WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.520 We're in a series titled He is Good because Mark titles his gospel that way. 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:17.519 He is trying to make the claim and proclaim to Jewish people and Gentile people, primarily in Rome, that Jesus is good because they wanted to take the gospel to the ends of the world, and the ends of the world to them was Rome. 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:22.480 And so he is writing to say Jesus is not only good in Jerusalem, he is good in Rome too. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:30.320 And so the teaching text for today comes from Mark 1, verses 40 through 45. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.159 And this is what Mark writes. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:39.600 A man with leprosy came to him, Jesus, and begged him on his knees If you will, you can make me clean. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:41.600 And Jesus was indignant. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:43.759 He reached out his hand and touched the man. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:44.560 I will. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:46.320 He said, Be clean. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:49.600 And immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.240 And Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.719 See that you don't tell anyone this. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:02.240 But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:12.400 Instead, he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news, and as a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:15.200 Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:16.400 Let's say this together. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:29.200 This newspaper editor, Arthur Brisbane, coined the phrase that you've probably heard, a picture is worth a thousand words. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:41.359 And I really like that idea because I do think that a picture of someone or a situation can explain quite a bit about things that are going on that maybe behind the scenes you don't see. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:46.799 So for instance, uh this is a picture of Teddy when he was three. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:48.959 So sweet, looks so sweet. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:54.480 What's actually happening here is bribery, not sweetness as much. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.239 He still looks sweet though. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:02.239 But he knows that I all I want to do with my whole life is for him to hug me and not meet and not leave. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.159 Like I just hug me, do that thing. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:08.319 But if you look very closely, there's two pieces of candy in his hands that have wrappers on them. 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:13.039 And he's like, I understand that you want a hug, but uh I'll give you a hug if you open. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:14.479 He's not trying to hug me. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:18.479 He is saying, if you open these, you can have the hug. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.680 This is just straight up bribery, and honestly, it's the story of my life. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:25.120 I want him to hug me, and he really just wants candy. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.439 Um, that's pretty much how it goes. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:48.960 But I say all that because I genuinely think that this text that we just read offers a picture of Jesus that reveals so much about who he is, and to dig into the text and the picture of what's happening in this particular story really digs down into what he wants to do and what he wants to do for us, what he has come to do. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:50.879 So all of these things take shape. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:58.159 And to me, it's the best picture of Jesus in the gospels, other than the crucifixion itself, which is more outright and forthright about what he's come to do. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:01.919 But this particular picture to me shares so much about what he's like. 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:08.800 So, what I want to do today is look at three things that Jesus does in this picture of him, of this story of him. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:12.479 Um, and then here's what he does, and here's what that teaches us. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:13.599 And so that's what I want to do. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:15.919 Three things he does that teaches us something. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:19.840 The first is we see that Jesus welcomes sinners. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.039 The first thing he does is he welcomes the sinner. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:29.199 So in verse 40, it says, a man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:31.520 Which sounds like this is great. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:35.039 A lot of people do this, but this man was not supposed to do this. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.159 He wasn't somebody breaking the law of Moses by doing this. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:42.800 According to the law of Moses in Leviticus 13, this is what a leper is supposed to do. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:57.599 The leper who has the disease, maybe we don't have this quote, the leper who has the disease shall wear uh shall wear torn clothes, let their hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, unclean, unclean. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:06.960 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease, and is as long as he is unclean, he shall dwell outside alone in a habitation without a camp. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:18.879 And so for this man to step forward into this space and actually run up to Jesus and not just get a little close, to be, we know he's close enough for touching distance because Jesus is that is able to touch him. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:24.160 This man is sinning against the law of Moses by coming to Jesus in this particular way. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:25.920 Now that's just what he did. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:30.000 What people were supposed to do to stay away from this man was pretty significant. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:32.000 You can go to that quote that you brought up. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.240 This is what people were supposed to do if they saw a leper. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:39.120 According to the Jewish law and customs, one had to keep six feet from a leper, just outside of touching distance. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:43.279 If the wind blew towards a person from a leper, you had to keep 150 feet away. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:47.839 The only thing more defiling than contact with a leper was contact with a dead body. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:54.959 And then commentator David McKenna says that people avoided not only contact with the body of a leper, but also the shadow of lepers. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:00.240 And so if the shadow of a leper was coming in their way, they would avoid contact even with the shadow. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:04.399 And so it wasn't, I mean, this is a unique situation that's happening here. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:14.160 And then to add on to it, Jesus is a holy man, he's a rabbi, and David Goodzik goes on to talk about how rabbis treated lepers, and it was pretty intense the way that they treated them. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.120 This is what he says. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:22.160 Rabbis especially despised lepers, saw them as those under special judgment of God, not just regular judgment of God. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:27.360 You have a unique judgment of God placed on your life, deserving no pity, no mercy. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.160 Back then, they thought two things about a leper. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:35.519 You are the walking dead, and you deserve this because this is a punishment of God against you. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.639 Jewish custom said that you should not even greet a leper. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:46.800 One rabbi bragged that he would not even buy food on a street where he saw a leper, and another boasted that he threw rocks at lepers to keep them far from him. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:54.319 And what's so beautiful about what Jesus does is he does none of it, he's a rabbi, and he does none of those things because Jesus welcomes sinners. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.680 He lets them get close enough to touch him, he listens to him. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:07.439 He's filled with, it says that he's indignant, what what it's what Mark calls this Greek term splunknesomai, which is like this angry compassion. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:11.920 And so it's like he's indignant and mad, but he's filled with compassion at the same time. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:18.959 So Matthew and Luke, when they're telling this story, they would say that Jesus was filled with compassion to not confuse anybody. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.600 He's filled with compassion towards this leper. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.480 But Mark wants everybody to know, but he's also angry. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:30.079 There's something in him that's angry, and he's angry at what this disease has ripped from his life and done to his life. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:33.759 And so he's filled with anger and compassion towards this man. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:35.279 And then he's willing to help him. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:38.399 He even reaches out and touches the man, which we know he doesn't have to do. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:42.560 He heals lepers in other spaces where he just speaks the word and they're healed. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:52.399 And yet he heals this man by touching him, and he probably hasn't been touched in years, and so this show of compassion to feel a human touch again in years, like he's just constantly nice to him. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:07:01.600 And he does this, even though this man is breaking, literally right now, he is sinning and breaking the Mosaic law and should be condemned and that kind of thing for doing all these wrong things. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:07.199 Jesus doesn't do that, he welcomes him because Jesus welcomes sinners into his life. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:16.079 So, for us, this teaches us so many things, or at least it should teach us a lot of things about Jesus, that Jesus welcomes sinners. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:23.279 One, this should inform how we come to Jesus and how we expect him to treat us. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:31.199 I think so many times we struggle with this idea of like, how can I, how do I come to Jesus so that I'm acceptable to him, so that he accepts me? 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:35.680 And the testimony of this man is just come exactly as you are right now. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.800 Like, whatever that's like, whatever you're dealing with, whatever you're walking through, just come to Jesus exactly as you are. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:44.240 This man comes to Jesus sinning and breaking the Mosaic Law. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:45.279 That's how he could come to. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:46.319 How do I get close to him? 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.360 The only way I can get close to him is if I sin and break the law. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:50.079 Come on. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:52.160 Like that's how he welcomes you. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.759 He doesn't really believe that Jesus is good and willing to heal. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.720 He knows he's powerful enough, but he's like, I don't know if he'll do it. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:00.240 He comes with that belief. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:02.240 It's like this incomplete faith. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:07.680 And we could think, well, like maybe Jesus heals this man because he'll do good later. