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[0:00] Well, if we could this morning, with the Lord's help, turn back to the second portion of Scripture that we read in the Gospel according to Mark in chapter 1. The Gospel according to Mark in chapter 1, page 1003.

[0:19] And if we read again from verse 40. Mark chapter 1, verse 40. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean.

[0:34] Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said, be clean. Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cured.

[0:49] It was once said that the Gospel is neither a discussion nor a debate, because it is an announcement. And in this Gospel, Mark wastes no time in telling us who this announcement is about, and who this Gospel, this good news is about.

[1:07] And just in case we miss his point or get sidetracked or lose our focus, Mark opens his record of the ministry of Jesus Christ with the words, The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[1:21] That's the announcement that he has to give to the world. That is, this is the good news, which is to turn the whole world upside down. And Mark opens his Gospel and he says to us, Make no mistakes as to who I want to tell you about, and as to who this message is about.

[1:40] It's all about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And in comparison to all of the other Gospel writers, each of the four Gospels have their own emphasis upon the person and work of Jesus Christ.

[1:54] Matthew presents to us the Gospel of the King. Luke portrays the Gospel of the perfect Son of Man. John tells us of the Gospel of the eternal Son of God.

[2:07] But Mark, his Gospel is the Gospel of the suffering servant. And throughout this Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Mark tells us that this suffering servant has come with one message and with one aim.

[2:22] And this one aim is to present the message that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.

[2:35] So for Mark, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is, it is Jesus Christ. He is the good news that Mark wants to share with us. The Gospel according to Mark is, it's said to be the first Gospel that was written after the ascension of Jesus Christ.

[2:52] But there is one thing that comes across so clearly in Mark's Gospel. It's his urgency with this Gospel. One of his favorite words that is used over and over again, so much so that you could probably call it his trademark word of the Gospel.

[3:10] It is this word, immediately. Because for Mark, everything happens immediately. Jesus does something and then he does something else.

[3:21] And he does it immediately. Everything is immediate. And it is this word that emphasizes Mark's urgency with his Gospel. It seems that he is in such a hurry to get to the climax of his story and tell us how it all ends.

[3:39] And tell us what really happened in Jesus' life. And Mark's urgency is to get us to the cross in order to tell us why he wrote his Gospel. And that we need to go into the world with this Gospel.

[3:54] And it's as if Mark is saying to us, he's saying to us, Come, come, come, come, come. Come close and listen to what I have to say to you. Come see this good news. Come immediately and see what all this fuss is about.

[4:07] Come with me to find Jesus in this amazing story of redemption. Come and see all the miracles that Jesus did. Come with me to see who Jesus met. Come hear the words that Jesus spoke.

[4:20] But don't stay there long, he says. Don't linger there. Don't hang about. Come with me to Jerusalem. Then come with me to Gethsemane. See the Lord in prayer. But don't stay there.

[4:32] Keep going. Come with me to the judgment hall to see where injustice is carried out. But keep going. Keep going. Come with me to the cross upon which the Prince of Glory died.

[4:43] But don't stay there. No, no, no. Come with me to the grave, to the tomb, to the empty tomb. Come see where the Lord lay. Come see that he is not here.

[4:55] For he is risen. Now, he says. Now, now. Now you've seen it all. Go. Go into all the world.

[5:08] Go with this gospel. Go with this message. When? Immediately. Immediately. Immediately. And it seems to me that Mark doesn't mince his words.

[5:22] He knows that there is a message which must be given to a hostile world to the gospel. Because the audience for which he initially wrote his gospel was for Christians living in Rome.

[5:35] And if you know anything about the history of the early church, then to be a Christian in those days meant that you were signing your death warrant. Your life was forfeit.

[5:45] Christians in the early church, they were hated by the Roman authorities. But the way Mark portrays his gospel tells us that his message, it had to be delivered.

[5:57] It had to be delivered in the same manner that Christ delivered it. As one who was despised and rejected of men. Therefore, if there was one verse that could be used to define the whole purpose of Mark's gospel and the message which he's trying to get across, it would be Mark chapter 10, verse 45.

