6^th Sunday after the Epiphany

Mark 1:40-45 - A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “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.” 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.

The mighty deeds of the compassionate Messiah – that is the theme of our sermon this morning. Yet, when you really think about it, those words could serve as a unifying theme for the sections of God’s Word we have studied for the past four weeks. During that time we have seen Jesus’ mighty omniscience as he knew Nathanael before they even met. We witnessed the mighty power of his Word as it convinced the first disciples to forsake all and follow him. We observed his mighty authority over disease, Satan and sin. We have been privileged to be bystanders as he demonstrated his great compassion. And today is no different.

But, what are we to make of all these mighty deeds? Are they recorded for us to simply wow us? Is there a purpose? There most certainly is. First of all, they clearly reveal Jesus’ identity. As we see Jesus walk around doing things that only God can do, we are given undeniable evidence that Jesus is true God. And that makes sense, because that is what the Epiphany season is all about. But there is another purpose as well. And that purpose is highlighted for us in the words the Apostle John was inspired to record after Jesus’ very first miracle: “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (John 2:11). So, let us once again behold another mighty deed of our compassionate Messiah and see him reveal his glory and put our trust in him.

As this section of God’s Word begins, we are introduced to a man with leprosy. We are told that he falls at Jesus’ feet and begs him to be willing to make him clean, and that Jesus is filled with compassion. Now, there certainly was reason for Jesus to feel sympathy for this man. Leprosy was an especially terrible disease. And it would appear that this man was in the advanced stages of the disease since Luke, the physician, describes him as a man “covered with leprosy” (Luke 5:12).

What made this disease so especially terrible was its far reaching effects. Naturally it affected the body. A person would be covered with whitish spots which ate away at the flesh. Over time, it would affect the whole body and finally consume both bones and inner organs. To make matters worse, it was accompanied by a violent fever, sleeplessness, and the reality that there wasn’t much hope for being cured. Gloomily put, it was a slow, painful death that the patient was fully aware of. But it wasn’t only the body that it affected. It also affected the individual socially. The disease of leprosy was considered to be highly contagious, and for this reason those infected were forced to live away from their family and friends and were confined to live only among those with the same disease. The only way they could get food is if someone dropped it off at some pre-arranged place. And they were humiliated as they had to walk around bareheaded and yell out “Unclean, Unclean” any time they came within sight of another person.

Still, that wasn’t even the worst. You see, the disease of leprosy was dreaded not only for its bodily and social implications, but also for it spiritual implications. It excluded the infected individual from worship because they were unclean. It carried the stigma that the individual was being punished for specific sins. And they had reason to think this too. On more than one occasion in the Old Testament, God used leprosy as an object lesson on what sin does to God’s people. In one instance, Moses’ sister Miriam and her brother Aaron rebelled against Moses and displeased God. We read of God’s reaction, “The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them. When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam, leprous, like snow” (Numbers 12:9,10). Or what about Gehazi, Elisha’s servant? With greed filling his heart, he dishonestly received gifts from a man named Naaman, whom the Lord had just healed from leprosy. His punishment: “‘Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.’ Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow” (2 Kings 5:27). No doubt this thought was also weighing heavily on the mind of the leper of our text, for we see that he doesn’t ask to be healed or for a cure, but that he be cleansed.

In one way, this man was right. Oh, we don’t know if he was being punished for a specific sin. We can’t know that unless God reveals it to us. But what we do know is that leprosy is caused by sin. And how terrible must sin be in the eyes of God if he permits such diseases as leprosy to attack mankind! The leper knew he was in trouble. One can only imagine what was going through his mind. Perhaps the heavy weight of guilt was pressing him hard as he felt he was being punished. No doubt fear had gripped him since he knew the normal fate of a leper. Possibly his mind was racing as he thought, “Why would Jesus want to help a disgusting person like me; will he listen to me; what do I have to offer him; I don’t deserve anything good.” The leper knew that Jesus had the power to cleanse, but what he didn’t know was whether Jesus was willing to do so.

It was that trouble that drove him to his knees begging, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” With this confession he admits his unworthiness, humbly recognizes that he has no claim or right to any gift, and testifies that Jesus is the almighty Son of God. What happens next is the glory of Jesus is revealed. Reaching out and touching the man he said, “I am willing…Be clean! Immediately the leprosy left him.” With his almighty Word he miraculously cleanses this man from his leprosy. He doesn’t scold him for coming so close to him with this infectious disease. He doesn’t rebuke him for failing to call out “Unclean, Unclean!” Instead, he demonstrates his compassion by actually touching this man with leprosy, something people were not supposed to do. He emphasizes his power over disease, and with his power over disease he emphasizes his power over sin. Look at the mighty deeds of our compassionate Savior.

