Fellow-Redeemed
in Christ Jesus,
Two diseases not as common today as they once
were are leprosy and polio. Even though
no longer epidemic, this living death and paralysis remain frightening
specters. I can remember as a child hearing in Sunday School about lepers. How
horrifying those images were. Baby boomers, remember getting your polio vaccine
in a shot, or on a sugar cube in the grade school gym?
Leprosy and paralysis in Jesus’ day served as
vivid object lessons about sin’s debilitating power. We can say that about all
disease. Sin brings death not only to the soul. It also destroys the body. Only
the One with power to cleanse and heal both body and soul can help, if he is
willing. These two miracles reveal that Jesus Christ, our Savior is that One.
He is willing.
The Epiphany Savior is Willing to Cleanse
and Heal. Sin has a debilitating effect on our bodies and souls; the Son’s
Word is the restorative power.
Leprosy, including all skin diseases, and
diseases that cause paralysis are not, of course, sinful. They are the results
of sin; not punishment for a specific sin or sins but because I am sinful.
Disease is the visible manifestation that in my body and soul I am not what God
intended me to be. From the time God created my body and soul in womb, my body
was subject to disease and to decay and finally, death. My soul is sinful by
nature. There is nothing good in me. My sin already separated me from God.
The leper who approached Jesus for help and
the servant the Centurion was concerned about suffered greatly because of their
conditions. The leper and the Roman officer trusted that Jesus could help. Was
Jesus willing?
The leper said to our Savior, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me
clean.” Clean is the word from which we get our English word catharsis. We
speak of something that cleanses us as being cathartic. The man’s leprosy made
him ceremonially unclean. If Jesus were willing to cleanse him, the man would
again be able to carry out his worship.
We see first the man’s trust in Jesus’ power
to help. We see also the man’s faith that we cannot demand God to help us when
it comes to uncertain things. We do not know if it is God’s will to heal us or
help us at a particular time, or in the way we think is best. “If you are willing,” does not just
mean if you want to. It also means to help according to your will, in the way
you see fit.
Jesus’ response in this instance was
immediate and as the leper desired. “I
am willing. Be clean.” The results also were immediate. His leprosy was
instantly and completely cured. Jesus commanded him to go show himself to the
priest at the temple and offer a sacrifice to God, which would be a testimony
to the cleansing.
This miracle declared Jesus to be the
epiphany Savior who is willing to cleanse. Jesus also healed the Centurion’s
servant from his paralysis and terrible suffering as the Centurion had asked.
Jesus is the epiphany Savior who is willing to heal. Jesus’ miracles of
cleansing and healing these bodies from the ravages of sin are the visible
evidence that he is the One who came to destroy sin and its power. The first
miracle points to the cleansing or removal of the disease, the second, the
healing of the body.
Both indicate that Jesus has all power over
sin and its results. He is willing to use that power for our salvation. I used
the account of the leper for a funeral sermon of a young man who died from HIV.
His great hope was not that Jesus would remove his illness that had come though
sinful acts. His great comfort was that Jesus is his Savior who had cleansed
him from all his sins. His Lord also healed him from his disease because when
his body rises from the grave it no longer will be subject to disease or death.
Nor will ours.
We move from Jesus’ willingness to cleanse
and heal to the means. The Epiphany Savior is willing to cleanse and heal. The
Son’s Word is the restorative power.
There are a couple differences between the
two miracles. In the first, Jesus spoke directly to the leper. In the second,
Jesus spoke with the ill servant’s master and friend. The Roman soldier used
the word for servant that indicates a personal affection. In the first, Jesus touched the man. In the
second, the man was not there. The leper was a Jew. The
Centurion was a Gentile.
Two things are true of both. The healings
were instantaneous and complete when Jesus spoke. The other common denominator
is Jesus’ Word, the Word of God. “Be clean,” Jesus told the leper. Jesus
told the Roman, “Go. It will be done
just as you believed it would.” In Jesus’ discussion with the Centurion we
come to see the essence of his trust in Jesus; a trust Jesus commends as being
greater than any of his own people had in him.
From this conversation, we get the definition
of faith as to take God at his Word. That is exactly what the officer did.
Faith is the recognition that the one I have faith in has the authority to do
what I ask. It does not good to go for help to someone who does not have that
authority. If we compare the two
miracles, the first had more to do with our Epiphany Savior’s willingness, the
second with his authority. That is why they fit together so well.
The Centurion was most likely a seasoned
veteran who had fought many battles. Even with his rank and experience, he was
humble before Jesus. He calls Jesus “Lord”
in recognition of Jesus’ authority. He told Jesus he was not worthy to have him
enter his home. Here was a man both who had authority to command others, and
was himself under authority and had to obey orders. In this recognition of
Jesus’ authority, he told Jesus, “Just
say the word and my servant will be healed.”
What great trust in God’s Word. Jesus pointed to the Centurion as one of the
Gentiles who would come in faith to him from the far reaches of the earth. He
and all Gentiles who believe join the patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven. Many
of his own people would not believe in him and be locked out of heaven in hell
where they will be wailing because of suffering, and the gnashing of teeth
because of total despair.
This is the essence of our faith in Jesus,
the Epiphany Savior. Just say the Word, and I am forgiven all my sins. Just say
the Word, and the Spirit strengthens and sustains my faith. Just say the Word,
and all my ills and diseases pass away. Just say the Word, and I commit my
spirit into the Father’s hands for the angels to take me to heaven.
He is willing to cleanse and heal. His Word
is the restorative power. Amen. <SDG>