down. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:15.019 His hopeless condition. 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:17.560 His hopeless condition. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:20.539 Look at verse 40, the very first phrase. 00:10:20.539 --> 00:10:24.679 And there came a leper to him. 00:10:26.079 --> 00:10:31.059 This man's condition was not simply urgent. 00:10:31.779 --> 00:10:34.799 It was utterly hopeless. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:42.980 Biblical leprosy was known as an incurable and devastating skin disease. 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:46.539 There were various leprosies in the Bible. 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:48.079 You can read about them in the Old Testament. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:54.200 Some of them are really akin to just minor skin irritations that we would even contract today. 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:56.040 And they weren't really that big of a deal. 00:10:56.120 --> 00:11:00.980 There was a way that they were supposed to go about determining that and figuring out what to do about it. 00:11:01.060 --> 00:11:02.379 But there were various leprosies. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:07.040 This one is a severe form of leprosy that was really terrible. 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:08.420 And it was terminal. 00:11:09.420 --> 00:11:12.960 There was no escaping it or escaping the death that it would bring. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:23.440 It began with various skin lesions on a person's body that would very slowly spread and gradually eat away the tissue of a person's body. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.860 There's a modern mutation of it that still exists today. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.180 It's called Hansen's disease. 00:11:29.179 --> 00:11:44.019 And in this particular mutation, the severest symptom is that an individual with Hansen's disease, or leprosy as they still call it, Hansen's disease, is that their nervous system is attacked rather than their skin. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:54.579 So in their nervous system, their nerves literally become numb so that they have no way of alerting their brain to pain or to pleasure in either one of those experiences. 00:11:54.580 --> 00:12:03.060 A person with Hansen's disease could literally take their hand and put it on a piping hot stove and never realize that their hand is actually being burned away in that moment. 00:12:04.139 --> 00:12:08.680 That's how most of the deformities probably came as a result. 00:12:08.780 --> 00:12:13.700 Not just these skin lesions that would eat away the flesh, but it was this numbness that they had. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:18.820 They could walk through a field, step in a hole to break their ankle and not feel any pain from that. 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:22.280 They would just readjust the way that they would walk from there on. 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:29.360 And ultimately, over time, this would become absolutely devastating to them. 00:12:30.659 --> 00:12:36.639 The Bible's acknowledgement of leprosy indicates that it was highly contagious. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:47.059 They'll tell you that Hansen's disease isn't quite as contagious, but clearly the way that God dealt with it in the Scripture, the form of it in those days, it was highly contagious. 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:48.839 Easy to catch. 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:59.100 The CDC states on their website that Hansen's disease, much like COVID-19, is spread through microscopic droplets that come from a person's nose and mouth. 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:04.379 So when we understand that and we read exactly how this was spread, it wasn't so much about the touch. 00:13:04.540 --> 00:13:05.680 It was about these droplets. 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:09.460 Being near a person could be absolutely detrimental to your health. 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:10.420 So we understand that. 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:14.800 We see that the Bible's command for distancing is actually completely understandable. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:18.620 R.K. Harrison wrote this. 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:20.899 He's a commentator, an Old Testament scholar. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:21.439 He said this. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:33.880 A diagnosis of leprosy was as much of a death sentence to the ancient Israelites as tidings about an advanced malignant cancer would be to a modern patient. 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:52.620 Once a man was branded as a leper, he had to adopt the posture of a mourner by tearing his clothes, allowing his hair to be unkempt, covering his beard and mustache, and crying unclean anytime someone came anywhere near his vicinity. 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:57.379 He had to live outside the camp or perhaps in a leper colony. 00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:03.740 But his existence was nothing more than a living death. 