February 20, 2011
Dear friends in Christ.
For centuries magicians have been entertaining people with their tricks, illusions, misdirection and sleight of hand, and for centuries audiences have been clamoring to find out exactly how magicians did what they did. Though most have strictly followed the code that a magician never reveals his secrets, recently there have been some magicians who have come forward and publicly revealed at least some of their secrets. You may have seen some of the TV specials that have aired in the last few years, specials where a magician will perform a certain trick to amaze the audience and then repeat the same trick, revealing to them exactly how it was done. In some ways Jesus was doing a similar thing in our lesson today. It wasn’t that he was doing miracles to entertain the crowds who had gathered to see him and then revealing to them exactly how he had done it. Instead, Jesus was using his miraculous power to reveal himself as the Son of God; the Savior of the world. This, in fact, is the very thing that Mark is revealing to us in our Gospel lesson today!
Now, if you haven’t done so already, I invite you to open your Bibles with me to Mark 1:40-45. There, in Mark chapter 1, Jesus is traveling from village to village, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. As he was traveling, Mark tells us, “A man with leprosy 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. (Mark 1:40–45, NIV84)
Now, when this man came to Jesus, he was not just someone who had leprosy. Rather, this was a man who was in the last stages of a terrible, flesh eating disease. We know this because as Luke reports this same account he tells us that the man who met Jesus was a man who was “covered with leprosy” (Luke 5:12-14). He came to Jesus hoping with all his heart that Jesus would heal him. He came believing and trusting that if Jesus was willing to make him clean, he would be made clean by the divine power of his Savior, and when Jesus saw him, Mark tells us (Mark 1:41) that Jesus was filled with compassion when he saw the man. Now, we need to pause right there for a second because even though it is absolutely true that Jesus was filled with compassion, this translation pales in comparison to everything that is conveyed by the Greek word. For what the Greek word conveys here is that Jesus was moved in his inner being, his heart ached at the sight of this man suffering from an incurable disease. We could even go so far as to say that Jesus’ stomach was in knots at the sight of the man; even that his bowels, his intestines were in turmoil at the state of this man and his condition. For this state in which Jesus found himself was born, not merely out of sympathy for this man’s pain, but Jesus, our Savior felt this man’s pain, he carried this man’s infirmities, and he wanted to do something for him, which is exactly what Jesus did.
In such a simple and beautiful way, Jesus revealed himself as the Savior by revealing his compassion for this child of Israel, by reaching out and touching this man. Just think about what that must have meant to him! Here was a man who had lived apart from humans for a long time. Here was a man who had been shunned by his fellow Israelites as one who was unclean. Here was a man who had not felt the touch of any one, other than other lepers, in many, many years, and Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man! Can’t you just see Jesus, standing before this man who was kneeling in the dust before Jesus? Can’t you see Jesus’ face, pained at the suffering this man was enduring, as he reached out his hand touching the man and speaking those beautiful words, “I am willing, be clean”? In his compassion, Jesus revealed his almighty power as he healed this man of his leprosy, and through that miraculous display of power, Jesus revealed himself as our Savior!
Well, in the same way that Jesus revealed himself as Savior through the compassion he displayed in the life of this leprous man, so also he reveals himself as our Savior through the compassion he continually shows in our lives. Tough our Savior is now living with his Father in heaven, he is still moved by the troubles and the hardships that we face. Though this world might think that Jesus has turned a blind eye to the things that are going on today, we know that he is with us. Even now as so many of us are struggling through economic hardships, our Savior is with us. Even now was we are still reeling with sorrow from the loss two sons of this congregation, Jesus our Savior is compassionately dispensing his love for us and his comfort to us through the gospel message of salvation that we are hearing today. No matter what situation we might face in our lives, our Savior continually reveals his compassion in our lives. When we face troubles and hardships because of rising prices and falling income, our Savior is there, touching our lives with his love. When we are beaten down by the evil around us and all the troubles that our sins cause us, Jesus wipes our tears with the hand of his grace. When we feel as if the world has turned against us and there is nothing we can do to change it or there is no one we can turn to for help that is when Jesus wraps us up in the blanket of his word. When we feel that all hope is lost, our Savior holds us tight in the arms of his love and assures us that we belong to him; that he is our Savior. Though we may still face troubles, hardships and adversities in our lives, our Savior continually reveals himself in our lives through the great compassion that he continually pours out upon us through the love that he displays in calling us his own.
When that leprous man came to Jesus, trusting that Jesus would heal him, Jesus not only revealed himself as Savior through the compassion he displayed in that man’s life. He also revealed himself as Savior through the love Jesus displayed in warning him not to tell anyone what had happened. Take a look with me at verses 43-45: “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. (Mark 1:43–45, NIV84)
Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had been that leprous man, I would have been just a little surprised and maybe a little bit scared by what Jesus had just said. After all, here he was, kneeling in the dust, with Jesus’ hand on him, he had just head the tender words, “I am willing, be clean” spoken to him, the leprosy had left him and now Jesus was warning him not to tell anyone what had happened. If it had been me, I wouldn’t have understood why Jesus had warned me with such a stern voice not to tell anyone. I wouldn’t have understood why Jesus was immediately sending me away from him to go and show myself to the priests. After all, it wasn’t that Jesus didn’t want the publicity. For the truth is, we find in the other gospels that large crowds were following after him. Rather, by telling this man not to tell anyone, Jesus was revealing his love for his people; in part, his love for the people who were with him, but more specifically, for the people in Jerusalem. You see it was Jesus’ intention to send this man to the Priests in Jerusalem, who would examine him from head to toe, looking for anything that resembled leprosy. After this, the man would offer two birds as a sacrifice for purification. Then, on the eighth day, he was to bring two lambs as a guilt offering and as a sin offering. IN doing this, the man would be a testimony to the priest not only that Jesus had come to fulfill the law, but also that Jesus was the Messiah; the Savior who had been promised. He was here, and he was revealing himself as the Savior through his acts of loving kindness—a truth that he would ultimately reveal when he went to the cross as Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
When Jesus went to the cross, he revealed himself as our Savior through his willing sacrifice! For in the same way that husbands will give up their lives to save their wives, and parents will do anything to protect their children, Jesus willingly, lovingly gave up his life to free us from our sins. For when Jesus went to that cross, our Savior stretched out his hand and cleansed us from the leprosy of sin. Though our sins had bound us to the railroad track of death, and satan was steaming ever closer with the locomotive of damnation, Jesus swept in at the last minute, freed us from the chains that held us there, helped us off the track, and then allowed satan to run him over, completely destroying satan’s power over us. In such an amazing way, our Lord Jesus revealed himself as our Savior through his love for us; his love that led him to the cross where he freed us from our sins.
How amazing it is to know about our Savior and how he revealed himself to be our Savior through his loving and compassionate actions. How amazing it is to know that Jesus is our Savior who went to the cross in our place so that we could be his own and live under him in his kingdom. Though he may never have taken the time to perform a miracle and then reveal to the people exactly how he did it, through his words and actions he has revealed himself as the Son of God our Savior. He is the one who has freed us from our sins. He is the one who is always with us. He is the one who loves us and cares for us through any and every situation in life.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN
