Sermon Tone Analysis
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Leper Cleansed
For the past 3 chapters (5-7), we have heard the words of Jesus, now we see His action.
Notice the crowds (plural and great in number) were still with Jesus.
What was their interest?
Were they wanting to see miracles?
Were they impressed with what they heard?
Was it just something new?
We don’t know exactly why these great crowds were following Jesus, but we know He had their attention.
They had not seen or heard anyone like Him, and they continued to follow Him to see what would happen next.
They were simply amazed.
Now, as Jesus is leaving one of the most unclean humans approached Jesus.
A leper.
Leprosy is a physical disease, affecting the nerve system, sometimes to the point they cannot feel pain.
As a result, people with leprosy (Hansen’s disease, today) may experience severe infections leading to the point where limbs become deformed and may even fall off.
It is contagious, and the lepers were required to separate from others.
They were seen as unclean and cursed by God.
So, not only affected with a physical disease, but a spiritual one as well.
In approaching another person, they were to call out “Unclean, unclean!”
Even to touch a leper would make that person unclean, so they were required to keep a certain distance away from other people.
Now, we see a leper coming to Jesus.
Not calling out unclean, but humbly asking to be made clean.
Isn’t it amazing that this leper ignored OT law requiring him to separate, but instead coming into the crowd seeking Jesus boldly.
Now get this picture, the most vile, disgusting, defiled and unclean person boldly approached God.
No person is too unclean, polluted, dirty, or sinful to come to Jesus Christ.
He came respectfully asking Jesus (If it were in His will) to make him clean.
Not only did the leper come boldly, but he came with a worshipful attitude and expecting/trusting Jesus for cleansing.
He reverently came to Jesus and knelt before him.
A sign of worship.
He was desperate.
He knew his defiled state.
He knew he could not come within 6 feet of anyone.
Yet he ran to Jesus and fell at His feet, simply asking to be made clean.
He trusted Jesus could do what he asked…if it were His will.
He didn’t want to just be healed, he asked to be made clean.
He wanted full restoration - to be made wholly and completely.
He wanted to be seen as clean in front of man and God.
He had faith Jesus could heal him.
He knew Jesus held that power.
He knew he could be restored and made clean again.
The leper did two things that all of us must do when we ask Jesus to cleanse us: He genuinely trusted Jesus, and he offered himself reverently to Him.
Notice not every leper was made clean, just the one who asked.
Why?
If Jesus had the authority to cleanse one, could he not cleanse them all?
Maybe it’s because they didn’t believe or trust Jesus, or maybe it was their unwillingness to humble themselves before Him.
Whatever the case, Jesus responded to this one leper.
Not only did He respond, He touched him.
When everyone else was backing away, Jesus reached out and touched the most wretched person of the time.
-So many will not touch the most defiled.
They will have nothing to do with them.
They shun and avoid them.
Too often, even when the defiled wander into church, the church gets rid of them as soon as possible.
So many in the church have little time for the defiled.
They neglect and leave them where they are.
Too many believers and too many churches have lost the sense of mission to reach the most defiled.
Jesus said, “I will.”
These words say several significant things about Jesus.
1) Jesus was not willing even for the most defiled to perish (2 Pe. 3:9).
2) Jesus did not have to be urged to help the most defiled.
The most defiled simply had to approach Jesus with a sincere heart.
3) Jesus did not have to be paid to help the most defiled.
The leper did nothing but come to Jesus, believing that Jesus would cleanse him.
“I will.”
The mission of Jesus Christ is to seek and to save that which is lost, no matter how defiled.
The church is called to the very same mission.
Jesus Christ said go—go to every creature, to every human being.
As a result of his faith, the leper was cleansed by Jesus.
He was physically and ceremonially restored (religious and spiritually).
Notice Jesus cleansed the man immediately, there was no waiting.
The man did not hesitate in asking, and the Lord did not hesitate in providing.
You see, when we realize we must be cleansed and washed from our sins, we must not hesitate in coming to Jesus, and Jesus won’t hesitate in restoring us, either.
Notice that Jesus told him not to brag in his restoration, but to go and present himself to the priest.
The cleansed man had to be aware of pride.
The leper had been cleansed and delivered from the pit of defilement.
There were many still in the pit where he had come from.
Jesus knew this man’s heart, knew that he stood in danger of temptation, the temptation of self importance.
He could have easily gone about saying what is so often heard: “Jesus has cleansed me.
But for the grace of God, I would still be a sinner.”
Of course, this was true.
But to go about proclaiming such would have tended to separate him apart as more favored than others, and he was not a favorite of God.
God has no favorites.
He was just a man who had been desperately unclean and whom Christ had cleansed.
The cleansed man needed to proclaim Christ and His cleansing power, not his own cleansing.
He deserved nothing, especially the grace of God; therefore, he had no reason to profess, “But for the grace of God.…”
Such would have been self-centered, prideful, and boastful.
Jesus wanted to prevent such a profession.
The cleansed man had to obey the law.
Jesus told the man to obey the law for two reasons.
1) He cared deeply for the cleansed man.
He wanted him to be restored, accepted, and reunited with his family and friends.
They would accept him only if he were proven to be cured.
2) He wanted the man to respect God’s law and to walk in it for the remainder of his life.
Centurions Faith
This is a great passage showing that Jesus is definitely the Messiah.
He has the Messianic power to receive men and to reject men.
He can receive any man who truly trusts Him, no matter how far away the man may be or how many barriers may seem to stand in the way.
As Messiah, He also has the power to reject the unbelieving.
Note the deep emotion felt by Jesus throughout this experience.
He was aroused to make the statements He made and to prove His Messianic power.
Matthew’s apparent purpose in recording this miracle was to show that Jesus did possess the Messianic power to do two things.
1. Jesus possessed the power to receive any man, regardless of the barrier.
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