00:14:05.259 --> 00:14:19.659 Unless there was a quick remission of the disease, the victim of clinical leprosy knew that his condition would be of lengthy duration and that its loathsome nature would prohibit significant contact with society. 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:32.120 Most of all, Harrison says, the leper would be cut off from the spiritual fellowship with the covenant people and in a real sense would be without hope and God in the world. 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:34.459 Terrible disease. 00:14:35.860 --> 00:14:37.339 It wasn't merely an illness. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:39.659 It was a sentence. 00:14:41.319 --> 00:14:46.740 A leper not only lost their health, they lost their life without actually dying. 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:50.980 Even in Mark 1, this man has no name. 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:55.320 He's completely defined by his disease. 00:14:56.139 --> 00:14:57.740 He would have lost his job. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.060 He would have lost his family. 00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:07.740 He would have lost his home, his friends, his community, his rights, and his freedom of worship. 00:15:07.740 --> 00:15:16.360 And no one would have had sympathy because they considered anyone that would have come down with leprosy was specifically being cursed by God for the sin of their life. 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:18.860 It was a living death. 00:15:20.060 --> 00:15:21.519 I want you to think about this. 00:15:22.299 --> 00:15:26.460 Think about everything that's going on in our current culture with COVID-19. 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:27.820 There's fear. 00:15:27.920 --> 00:15:40.840 I saw a statistic the other day that so far this year, there have been three times as many deaths as a result of COVID-19 in North Carolina alone than the flu in the last 10 years combined. 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:49.680 But even if you get COVID-19, right now the statistics say you've got a 99% chance of surviving the infection. 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:58.080 If you got leprosy, you had a 100% chance that you would die. 00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:03.740 You would die alone, and it would be slow and agonizing. 00:16:05.040 --> 00:16:07.720 This was the true condition of this man. 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:09.780 It was hopeless. 00:16:09.779 --> 00:16:18.000 Now I want you to consider for just a moment your own hopeless condition. 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:28.199 The Bible teaches that because of sin, we are literally the living dead. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:35.620 Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 says that we are dead in our sins and trespasses. 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:38.079 Not dying, we're dead. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.480 Not drowning, we're drowned. 00:16:43.160 --> 00:16:51.780 Jesus said in John chapter 3 that sinners are not awaiting a coming condemnation, but they are condemned already. 00:16:51.779 --> 00:16:57.600 You may say, okay, I get that much. 00:16:57.659 --> 00:16:59.179 I get my sins that is a problem. 00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:03.339 I get that there is a punishment for that sinfulness and that that punishment is severe. 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:05.019 So what can I do to fix it? 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:06.180 But that's just the thing. 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:09.259 You can't do anything to fix it. 00:17:10.859 --> 00:17:11.259 Nothing. 00:17:11.259 --> 00:17:18.920 There's no medicine that you can take that will heal your soul. 00:17:21.339 --> 00:17:26.079 There's no goodness that you could do that could possibly offset the sin. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:33.199 Any goodness that you would try to perform today is irrelevant in regards to the sins of yesterday. 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:39.279 Everything that you've done up to this point, it cannot be remedied by anything that you can do. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:43.119 Your condition isn't urgent. 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:46.480 Your condition is hopeless. 00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:48.980 Literally. 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:50.680 Hopeless. 00:17:51.779 --> 00:17:53.519 But that brings us to the next note. 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:55.319 We not only see his hopeless condition. 00:17:55.819 --> 00:17:58.359 Secondly, we see his desperate cry. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:00.000 His desperate cry. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.920 Look again at verse 40. 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:07.880 There came a leper to him, beseeching him, begging him, pleading with him. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:17.440 Kneeling down to him and saying to him, if you will, you can make me clean. 00:18:19.980 --> 00:18:25.500 Mark's already revealed that Jesus' fame had spread rapidly throughout Galilee. 