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:13.120 Like he'll he's not obedient right now, he's sinning right now, but then if I heal him and I'm nice to him, then he'll be obedient. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:15.439 But we know that that's not true because Jesus says, hey, don't tell anybody. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.360 And he's like, I'm gonna tell everyone. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:20.959 Like he's just completely disobedient to everything that Jesus says. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:24.160 So it's not like you're welcome because of what you will do. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.040 Like, no, you're welcome because Jesus welcomes sinners. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:29.600 Jesus welcomes him exactly as he is. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:39.039 And he doesn't just welcome him, he rewards him, he gives him what he wants, even though he clearly doesn't deserve it, even though he's clearly not being obedient, even though he won't be obedient later. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.279 And I think for us, we're like, Jesus will answer my prayer if I deserve it. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.840 He'll he'll he'll hear my prayer when I'm good. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.799 He'll he'll give me the thing that I want when I'm obedient. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.840 It's like that's not, none of that is here. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:09:01.440 I think we so often think that our performance is the thing that Jesus is going to respond to, but his kindness isn't based on our performance, which is good because we're not that great. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.799 Like his kindness is something based on him and not on us. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:11.519 He wants to be kind to you because that's who he is, he wants to be near to you because that's who he is, and so he welcomes this man. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:13.039 We just get to come to him. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.200 We just we just get to be near to him. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:25.360 We live in a religious culture, uh, and I specifically say that not secular culture, I'll get to that in a second. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:32.879 We live in a religious culture that basically tells us a good Christian, if you're gonna be a good Christian, you need to correct every sinner you see. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:35.919 Like call it out, correct everybody, name it. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:49.200 We're almost told to act like sin police, just like sniffing for sin through the words and the things that people do and the things, what they post on their social media, let me sniff for some sin, tell them, like, hey, I love you in Jesus' name, but you're honestly you're really a bad person. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:57.279 That's the and it it's it's almost like God will like we're failing him if we don't, if we just love somebody but don't call out their sin. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.799 I can't just be kind to you and not say that I disagree with your entire lifestyle. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:03.360 Like, but yet Jesus doesn't do any of that. 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:08.320 And so many people are like, well, if I loved them, I would be compromising on the truth. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:12.320 The only way to love them is to compromise the truth and call something okay that's really sin. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.120 But Jesus doesn't compromise on truth to love this man. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.759 He's clearly saying, go and follow the Mosaic law. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:19.679 He just loves him, he's not worried about that. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:28.960 And so we don't have to fear this idea that, like, well, if I love someone who sins differently than me, then I'm compromising the truth, or in order to love them, I have to compromise the truth. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:29.759 No, you don't. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.200 Because Jesus clearly doesn't. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:46.000 And I think for us, because we're told, I was talking to Jane Hahn the other day, and she was saying uh just about her experience with this, that she was telling somebody that she was worried about the next school she was going to go to, and the Christian was like, Well, you know what worry is? 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:46.639 Sin. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:48.320 And it was like, great. 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:52.960 I don't feel like you listened exactly to my to what I was, but that's fine. 00:10:53.200 --> 00:11:00.000 And I'm like, dude, that's exactly what people, that's how we were told, like, and like that is supposed, like, celebrated. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:01.600 Good for you for calling out sin. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:04.639 It's like, but why doesn't Jesus do this with this man? 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:08.799 Why isn't he looking at him and going, like, hey, you've broken three laws since you got here, bro? 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:10.399 Like, he doesn't do any of that. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:12.399 He's just thrilled that he's come. 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:14.240 I'm so glad you're here. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:19.440 And I think we constantly think that Jesus is going to police our sin, but he didn't come to police our sin. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:21.360 He came to save us from our sin. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.679 He's not a constant corrector in our lives. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:28.720 He doesn't correct this man and police this man's sin because that's not what he needs right now. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.240 He doesn't need to be corrected. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.759 He needs some grace and some compassion and mercy and healing. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:35.919 He just doesn't need correction. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:41.840 His life is being torn away from him, and what Jesus goes is like the most important thing isn't to tell you, you know, you're a sinner, right? 