Dear Explorer,
Leprosy was a terrible skin disease that killed the nerve endings and rotted away the skin and tissue. At that time, there were no antibiotics or treatment. It was contagious, and so if you contracted this virus, you would be required to leave your home and move to a leper's area outside of town. You were not allowed to touch another person and there were rules about how far you had to stand away from people so that they would not “catch” your disease. If anyone accidentally got near you, you had to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” so that they could move away. There were two possible outcomes to the disease. It was often fatal, but sometimes, the virus would stop spreading and healthy tissue would begin to grow. If that happened, you could go to the priest and if he agreed that you were healthy, you could move back into your home and be with people again.
So, with that background, let's look at today's passage.
Read Matthew 8:1-4
What did the leper say to Jesus? What did that mean?
I think it meant that he believed that Jesus could heal him, he just didn't know if He would.
Now that's a really good place to be if you are saying, “I know You can heal me, but I want Your will to be done – and I don't know if this is Your will for me.” It's a really terrible place to be if what you are really saying is, “I know You can heal me, but I don't know whether You care about me or love me enough to do this for me.”
Sometimes it is hard to trust that God loves us, and Satan is always tempting us to question His love. And since we know we don't deserve His love, it's easy to fall into a position of doubting. But that is really sad because it is contrary to everything God has said and done for you. God is love and He has shown great love toward you by sending Jesus. It is essential for you to grow in this area so that you can trust that God loves you even when times are hard.
Read Mark 1:40-45
Here we see the same story recorded by Mark, but we also have some new information. I see two things. Do you see them?
First, we see Jesus' emotional reaction to the man's request.
Secondly, we see the consequences of the man's disobedience.
Read Luke 5:12-16
Luke records the same story but adds yet another detail. Do you see it?
Because of the man's disobedience and the fact that now Jesus couldn't enter the cities, Jesus spent more time in prayer alone. So, God took what was bad and worked it out to Jesus' advantage. (Romans 8:28)
In His service, dale
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