00:18:25.500 --> 00:18:30.220 Somehow, this man had heard about what Jesus had done for others. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:35.339 And he hoped that Jesus might do the same for him. 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:39.660 There's a faith in this man in this moment. 00:18:42.740 --> 00:18:44.200 It's a hesitant faith. 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:48.720 He says, if you will, I know you can do this. 00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:53.160 But he seems uncertain as to whether or not Jesus actually will. 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:53.940 He knows he can. 00:18:55.500 --> 00:19:03.079 He only sought for Jesus because he understood the reality of his own condition. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:16.079 His hopeless condition led him to desperately plead for Jesus to save him from this terrible, terrible disease. 00:19:17.660 --> 00:19:24.400 Have you ever noticed that the wealthy and well rarely sought for Jesus in the Bible? 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:30.779 When they did, it wasn't usually for the right reasons either. 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.079 And they often walked away completely unchanged. 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:39.879 We think of the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and Jesus loves him in that moment. 00:19:39.879 --> 00:19:41.819 And he just thinks that he's got his life together. 00:19:42.299 --> 00:19:46.099 He's not looking for Jesus to change his life. 00:19:46.199 --> 00:19:47.779 He doesn't view himself as sinful. 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:51.899 He doesn't view himself as in need of forgiveness or of restoration. 00:19:51.899 --> 00:19:57.339 He really just wants Jesus to improve his already, as far as he's concerned, great life. 00:19:57.339 --> 00:20:02.059 And Jesus tells him, one thing you're lacking. 00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:06.980 The one thing was kind of veiled in Jesus' instruction. 00:20:07.679 --> 00:20:11.079 The primary thing is that he wouldn't submit to the Lord. 00:20:11.919 --> 00:20:13.759 He wouldn't acknowledge his own sinfulness. 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:16.819 But Jesus says, sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and then come follow me. 00:20:16.959 --> 00:20:18.740 And the man walked away sad. 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:24.620 He walked away from the Savior sad because he had great riches. 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:27.799 The well and the wealthy, they never sought Jesus. 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:33.259 And if they did, it was for poor motives and they walked away unchanged most of the time. 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:38.299 It's always desperate people that come to Jesus and receive salvation. 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:46.379 It's those who are completely exhausted by the futility of doing their best and trying their hardest 00:20:46.379 --> 00:20:49.440 that come with desperate hearts to the Savior. 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:56.119 The problem for most people is that they don't realize how desperate for Jesus they truly are. 00:20:56.940 --> 00:21:04.159 But without acknowledging our own hopelessness in our sinful state, we will never receive salvation. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.600 You'll probably not even admit that you needed it. 00:21:10.300 --> 00:21:14.180 But it is those who recognize their sinful condition as this leper 00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:20.620 that come to Jesus in a way that results in eternal salvation. 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:25.460 Think about Jesus' words in Matthew 5, verse 3. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:30.880 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:33.100 Who does the kingdom belong to? 00:21:33.099 --> 00:21:36.279 Those who realize that they can't do anything to enter it. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:47.819 Those who realize in their spirit, their mournful, depraved, unwilling and hopeless spirit 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:52.939 that they are in desperate need of God's intervention in their life. 00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:56.179 It is to those people that the kingdom belongs. 00:21:57.959 --> 00:22:01.299 Jesus will say it in chapter 2 of Mark. 00:22:01.299 --> 00:22:02.339 You'll see it in verse 17. 00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:03.440 We'll get there in a couple of weeks. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:07.720 He said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:10.879 And he said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. 00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:13.599 Jesus wasn't saying that not everybody was a sinner. 00:22:13.819 --> 00:22:16.700 He was acknowledging that not everybody views themselves as a sinner, 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:20.119 and therefore they will not receive the gift of salvation. 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:24.799 So we see his desperate cry. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.879 Thirdly, we see his miraculous cleansing. 