When Jesus passed by. Have you ever wondered just what you would have done had Jesus passed by.
Jesus passed by Samaria and Galilee and entered a village and ten men's lives were changed. They stood afar off as he came into the village. Perhaps someone had run on ahead to say that the master was coming. Perhaps they'd just simply come to see what he looked like or to hear him speak or maybe they'd heard about the miracles he'd done. Ten men coming together on this particular day, at this particular hour, for such a time as this. Ostracized by society, living on the outskirts of town, their faces marred and disfigured by the tumours. These ten men had leprosy. They knew only God could heal such a disease as the one they had.
Had they perhaps heard how Namaan of old was healed of leprosy by the prophet Elisha. You can read the account in 2 kings 5. There were very strict levitical laws surrounding leprosy.
Lev 13:46 says And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.
These men would have known that they couldn't get too close, there would be the fear that the disease would be passed on to others, so from afar they watched.
Ten men living in conditions that would not be good, ten men who, when Jesus passed by would never be the same again. Ten men who literally cried out to God on that road, "Jesus, master, have mercy upon us". Jesus did have mercy he simply looked at them and said, go and show yourself to the priests and as they went they were cleansed.
The fear, the hurts, the tumours gone, they surely would have gone leaping and praising God at such a miracle. But we don't hear anymore about them, did they go to the priest, the priest would have been the one who declared them clean and free of the disease. Even though Jesus had done the healing he didn't prevent the work of the priest being done.
Nine of these men just went on their way, changed completely because Jesus passed by but the tenth,a Samaritan, he came back to give thanks and to praise God. Now normally the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans but it didn't matter to Jesus. As the man fell at Jesus feet Jesus said "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger."
And he said unto him, "Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole".
You know friends Jesus didn't even have to touch these ten men, he only had to speak the words and today we still have those very words of Jesus that can be spoken to every disease there is .. We have his word in the bible .. Words that have been spoken to many people throughout the ages .. Go your way, your faith has made you whole. The same words were spoken to the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5
Here was someone else ostracised by those in the community because of her uncleanness, makes you wonder how she coped all those years. She'd been put outside of the camp, In her need to go and fetch water from the well for her daily needs, did her friends and family cross to the other side of the road to avoid touching her.
But now today, she heard and saw the crowd,
Here was the master physician himself, hadn't she heard how he'd healed the sick. Just earlier in the day he had cast out demons from the mad man and now he was on his way to heal the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, if only she dared, if only she dared follow and touch him, she had been treated as unclean these 12 years, oh to be free from this infirmity, this plague that had been with her all these years, oh to be like her friends and the other women in her family, to be able to feel clean again, Did she think in those moments if I can just get near, just touch the hem of his garment. She did just that as Jesus passed by, she drew closer until she could reach out and touch the hem of his garment and immediately the issue of blood stopped.
When Jesus turned and spoke to her he didn't condemn her, didn't tell her she was unclean, didn't move to avoid her, he simply said 'daughter' your faith has made you well, go in peace and be whole from your plague.
And as As Jesus went throughout galilee preaching ...
And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Here again another man cast out from society, from friends, family life having to live a life of misery having to walk around shouting unclean unclean if anyone was to cross his path. Not only the pain of having a disease, but the pain of knowing you might not see your family again, living in conditions that not even the dogs would like. And now here he was falling to his knees in front of Jesus asking the master to heal him, to make him clean.
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
We always tell someone
Jesus passed by and this mans life was changed, no longer an outcast by society, no longer having to hide away. He'd be able to spend time with his family tomorrow, be able to walk the road and not shout unclean. Perhaps just shout hello to the people he met.
Whenever Jesus passed by men and women's lives were changed, the woman at the well living in sin, the young boy whose loaves and fishes fed five thousand, the woman taken in adultery about to be stoned. These people were all changed in some way when Jesus passed by.
Some commentaries say that leprosy is a metaphor for one of the greatest diseases of all time ... That of sin ... If that's the case then we were all lepers at one time or another.
Leprosy is truly an awful disease, it's an infection that damages the nerve endings and so in time the leper feels no pain, areas on his hands and feet become numb and because of this if he hurts his foot or hand he wouldn't really know it hurt and the wound would become infected so badly that it may have to be amputated
and just as the leper cried out for God to have mercy so too have we cried out for the very same thing. Mercy from a saviour who cleansed us and healed us from the ugliness of sin.
Jesus passed by and turned the ugliness of our life into something beautiful, we were cleansed, made whole and like the one leper who went back we too fall at the Saviour's feet, giving glory to God for the changes in our life.
When I think of the scars of leprosy, how gross a disease it is, I am reminded of my life before Jesus passed by.
My sin must have been as ugly as that disease, if not uglier and yet Jesus reached out as he passed by and he touched me.
Most of us can say that we were changed and our lives were never the same when Jesus passed by. Do you know that moment in my life when I was born again is something I'll never forget. I was clean, really clean, every horrible thing I'd ever done had been washed away, every lie I'd told, every swear word I'd uttered every single thing was gone and I was clean and made whole. The leper and the woman with the issue of blood had been told your faith has made you well. Is that what had made me whole and clean, my faith. Well it certainly wasn't faith in anything I could do and I don't think I really had that much faith then either I just knew Jesus was who he said he was and I knew he'd forgiven me.
I think he wants to remind us of who we were and wants us to know who we are and who we can be in him. He came to save that which was lost. We were lost and he found us.
He's here just waiting to touch lives once again, lives that have been marred by sin, lives that have been broken by harsh words that have hurt and scarred, lives that seem empty and unused or old and unneeded, lives that are in pain from disease, illness, addiction, lives saddened by loss, lives that are just hurting.
Today Jesus can and does still pass by, but he doesn't just pass by and do nothing, He stops and does everything. He stops and touches and changes so many lives, whatever the need.
If you have a need don't miss out on a touch from The Saviour.