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:42.720 Like, no. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:43.919 You need help. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.279 Let me help you. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:50.799 And so I don't know what your experience is with Jesus, but no one will ever treat you more graciously. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.200 No one will ever be more kind to you than Jesus does. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:03.519 And so if you've been hurt by the church and been in experiences where the church has been cruel to you, Jesus is no one will ever treat you more graciously or kindly than he does. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:11.919 If you think that, like, well, no one really understands me inside the church, only people who agree with my lifestyle are the people that will love me the best, that's a lie. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.159 Jesus is the only person who will love you the most graciously and the most lovingly. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.399 He is the only one, and he is the one who will show you the most grace and the most love. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:25.200 Even those who agree with your sin, he won't, he will love you even more than they do. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:38.240 People say that our culture is able to love people better than Jesus does because they agree and they say that like the things that you do that the church says is wrong, we think those things are okay. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:40.720 But Jesus is the only one that welcomes sinners. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:42.720 Our culture doesn't welcome sinners. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.679 They just take what sin is and they don't call it sin. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.600 And so they're never it's it's tricky, but they never welcome sinners. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:52.159 They just tell you your sin is fine and it's righteousness. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:57.200 Jesus is the only one that sees what you're doing still calls it sin, that goes, but you're welcome here. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:07.840 Our culture, if you sin against our culture, if you break our cultural commands, they will not be like, it's fine, it's okay. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:09.519 What they do is they cancel you. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:12.159 That's how our culture responds to cultural sinners. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:17.519 Break a cultural commandment that goes public somewhere or viral anywhere, you're canceled, you're not welcomed there. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.399 There's no grace and forgiveness welcoming you back to the fold. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:21.360 You're canceled. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:25.039 We want to take your life, your future, your job, we want to take it all from you. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.080 That's how our culture treats sinners. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.639 Jesus is the only one that welcomes sinners. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.840 Our culture cancels them, Jesus welcomes them. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:39.919 We live in a culture that says to be truly loving, you can't disagree with anything that I believe is right. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:44.720 You can't disagree with my values, you can't disagree with my lifestyle, you can't disagree with my choices. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.039 If you're gonna love me, you've got to agree with all of me. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:56.240 And what they don't realize is that the greatest actual love is a love that's shared between people who disagree and yet choose one another consistently. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:02.960 The greatest love is a love that chooses, like we disagree, but I'm gonna choose to continue to act lovingly towards you even though we disagree. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.559 That's the greatest love. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:09.440 Jesus didn't go to the cross and lay down his life because he agreed with my sin. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:11.919 I love you so much, I agree with your sin, I'm gonna go to the cross. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:12.559 No. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:16.080 He went to the cross because he vehemently disagreed with my sin. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:21.759 Vehemently disagreeing with me led him to go, I'm going to lay my life down for you. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:27.120 It is disagreement with me that led him to love me with his life, not agreement. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:30.799 And I think in our culture, it's like, well, you can't you can't love me unless you agree with me. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:31.759 That's wrong. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:39.360 Because the cross and my whole faith is based on someone lovingly disagreeing with me and choosing to give his life for my sake to draw me near. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:43.919 And this is why Mark is proclaiming that Jesus is good, because he welcomes sinners. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.000 And no one else really does that. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:47.679 Jesus welcomes sinners. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:52.559 It doesn't matter what you've done, anybody who wants him can draw near because he welcomes sinners. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:54.320 That's the first thing that we see. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:15:00.720 Second thing that Jesus does is that Jesus removes the effects of leprosy from this man's life. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.840 And this means something to us, and I'll get to it in just a second. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:07.200 But Jesus removes the effects of leprosy from this man's life. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:12.399 He says in verse 41 and 42, be clean, and immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:17.120 And Guzick again talks about what leprosy does to the body. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:21.039 Um I'm gonna show some images here in just a second, but not right now. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:26.639 Um but he says this he says, Leprosy begins as a small red spot on the skin. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:32.240 Before too long, the spots get bigger and turn to white with a shiny and scaly appearance. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:38.080 The spots soon spread over the body and hair begins to fall out, first from the head, then from the eyebrows. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:42.879 As things get worse, fingernails and toenails become loose, they start to rot and eventually fall off. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:46.720 Then the joints of fingers and toes begin to rot and fall off piece by piece. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:51.039 Gums begin to shrink, and they can't hold their teeth anymore, so each tooth is lost. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:59.840 Leprosy keeps eating away at the face until the nose, the palate, and the eyes rot, and the leper wastes away until he or she dies. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.000 Don't go to the images just yet. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:03.840 Excuse me. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:06.960 But basically, what he's saying is like it just takes over. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:13.679 And there are images of what advanced leprosy looks like because it does begin this way, then it moves on to advanced leprosy. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.240 So before we get, I have two images, we're gonna keep them up for like five seconds. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.480 If you don't like like seeing gross things, I would just encourage you to look at your Bible or like stare at your feet. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:24.320 Um, but it's going to be up five seconds. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.759 But I just want to show you what advanced leprosy looks like because I think it helps us in this text. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.200 So go to this next slide here. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:40.320 So you see the hands to the left eats away at them, and then that's what Guzica is talking about what it does to the face, it kind of just eats it all the way in, and it does that ultimately until you die. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:41.519 Okay, move from the slide. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:42.320 Thank you. 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:50.960 The reason I thought that was important because in Luke 5, when he when Luke tells this story, and Luke's a doctor and a lawyer, when he tells a story, he says the man is filled with leprosy. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:56.159 And so the idea is the man doesn't just have the starting point of leprosy with some red spots. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.759 If you watch the chosen, which I love, I was just talking to Catherine about, I love the chosen. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:05.279 Um, but in that particular retelling of it, he has just some red dots on him with a little bit of skin sores. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:07.599 But Luke says, no, no, he's filled with leprosy. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:09.759 He is in the advanced stages of leprosy. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:14.799 What his leprosy looks like is more like what those pictures look like than just like red splotches on his body. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:20.720 And this is important for us to understand because when Jesus cleanses this man, we can think, well, he just removed the illness. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:23.359 Like I was coughing and now I'm not coughing. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:27.680 I was, I had some splotches on me and now I don't have splotches on me, but it's not that. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:36.480 When he cleanses this man, he not only removes the illness, but he removes all of the effects that leprosy has had on his body. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:41.279 And so when he restores him, he's restoring what leprosy has stolen from him. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:52.799 And so it's very likely that when he cleansed him and healed him, his fingers began to grow back, and his face began to reform, and his hair started growing again, and his eyebrows were reformed, and his teeth started coming in again. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.039 It's not just, oh wow, look at the leprosy. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:18:02.480 This is why many rabbis believe that uh curing a leper was second only to raising someone from the dead. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:04.559 Turns out Jesus can do both those things. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:08.079 Uh, but that's why it was like it's so impossible because it's so gross. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:10.559 There's no way anybody could be reformed out of that. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:17.759 And so what happens here as a man filled with leprosy isn't just the leprosy is gone and now you'll look like this forever, but you don't have leprosy anymore. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:18.640 It's not that. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.200 It is your whole body looks different now. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:26.559 And now you need to go show yourself to the priest and bring the sacrifice of a leper because they'll have no idea it was you. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:30.480 And if you don't, they'll have no idea that you were the same person covered in that disease. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:31.759 You look completely different. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:36.400 And so bring it as a testimony to them so that they know, oh, you were that leper guy. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:42.960 And then later in Mark 14, it says that Jesus is at uh Simon the leper's house, and many people think this is who that is. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:48.480 Like they just keep calling him the leper because it's like it was so it they wanted to remember his story. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:58.240 You don't look like the leper anymore, but we need to remember that like Jesus has healed this man, and so there's all this stuff going in here where Jesus is not just removing the disease from this man's life, he's restoring the man's body. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:01.039 Now, that was a lot of what happens with lepers. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:17.279 But the reason it's important for us, because we don't deal with leprosy, but the reason this is important for us is because people at this time, during this, while this is written, they believed and viewed leprosy's effects on the body the same as sin's effects on the life. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:21.359 And so they they looked at leprosy and they saw sin, okay? 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:24.079 And so leprosy for the people, go to the next slide here. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.240 Leprosy for the people at this time was a picture of what sin does to our lives and to a person's life. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:37.359 So, just as leprosy eats away at your body and steals your life, so sin eats away at our lives and steals from us. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:44.960 Just as leprosy numbs you, where you unintentionally harm yourself, sin causes unintentional destruction that we never would have chosen. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:50.400 Just as leprosy leads to death if you're not cleansed, so sin leads to death if you're not cleansed. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:54.640 And so to them, they saw these two things, they connected them so strongly. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:20:02.000 And so the Mosaic law in commanding people to stay away and not touch lepers, it wasn't because it was particularly contagious by touching it. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:02.960 And we know that now. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:14.160 There's a study on Hansen's disease, which is leprosy, but it says this: it says, casual contact, such as shaking hands and sitting next to someone with leprosy, does not lead to transmission. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:21.119 And 95% of people who are exposed to leprosy, primarily through coughing on them, uh, did not develop leprosy. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:24.400 And so it wasn't based on don't touch them because you might get it. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.519 It is don't touch a leper because you're not supposed to touch sin. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:31.119 You're supposed to stay away from lepers the way that you're supposed to stay away from sin. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.480 It was this thing that was connected for them so that they could see it. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:39.279 A leper is considered unclean and basically a dead person because that's what sin does. 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.079 It makes you unclean and it ultimately leads to death. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.720 And so Mark is being creative. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.920 This is the only time Jesus heals a leper in Mark's gospel. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.960 But he's being creative here because he knows this about the people. 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:59.200 And he's not just showing that Jesus heals a leper, he's trying to testify to what Jesus has come to do consistently for everyone about our sin. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:06.799 He doesn't just want to cleanse us from the effects of leprosy, he wants to cleanse us from the effects that sin has had in our lives. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:21.359 And so, in the same way that Jesus cleanses and restores to this man what leprosy has stolen from him, restores what's been stolen from him, what Mark is saying is Jesus also wants to cleanse us and restore to us the things that sin has stolen from us. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:23.599 He doesn't just want to forgive our sin. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.200 He wants to restore the things. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:31.599 If sin has ravaged your life and snagged relationships from you or done something from you, he doesn't just want to be like, I forgive you of those sins. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.400 I want to restore what sin has stolen from you. 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:41.039 So Randy and I experienced this in our relationship early on, just when we were dating. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:44.000 And I, you know, many of you maybe know this story. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:50.640 Um and many of you have heard like the sweet parts of like the beginning of our relationship and how I wrote our letter every day because I'm awesome. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:59.440 But about two years into our relationship, we basically like we were just dating, but we we just basically fell in love with two different people. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.039 And it was our own sin. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:02.240 We were lying to one another. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:11.039 We were spending more time with this person and this person and choosing to not be, not seek to be truthful in some of the things that we were doing. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:15.839 And two years in, basically, just our sin had destroyed our relationship. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:17.759 The love that we once felt was gone. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:20.319 The laughter and joy, we didn't have that anymore. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:28.799 And many of you know we went to a counseling session and was basically like, this is it, like two years, we've had a lot of fun, but we're basically done here. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:34.240 And at the end of it, like we came out of there and we felt like maybe we could work on this. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:39.839 But it was really interesting because our own sin had created the division in our relationship. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.519 Like our own sin had stolen the love that we once shared. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:51.839 Our own sin had made us forget the, had made me forget the longing that I had, that all I've ever wanted in my life to this point was to marry her. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.880 My own sin had taken that from me and stolen that desire for her, and I did not desire her at all. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:01.279 And she didn't desire me, and somehow we're still somewhat trying to be together. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:07.440 And in that counseling space, Jesus obviously forgave our sin. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:09.839 Forgive your lies, I forgive those things. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:22.319 But in that counseling space, when we came to him and brought the broken, shattered thing of our relationship, what Jesus began to do is not just forgive my sin, but he began restoring the things that sin had stolen from me. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:31.680 And then over time, in our relationship, month after month, week after week, of going to counseling and doing those things, what Jesus was giving us back is what sin had stolen. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:45.519 And like all of a sudden the love that we once had came back and we loved each other again and we wanted to be around each other and we desired one another, the joy and the laughter and the things it's like, oh yeah, I forgot that you're awesome, talking about her, and then obviously her to me. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:50.319 Like we just forgot, like sin had stolen that stuff. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.680 And then over time, Jesus, again, not just, oh, you're forgiven. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:57.680 Like forgiveness is great and I want it, but like I need the thing restored back to me. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:23:59.359 He's like, no, I got that too. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.359 I came to do that too. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:09.039 And so for us, he doesn't just want to forgive you, he actually wants to cleanse your life of what sin has stolen from you. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:19.440 So if sin has stolen the love from your marriage, that effect of sin, he doesn't just want to forgive the sin, he wants to restore the love that you used to have. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.119 He actually wants to bring that back, and he can bring that back. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.680 That's what him healing the leper is showing us. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:29.200 It's not just your sins are forgiven, it's like, great, but my life's in shatters. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:31.599 He's like, no, no, no, I want to repair that too. 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:45.279 If sin has stolen the sweetness of your the relationship that you once had with your kids when they were two and three and four and pure and wonderful and it was great, and you used to have a space where you could chat with them and now you can't even, I don't even know how to talk with them anymore. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.640 If sin has stolen that, he wants to restore that back to you. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:54.720 Where the sin of pride has ruined your relationships, he doesn't just want to forgive you of your pride. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:58.079 He wants to restore what pride has stolen from you. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:02.480 If sin has stolen your peace, he wants to bring back your peace. 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:08.480 If sin has trapped you in addiction, Jesus wants to remove that effect of sin from your life and set you free. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:17.519 Where envy, envy of others and what others have has made you hate your life and stolen the joy and the contentment that you used to have about the life that you had. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:22.240 And there was a space where all you ever needed was a little bit more money just to go to McDonald's and enjoy that. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:28.079 And it doesn't matter who I'm with or what I'm doing, like I just love this life, and now envy has just riddled you with stuff. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:32.000 Like, I know I don't want anything that I have, nothing is good enough. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:34.400 I want what they have, where sin has stolen that from you. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:42.880 He doesn't just want to forgive you from for envy, he wants to restore the feelings and the love and the contentment that you used to have. 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:46.960 Where greed has changed you to your money, he wants to give back your freedom. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:48.559 That's what he does. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:55.599 And as I was writing this particular point, for me, I was like, I've experienced this in my own life. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:26:01.519 I experienced this with Rainey, and I've watched him piece back a relationship that I thought was dead. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:08.640 And then going to New York was very similar. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:10.799 I went to New York in my pride. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:17.279 I wanted to say I worked in New York, and I lost everything in doing that. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:24.799 I came home, no job, living with my in-laws, which was sweet, no cars, we had sold everything whole life. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.359 And we had a baby on the way, no health insurance. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:38.160 Like all because I made this sinful, arrogant, ego decision to not be thankful for what I had and to chase something more because I needed more accolades. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:43.119 And Jesus forgave me in my sin. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:45.839 And my wife forgave me. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:48.240 But then Jesus restored. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:59.759 I just consistently just walked through my life, just restoring these things that I was like, I do not deserve this restoration. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:04.160 I don't deserve to have you put my hands back together. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:09.039 But that's what he does. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:10.720 This is what he's come to do. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:15.119 He says this to this man will you restore me? 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:17.920 I don't know if you will, and he says, I will. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:19.200 Him saying I will. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:20.720 Go to that next slide. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.119 Him saying I will right here. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:25.440 This is the same term for the will of God. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.400 What Jesus is saying is like, it is the will of God. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:34.480 It is the will of God to restore what sin has stolen from my people. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:39.200 It's the same root word, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:43.599 When Jesus is in the garden praying, Lord, I want your will to be done, not mine, he's referencing this word. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:51.680 And so when Jesus says, I will, he is choosing his words directly to say that my will in your and we wonder, what is God's will for my life? 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:55.839 His will for your life is to restore what sin has stolen from you. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.119 And he can do it, and that's it's and it's so impossible to believe. 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:03.200 And that's how I was writing, I was like, it's so impossible to believe, except I've experienced it. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:10.720 I've watched him walk through a life and go, I'm not only gonna forgive you, I'm gonna restore what sin has stolen from you because I hate it, I'm indignant towards it. 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:14.720 It is stolen from you life and joy and peace. 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.359 And so, yes, you are forgiven, but watch me. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.200 I restore what sin has stolen. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:21.440 And so he can restore all those things to you. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:23.680 And so, what has sin stolen from you? 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:30.079 And the idea is be like this man, whatever it takes, get to him and go, I it's stolen this from me. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:31.759 My sin has stolen this. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:35.759 And he I want your forgiveness, sure, but I need you to repair and rebuild. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:44.880 I don't know how you restore hands and feet and limbs and all that stuff, but I'm not sure how you're gonna repair the love that I used to feel and all these different things that I used to feel, but I need that too. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:45.920 This is what he does. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:47.200 Bring those things to Jesus. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:50.880 He not only forgives you, but he wants to restore what sin has stolen. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:52.960 That's the second thing that we see. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:29:01.440 Lastly, we see that Jesus is willing to help this man and willing to help, even if it costs him something. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:03.440 Willing to help, even if it costs him something. 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.079 Lots of people are willing to help if it doesn't cost them anything. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:09.440 But we see this in verse 43 through 45. 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:13.839 Jesus heals this man, and then he says this, he sends him away with a strong warning. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:19.519 See that you don't tell anyone, but go and offer the sacrifice of Moses, and then verse 45 it says, instead. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.799 He went out and began to talk freely, and then look how it affected Jesus. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:28.400 As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but stayed outside in lonely places. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:30.400 And Jesus knows this is coming. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:33.519 Like he knows that when he heals this man, he's not gonna be quiet. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:37.359 He knows that when he heals this man, it's gonna make his life and his ministry more difficult. 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:39.119 And yet he heals him anyways. 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:45.119 Jesus looks forward into the future of what this, if I heal this man, here's what's gonna happen to me. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.119 And it's not good, it's negative. 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:49.440 And he goes, but I'm still gonna heal you. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:52.720 Because Jesus is willing to help, even though it cost him something. 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:55.519 And the most direct way that we see this is on the cross. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:00.079 The cross displays that his love for us is greater than his concern for himself. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.480 And so we do this liturgy for communion. 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:03.440 He was pierced. 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:03.920 Why? 00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:05.359 For our transgression. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:08.079 And so he took a punishment that brought us peace. 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:09.359 It was our punishment. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:13.279 But the punishment that we deserved, he took it. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.680 And he helped us at his own detriment. 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:16.559 He helped us. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:20.960 He took the wounds that we deserved, and those wounds brought our healing. 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:26.880 He is interested in and delights in bringing help to people even though it cost him. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:30.240 Jesus is willing to help in that particular way. 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:41.200