00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:31.079 His miraculous cleansing. 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:31.559 Leprosy. 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:31.559 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:31.559 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:32.079 Leprosy. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:34.079 Leprosy. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:37.419 Leprosy is always representative of man's sin. 00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:42.379 The Bible never speaks of it as a disease from which a person is healed, 00:22:42.500 --> 00:22:47.679 but as a condition from which a person is cleansed. 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:51.559 Notice with me in verse 40. 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.059 He said, if you will, you can make me clean. 00:22:55.059 --> 00:22:59.119 When Jesus responds, he says, be thou clean. 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:05.259 When he deals with the instruction to go to the temple and to present himself, 00:23:05.659 --> 00:23:09.539 it is for the purpose of cleansing. 00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:11.500 Not healing, not healing, cleansing. 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:15.259 The categories of clean and unclean are important in the scriptures. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:20.379 They mostly refer to moral purity, not personal hygiene. 00:23:20.380 --> 00:23:25.180 And the solution for being unclean was not to take a bath. 00:23:25.380 --> 00:23:27.380 It was to make a sacrifice. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:29.820 The issue wasn't dirt. 00:23:29.940 --> 00:23:31.480 The issue was guilt. 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:36.539 And leprosy placed a person in the unclean category. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:39.740 And the leper was totally cut off. 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:45.299 Totally cut off from the covenant worship community of God's people. 00:23:45.299 --> 00:23:48.339 When the man asked Jesus to make him clean, 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:51.879 I truly believe that he was seeking not only physical healing, 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:54.740 he was seeking spiritual cleansing. 00:23:55.319 --> 00:24:00.099 He would have viewed his leprosy as a curse from God. 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:05.480 He would immediately responded to that sickness as a result of his own sin. 00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:06.940 He's seeking cleansing. 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:13.399 And he went to the right source because only Jesus could provide both of those things. 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:18.259 And so Mark, once again, turns our attention from the grotesque picture of the leper. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:25.040 And he turns our hearts and our focus and our eyes to the wonderful, amazing, powerful Savior. 00:24:25.320 --> 00:24:29.040 So let's look at the repetition that is beginning to form here about Jesus. 00:24:29.280 --> 00:24:31.540 First, we see his compassionate heart. 00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:33.400 Christ's compassionate heart. 00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:35.100 Look at verse 41. 00:24:35.100 --> 00:24:40.160 And Jesus moved with compassion. 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:58.100 Mark tells us that Jesus' heart was filled with compassion toward the man. 00:24:59.100 --> 00:25:02.360 If you've ever done a study of the word, you know what it means. 00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:05.060 It literally means a moving of the bowels. 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:13.279 In other words, Jesus actually felt agony, even anger, as some people would refer to his reaction here, 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:15.480 even anger over the man's condition. 00:25:15.700 --> 00:25:17.819 That emotion wasn't directed at the man. 00:25:17.919 --> 00:25:20.419 It was directed for the man. 00:25:21.659 --> 00:25:28.839 He felt such agony over what sins cursed had done to this man that Jesus did the unthinkable. 00:25:29.899 --> 00:25:31.559 He touched him. 00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:38.039 He reached forth his hand and touched the man. 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:44.099 The law didn't even allow a person to come within a few feet of a leper. 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:50.339 On windy days, 150 feet is how far the leper had to stay away. 00:25:51.099 --> 00:25:55.619 And anyone who would have come within that distance was considered at that point unclean 00:25:55.619 --> 00:26:01.099 and had to go through a series of rituals to make them ceremonial clean again. 00:26:02.459 --> 00:26:03.899 Jesus couldn't be defiled. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:12.299 His compassionate heart was demonstrated in that not only did he stand close to this man, 00:26:12.299 --> 00:26:13.839 but he touched him. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:20.859 Not only did Jesus do for the leper what no one else could do, 00:26:20.859 --> 00:26:25.059 but he felt for the leper what no one else could feel. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:28.719 Dane Ortlund writes about this. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:29.000 He said, 00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:31.379 What did Jesus do when he saw the unclean? 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:36.079 What was his first impulse when he came across prostitutes and lepers? 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:39.139 He moved toward them. 00:26:39.140 --> 00:26:42.100 Pity flooded his heart. 00:26:42.840 --> 00:26:44.460 The longing of true compassion. 00:26:44.800 --> 00:26:46.020 He spent time with them. 00:26:46.280 --> 00:26:47.420 He touched them. 00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:49.580 And he goes on to say, 00:26:49.580 --> 00:26:53.020 We can all testify of the humaneness of touch. 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:59.000 A warm hug does something warm words of greeting cannot do. 00:27:00.020 --> 00:27:03.820 But there is something deeper in Christ's touch of compassion. 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.500 He was reversing the Jewish system. 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:11.759 When Jesus, the clean one, touched an unclean sinner, 00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:14.019 Christ did not become unclean. 00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:16.859 The sinner became clean. 00:27:17.460 --> 00:27:18.039 It's amazing. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:23.980 And it was with the same compassion that Jesus looks at you. 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:30.680 And it is with the same love that he feels for you. 00:27:31.099 --> 00:27:32.579 His compassionate heart is clear. 00:27:33.380 --> 00:27:37.039 And then we see his divine power. 00:27:37.500 --> 00:27:38.319 His divine power. 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:39.259 Look at verse 42. 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:43.579 And as soon as Jesus had spoken, 00:27:44.839 --> 00:27:48.539 immediately the leprosy departed from him, 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:52.200 and he was cleansed. 00:27:54.059 --> 00:27:56.220 Jesus not only had compassion, 00:27:56.220 --> 00:28:06.400 but he has the power to affect true and lasting change in your life. 00:28:08.900 --> 00:28:13.960 Immediately the man was restored to complete and total health. 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:17.539 Jesus' healings are always complete. 00:28:17.539 --> 00:28:21.759 No person would be able to look at this man now 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:26.279 and have any idea that it was just moments before a leper. 00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:28.920 Maybe a leper for a long time. 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:30.740 There's no telling what his condition was like. 00:28:30.740 --> 00:28:35.480 Nobody would be able to look at him and tell his healing was complete. 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:38.660 There was no rehabilitation that had to take place. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:42.059 Jesus didn't set him on the road to recovery from leprosy. 00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:44.099 He healed him completely. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:48.980 In the moment, every putrefying sore disappeared. 00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:51.799 Any limbs that he had lost, 00:28:51.860 --> 00:28:55.799 and probably there were several fingers maybe that he had lost 00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:57.880 because of this illness and this sickness, 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:00.299 were immediately restored to him. 00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:01.360 He could see them. 00:29:01.539 --> 00:29:02.339 He could feel them. 00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:04.140 His nerves no longer numb. 00:29:04.460 --> 00:29:05.220 Complete healing. 00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:09.180 The atrophy of his muscular system, 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:15.059 after having nothing to do but sit and think outside the city, 00:29:15.059 --> 00:29:19.299 all of a sudden was completely reversed. 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:25.200 All of this happened to the fullest extent in a moment 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:28.960 because Jesus touched him and said, 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:32.799 Be clean, and then this divine power overwhelms this man, 00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:37.379 and Jesus does something for him that he and no one else could ever do, 00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:41.359 and it was a complete and final healing. 00:29:45.059 --> 00:29:50.059 The power of Christ in salvation is just as complete, 00:29:50.639 --> 00:29:53.279 and it's just as immediate. 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:58.119 Every single sin is forgiven. 00:29:59.139 --> 00:30:01.960 Eternal life is freely provided, 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:05.019 and it is all a present possession 00:30:05.019 --> 00:30:08.339 for anyone that will recognize their hopeless condition 00:30:08.339 --> 00:30:12.419 and desperately cry out to Jesus for salvation. 