[6:18] For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for many. Because for Mark, Jesus is the suffering servant.

[6:29] He is the perfect example of what a Christian ought to be. And is that not what the Apostle Paul picked up on in his letter to the Philippians? Where he told them to consider the example that Christ has set for us.

[6:44] He says in Philippians 2, verse 6, verse 5. He says, For Mark, Jesus is the suffering servant.

[7:15] And he is our example. And God willing, for the next few services that I've been asked to preach, either Lord's Day morning or Lord's Day evening, I'd like us to consider some of the people whom Jesus met during his ministry.

[7:31] And the example that Jesus has set for us. And although there were many miracles that Jesus performed. And many acts that Jesus did. And many people whom Jesus met.

[7:42] So much so that John tells us at the end of his gospel. That if all of Jesus' miracles were to be recorded. Not even all the books in the whole world could hold them.

[7:55] But for just the next few weeks. I would like us to consider together. Only some of these encounters with Jesus. Found in the gospel of Mark.

[8:05] And the first person I want to draw your attention to is this leper. He's not the first person Jesus has encountered in the early stages of his ministry.

[8:17] But I think he's a man who is significant. In this chapter alone, Jesus has already met a man with an unclean spirit. And then he met Peter's mother-in-law who was sick.

[8:29] And in both situations, Jesus healed them. But in the passage which we read together, Jesus encounters this man with leprosy. And not much is known about this man apart from the fact that he was a leper.

[8:43] And in a sense, that's exactly what it was like for this man. He was a leper. And no one knew anything about him. No one cared as to who he was, what he did, where he came from, how he had ended up in his condition that he was in.

[8:59] We don't even know his name. And yet this patient that Dr. Jesus is going to deal with was one who was going to have a life-changing experience. And therefore, the first thing I want you to notice is this lonely leper.

[9:15] The lonely leper. Verse 40 tells us, A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean.

[9:28] And as Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, healing many people who had many diseases and casting out demons, Jesus was becoming more and more well-known.

[9:41] Many were amazed at all the miracles that Jesus had performed and the way in which he dealt with his people. But what really got them and what amazed them was the authority that Jesus had.

[9:54] The people of Galilee questioned the miracles that Jesus performed. And they were saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? Who is he that commands with authority?

[10:06] Even the unclean spirits are obeying him. And as Jesus preached and healed to people, he became more and more well-known. People heard that this Jesus was changing lives.

[10:19] And this man called Jesus was healing people and curing people and doing miracles that had never been so seen in Israel. And as it says in verse 32 of this chapter, The people of these towns and regions brought all who were sick and demon-possessed, but they didn't bring this man.

[10:45] They didn't bring this leper to Jesus. Why wasn't he brought like everyone else? Why was everyone else brought to Jesus, but this leper was left behind?

[10:58] Because lepers were the outcasts of society. And as many of you know, leprosy was and still is to this day, a chronic and infectious skin disease, which damages the nerve limbs and leaving a patient with numbness and lack of feeling in their hands and feet and all their limbs.

[11:18] But leprosy isn't something new, nor is it a disease which is confined to biblical history. But at that time, leprosy was this widespread disease in Palestine.

[11:31] And this is seen not only in the number of lepers Jesus met during his ministry, but also in the number of Levitical instructions that were given in relation to this infectious disease.

[11:43] And although there were precautions which were set out in all these Levitical instructions, these precautions were to protect the community from this contagious disease.

[11:55] But for a leper, their disease was far more than an illness. It was a life sentence. It was a debilitating disease, not only in the physical sense, but also debilitating socially.

[12:10] Because those who had contracted this contagious and infectious disease, they were considered to be under the divine judgment of God. lepers were victims of far more than the disease itself.

[12:23] The disease had robbed them of their health. But this life sentence imposed upon them, it had robbed them of their name. It had robbed them of their occupation.

