Matthew 8:1-4 “Touching the Leper”

 

Matthew 8:1-4
When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.

And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

 

The sermons for the past few months have centered on what Jesus called His followers to be. We have found He set the bar quite high for our lives. This new sermon series will look at how Jesus dealt with actual people. We will look at how Jesus ministered to Lepers, Nicodemus, a woman at the well, paralytics, the blind, children, and many more. We will see how Jesus related to the religious leaders and governmental leaders of His day. These interactions between Jesus and people reveal some surprising things

 

Jesus is coming down from the mountain with crowds surrounding Him, when a man with leprosy. The leper runs up to Jesus and kneels before Him requesting to be healed. Lepers are supposed to keep their distance from other people. You can even close your eyes and picture the crowd backing away as the leper runs up to Jesus.

 

What would Jesus do?

2 Kings 5:1-14
And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.
What would Jesus do?

 

Most devout Jews would be backing away from this unclean and even contagious man. But Jesus does the strangest thing, He touches the man.

 

HE TOUCHES THE MAN

 

Jesus didn’t need to touch this diseased leper to heal him. Jesus could have done it from long distance if He wanted to. But Jesus touched him, a person who many would back away from, and even more would look away as they passed him. But Jesus reaches out and touches him.

Jesus is taking a big risk in touching this man. What will His followers think, what will they do? Will the crowds turn away from Him because of this radical thing He does?

 

So many people in our world long to be touched, a hand on their shoulder, a hug, even hold hands with another person. They feel alone, outcast, forgotten, isolated, even unclean. Today with all the concern over abuse and lawsuits people are afraid to touch anyone. As a result, people feel more and more isolated and alone.

 

Remember the kid in school who sat all alone eating their lunch. That kid longed to have someone come and sit with them. He needed someone to tell him he was not unwanted. Could you imagine what it would mean if he received a touch by someone other than the bully who is trying to knock their lunch out of his hand.

 

Touch is so powerful studies show that if your doctor places their hand on you in a caring way you have a 50% better chance of being healed even if they do nothing else.

 

 

Mark6:56
And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

 

Mark 8:22 – 25
And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.   And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”   And he looked up and said, “I see men, but they look like trees, walking.”   Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

 

Mark 10:13
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them,

 

Luke 6:17-19
And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon,   who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.   And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

 

And this healing power is passed on to the church

James 5:13-18
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

 

Perhaps you can identify with the kid in the lunch room, or the leper kneeling in front of Jesus. Jesus is not put off by you. Your sickness, disability, social status, addiction, sin, nor anything else causes Jesus to back away from you when you come and kneel before Him.

 

What is your sickness? What thing makes you a leper?  What makes people back away or would if they knew about it? If it could happen, what would you have Jesus heal?

A broken heart? Broken relationship? Your mind, your body, your family, your past? Your addiction, your compulsion to sin? Lock it in your mind, got it? See it?

Jesus is here today with us, Jesus is not only willing to heal and forgive you, Jesus will touch you. Feel His hand on your forehead, his fingers brush your hair as He moves His hand to the side of your face. Go ahead reach up and take His hand. Feel Jesus surround your hand with his.

Jesus has touched you and today you are healed.