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:16.519 He has not only the power, 00:30:16.840 --> 00:30:22.480 but the will to give you life 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:26.800 and to save you, not one day, but today. 00:30:27.940 --> 00:30:28.539 Today. 00:30:29.620 --> 00:30:30.560 It's amazing. 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:33.779 Did you notice Jesus' words? 00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:38.820 He didn't just say, Be clean. 00:30:38.819 --> 00:30:43.279 He responded to the man's question. 00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:48.139 If you will, you can. 00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:51.119 And what's the first thing Jesus says? 00:30:52.139 --> 00:30:52.899 I will. 00:30:53.700 --> 00:30:54.639 I want to. 00:30:55.899 --> 00:30:57.319 I want to do this healing. 00:30:58.879 --> 00:31:00.599 I want to give you salvation. 00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:04.299 I want to forgive your sin. 00:31:06.119 --> 00:31:08.079 I want to cleanse you today. 00:31:08.819 --> 00:31:13.759 We're immediately reminded of Romans chapter 10. 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:18.579 Everyone that will call on the name of the Lord 00:31:18.579 --> 00:31:21.200 will be saved. 00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:23.480 Not one day. 00:31:24.339 --> 00:31:24.859 Today. 00:31:26.439 --> 00:31:28.359 And that salvation is immediate, 00:31:28.919 --> 00:31:30.619 and it's complete. 00:31:32.919 --> 00:31:33.779 Every sin. 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:36.559 Doesn't matter how wretched it was 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:38.940 or how wretched it will be. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.579 Your forgiveness is full. 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.599 But it only comes to those who will call. 00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:52.559 And the only people that ever call on his name 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:53.899 are the desperate. 00:31:55.379 --> 00:31:56.339 And they're desperate 00:31:56.339 --> 00:31:59.919 because they know the hopelessness of their condition. 00:32:01.059 --> 00:32:02.240 We're going to stop there today, 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:03.179 but I want to ask you, 00:32:03.559 --> 00:32:04.719 and I don't often do this. 00:32:05.579 --> 00:32:06.399 I want to ask you, 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:10.539 have you ever recognized your hopeless condition? 00:32:11.539 --> 00:32:11.939 Truly? 00:32:11.939 --> 00:32:12.079 Truly? 00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:18.299 Have you ever made this desperate cry? 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:20.939 Knowing 00:32:20.939 --> 00:32:22.819 that doing your best 00:32:22.819 --> 00:32:23.720 and trying your hardest 00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:24.579 will never work. 00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:27.240 Knowing 00:32:27.240 --> 00:32:30.460 that you might could improve your life, 00:32:31.019 --> 00:32:33.579 but you could never do anything 00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:34.779 that would forgive your sin. 00:32:34.779 --> 00:32:37.379 you could never do anything 00:32:37.379 --> 00:32:38.819 that would give you eternal life. 00:32:41.019 --> 00:32:42.519 Have you ever made this cry? 00:32:46.259 --> 00:32:47.079 I mean it. 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:49.779 Jesus can do for you 00:32:49.779 --> 00:32:50.960 what no one else can do, 00:32:51.180 --> 00:32:52.399 and he feels for you 00:32:52.399 --> 00:32:54.859 what no one else can feel. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:58.180 And his promise is, 00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:00.559 if you will but cry to him, 00:33:01.619 --> 00:33:02.599 he will. 00:33:02.599 --> 00:33:05.000 And it will be full, 00:33:05.740 --> 00:33:07.259 and it will be immediate. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:09.199 Thank you for listening to this sermon 00:33:09.199 --> 00:33:11.179 made available by Lakeside Bible Church. 00:33:11.639 --> 00:33:13.299 Feel free to share it wherever you'd like. 00:33:13.819 --> 00:33:15.179 Please do not charge for it 00:33:15.179 --> 00:33:16.539 or alter it in any way 00:33:16.539 --> 00:33:18.179 without express written consent 00:33:18.179 --> 00:33:19.579 from Lakeside Bible Church. 00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:21.740 Don't forget to visit us online 00:33:21.740 --> 00:33:23.259 at lakesidebible.church 00:33:23.259 --> 00:33:25.519 or find us on Facebook and Instagram 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:27.899 by searching for Lakeside Bible NC. 00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:30.639 If you live in the Charlotte or Lake Norman area, 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:31.819 we'd love for you to attend 00:33:31.819 --> 00:33:33.000 one of our worship services. 00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:35.379 We meet every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:36.740 We'd love to meet you. 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:37.740 Amen.