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."
(Mark 1:40-41)
Unclean! According to the Mosaic Law, that is what a leper was required to shout when near other people because leprosy was terrifying in its contagious and speedy progression.
Jesus could have healed this leper with a word. He could have commanded the man to bathe in a stream. He could have allowed the leper to grab His robe. But Jesus touched him.
What did that touch mean to this outcast? He must have been desperate for physical contact with other people - for proof that though the disease had stolen his health, it had not stolen his humanity.
Jesus then instructed him to show himself to a priest, to comply with the Mosaic Law. Instead, the man proclaimed his healing to all who would listen. Would the local priests have become believers if this man had obeyed Jesus and followed the Law? We don't know.
What we do know is that the Law could only confirm his physical healing. It could not bring healing - physical or spiritual. For that, the man needed the touch of the Master's hand…and so do we.
INSIGHT
WHERE DO YOU NEED THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER'S HAND IN YOUR LIFE? SUBMIT TO JESUS' TOUCH AND EXPERIENCE SPIRITUAL HEALING AND RESTORATION.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Isaiah 57-58
Psalm 99
Acts 22
Mark 1:40-45
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
A Man With Leprosy
40 A man with leprosy[a] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
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.
Footnotes:
a. Mark 1:40 The Greek word was used for various diseases affecting the skin—not necessarily leprosy.
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