If only Jesus could reach out and touch us when we feel that God couldn’t possibly want us! If only he would appear suddenly in our midst and take us into his arms and say, “I know all that you have done and all that you have said. But I love you.” If that would happen, then, we say, then…we would know for certain that Jesus is willing to cleanse us of our sins as he cleansed this man of his leprosy. But that’s not going to happen, is it!?!

Or is it? Doesn’t Jesus reach out his hand to us in our worship? Doesn’t he invite us to come to baptism and remind us to remember our baptism so we know that our sins have been washed away? Doesn’t he bring us as honored guests to his table where he spreads out the feast of his own body and blood in the Lord’s Supper? He makes it clear to us. Yes, I am willing! But if our conscience screams – no! It can’t be true. I’m too foul for Jesus to want me! Then remember the words of our text this morning. Jesus touches the untouchable. You see, that is why this section of Scripture is so special. These mighty deeds of compassion by our Savior still mean something today. They are evidence of who he is and what he has done and encourage us to put our faith in him.

We still have our leprosy today, don’t we; in those diseases that carry with it the stigma of sin. Oh, I’m not talking about skin diseases or sickness and disease in general, but about things like AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, or the diseases following the abuse of alcohol. How terrible sin must be in the eyes of God that he permits such diseases as these to attack mankind. And while it is true that no one here may be infected with any of these diseases, they still serve to remind us of just how serious sin is. They remind us that we can’t, not even for a single moment, even pretend that any sin is excusable in God’s sight or not that serious in God’s sight. We can not dismiss sin! We can not make-believe that it is no big deal! We can not confess one thing and then turn around and live a completely different way! God will not be mocked! He will not let the guilty go unpunished!

You see, that is the function of God’s law. When he comes to us in the commandments and tells us “You shall not,” he means you shall not. When he comes to us in the law and tells us that we earn eternal death when we do what we should not do, or fail to do what we should do, he is stressing the serious nature of sin. Passages like “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out” (Deuteronomy 27:26), and “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4) underscore just how terrible sin is. They are meant to keep us from believing Satan’s lie that it is ok to dismiss sin as something not too serious. But there is another lie that Satan comes to us with as well; one that is just as serious and just as deadly. You see, if Satan realizes that we are not going to take sin lightly, that we won’t just brush it off by saying, “Everyone’s doing it,” then he comes trying to plant the seed of despair. “You are so bad God can’t possibly want you. You think God is actually going to accept that sorrow over sin. Why even bother, you know you’ll probably do it again. Aren’t you ashamed by the way you’ve been acting, aren’t you embarrassed, do you really think God wants someone like you.” When these attacks come, and I know they do because I’ve felt that way too, turn to sections of Scripture like the one before us this morning. “I am willing,” Jesus said. “Be clean!” Jesus touches the untouchable.

You see, our sin is ugly. It makes us unclean. Yet even that truth didn’t stop our gracious Savior from stepping into our world to be our substitute. He did not hesitate for even a second to follow through on God’s plan of salvation which required him dying in the place of all sinners. He didn’t waver for a moment in the face of suffering our hell when his Father forsook him on that tree. There was never a question on his part as to whether or not he would be willing to be the perfect Lamb of God who would take away our sin. As our Savior, he paid for our sins, once for all. And not just some of them, not just the less offensive ones, not just the ones that on the outside don’t look to bad, he paid for every single last one of them. He declared it from the cross, “It is finished?” He broadcast it to the world with his empty tomb. It was stamped, signed and sealed when he was exalted to the right hand of God. Remember the words we sing just before we receive the Lord’s Supper. “O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.” Three times we remind ourselves, “He took away the sin of the world.” You are part of the world. He took your sin away. His mercy extends to you. Savor the truth these words speak to your soul, “Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed his blood for ME.”

So, here we are again today, witnessing, talking, meditating on another of Jesus’ miracles. Rejoice that God has given you that privilege! Don’t get bored with these Sunday sermon texts that touch similar topics week after week! They are full of food for your faith. Please don’t ask me to apologize for saying similar things week after week, because here, in these sections of God’s Word which focus on Jesus’ miracles, we are repeatedly given evidence that Jesus is who he says he is and has done exactly what he said he would do. He reveals that he is true God…and we put our faith in him. After all, God does not lie - these mighty deeds of our compassionate Savior prove it. Amen.