A Series on Living in the Wilderness: Part
2
(Click on the link below to read the
verses.)
Luke 5:12-16
[This is Part 2
in a series of looking at people who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily the
wilderness of nature, but the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when
we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s
important to remember that the Lord is faithful. That He loves you and is
always with you.]
During the height of COVID, when school was being done remotely from home, my Grandson tested positive. When his parents told him, he started crying and asked if he was going to die. He may have felt like it, since he had to isolate in his bedroom for ten days while everyone else went freely around the house.
Sometime later,
when school was meeting in person, my oldest granddaughter tested positive. As
a result, she had to stay home for a week, falling behind in school and missing
out on basketball. In both cases, I would guess that my grandkids felt like a
pariah.
For sure, the
leper did! You can tell from the passage that he was desperate.
12 While
Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with
leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged
him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” NIV
Notice that the
leper didn’t ask Jesus to heal him, but to make him clean. This goes back to the
Exodus, when the Israelites were camped at Mount Sanai and Moses was receiving
the law directly from the Lord.
45 “Anyone
with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be
unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean!
Unclean!’ 46 As long as they have the disease they
remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. Leviticus
13 NIV
It’s no wonder
that the leper was so desperate. He was a pariah of the worse kind; a social,
physical and spiritual outcast living in the wilderness. He couldn’t defile the
camp where the presence of the holy Lord resided. He had little hope.
According to the Mosaic Law, to be clean required not only being rid of the defiling disease, but also an animal sacrifice with the shedding of blood. Jesus provided both of these for the leper.
13 The
blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those
who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly
clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to
God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we
may serve the living God! Hebrew 9 NIV
Have you ever felt
like an outsider; like a pariah? Have you ever lived in the wilderness, outside
the camp of the Lord? Jesus can make you clean. Like the leper, all you need to
do is ask.
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