[12:35] It robbed them of their family. It robbed them of their identity in society. It robbed them, these poor lepers of their fellowship with the worshiping community of Israel. Because for those accepted in society, lepers were considered to be the living dead.

[12:54] The living dead. Because it was seen to be far easier to raise the dead than to cleanse a leper. And if you were a leper, you were nothing.

[13:05] Absolutely nothing. And nobody in society. And a result of their illness, they were required to make their appearance as repulsive as possible. Just as we read in Leviticus, it tells us that the person with such an infectious disease was to tear their clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face, just like a mask, so that he wouldn't dare breathe on anyone.

[13:32] And he was to live alone and to live outside the camp. But as he moved from place to place, only the words that could be heard from this man's lips were unclean.

[13:45] Unclean. Unclean. This man's experience was of total rejection. He was a nobody. But how can we understand his situation if we're part of a society where everyone wants to be accepted, where everyone wants to make a name for themselves and be known by others and loved by the community?

[14:09] And these aren't bad things, but how would we feel if we were to warn everyone in the street that we were coming near them and they had to keep away, keep away from me?

[14:20] How would we feel if we would have to stand on Union Street and cry unclean, unclean? We would see people crossing the street, walking the other way, going the opposite direction.

[14:35] Total contrast to our culture of always looking good and looking immaculate with our perfect hair and our nice clothes and our makeup and well-dressed with all the designer gear and the gadgets of today.

[14:46] But how can we understand this man's situation because this man had nothing. He was a loner. Nobody wanted him. Nobody cared for him.

[14:56] Nobody cared about him. In the eyes of society, this man was a waste of space. But this leper, for all the rejection he had received in the world, nothing stopped him from coming to Christ and nothing stopped him from being cleansed.

[15:14] Lepers, they were required to stand at a distance maybe of about 50 paces. And if a leper entered your house, he made it unclean and contaminated. Or even if this man was standing beside a tree and you walked past him, you were classed as ceremonially unclean.

[15:30] And when this leper comes to Jesus, he doesn't come to him ignorant of what people may think of him or ignorant of his position in relation to Jesus.

[15:41] But regardless of all of those things, this leper risks life and limb. He risks everything, breaking both law and custom just on the chance of being healed and restored by Jesus.

[15:55] This man was compelled by Christ to come and be healed and he knew that no one else could heal his diseases. He knew that no one else could change his life, that no one else could make him clean, that no one else could turn his life around but this Jesus.

[16:13] And this leper, he had probably heard something about Jesus. Maybe he'd heard him teaching and preaching in the villages round about that Jesus taught with one who had authority.

[16:24] He would have heard of all the miracles that Jesus performed and all the works that Jesus did. And this leper knew that Jesus was the only one in all the world that could cure his debilitating disease.

[16:37] And when this leper heard that Jesus was passing by, he went to him. And Luke tells us that the leper saw Jesus. Mark tells us that the leper came and fell on his knees before Jesus.

[16:52] But Matthew explains to us that this leper worshipped Jesus. He saw him. He came to him. He worshipped him. No obstacle, not even the law itself, could keep this man from coming to Jesus.

[17:09] But what I find so sad is that no one dared to bring this person to Jesus. The leper was unclean. If they touched him, they would become unclean.

[17:20] But no one wanted to risk bringing this man to be healed. They didn't want to risk putting themselves in difficulty or risk making themselves unclean or risk becoming an outcast of society like him and by associating themselves with this leper.

[17:38] But my friend, touching the leper was not the problem. not bringing him to Jesus was. No one brought this man to Jesus.

[17:50] He was left on his own. Verse 32 tells us that they brought all who were sick and demon-possessed. But why didn't they bring this man to Christ?

[18:04] And it's sad in you as Christians that we have every answer to every problem and the needs of every person, and the healing of every sickness and every disease and every social problem.

[18:15] We have the answer in Christ and the guidance in his word. But we don't bring people to him. Or we don't bring Christ to them. He dwells within us.

[18:28] We have the answer but we don't tell them. And I speak to myself. I speak to myself before I ever address this to you. But do we have a certain criteria of the person that only Jesus can heal?

[18:45] The people in this passage, they obviously had that thought in their mind. But is it only certain people that can be saved by this gospel? We can bring those who may have a church connection or a church background and that's amazing but what about those who don't?

[19:01] Do we only bring those who we think can be saved but leave those who we think never, they'll never be saved? Is there a certain criteria that must be followed before we can tell them this gospel?

[19:14] Is the gospel only for the middle class? Is the gospel only for those who work hard in life? Is the gospel only for those with a good job, 2.4 children, with a knowledge of the Bible, those who have been brought up in church, those who went to Sunday school?

[19:29] Is this gospel just for the free church? And maybe those with a free church connection or a highland connection, is this gospel for Aberdeen?

[19:41] Is it for them? Who is this gospel for? Who is Jesus for? It's for every outcast, every deceased person, every need, every sinner, every loner in this life, everyone and anyone who sees their own need for Him.

[19:58] Jesus is for everyone and you might say, I know that, I know He's for everyone. I know these things already. But maybe our problem as a church is that we have this stigma attached to certain groups of people and we don't know how to speak to them or relate to them and we don't know how to deal with them and all their problems.

[20:19] So we ignore them. And in the back of our mind, because that's where we put it, we put it in the back of our mind, but in the back of our mind, do we just hope that this problem will go away?

[20:31] Let everyone else deal with it. And for some of us that we may have this excuse that not to help those in need and maybe the reason why we have this criteria for the gospel because we think if God is going to save them, He will do it anyway.

[20:48] He'll do it His own way. If God is going to save this leper, He would do it His own way. He didn't need anyone to bring him to Jesus. But if we think like that, we're not exercising faith.

[21:02] We have no, when we have no interest to bring people to Christ or to speak about the gospel to them, we are not exercising our faith.

[21:14] And I know it's not easy because it's one of the hardest things you will ever do. It should be the most natural but I know it's so hard.

[21:25] Your heart will race. You will be stuck for words. You may think that you're of no use speaking to anyone but it's for the Lord's cause. It's for the Lord's cause.

[21:36] It's for the sake of lost souls. It's for the extension of Christ's kingdom. It's for His glory. His glory and not ours. His glory alone.

[21:47] But when we don't say anything are we exercising faith? But it's the fact that we say nothing which shows our lack of faith and the power of the gospel.

[21:59] Do we really believe that this gospel is the power of God unto salvation? Do we really believe that this gospel is able to save anyone?

[22:10] Do we really have faith in the Bible? It might sound shocking to say but do we? Do we really believe this word can change lives, transform hearts, bring from death to life, from darkness to light?

[22:25] Do we really believe in the power of the gospel? And we have the antidote to every disease, every sickness, every problem in this world caused by sin but I ask myself what am I doing with it?

[22:38] What am I doing? What am I doing with this message that I have? So what we see here is that this lonely leper he came to Jesus rejected by his whole community and he came to him knowing that there is nothing that he could do for himself.

[22:57] The leper sees him and the leper comes to him and he falls on his knees worshipping Jesus saying, Lord if you are willing you can make me clean. And this patient he had one plea, he had one request, one cry to the Lord, Lord if you are willing you can make me clean.

[23:18] This man had heard about Jesus maybe from a distance he had watched him in action but in any case this man knew that Jesus was the only one who could make this man clean. And there was no doubt in this leper's mind of Jesus' ability to cleanse him but he wasn't sure if Jesus was willing to heal him.

[23:39] But what is interesting to know is that this leper is the only person in the gospels who asked Jesus this kind of question, Lord if you're willing. It's not a usual prayer, it doesn't follow the usual pattern but this man prays in accordance with the will of God.

[23:58] He knows that his condition is subject to God's will and God's will alone. My mother often told me about a minister called Norman MacLeod, he was the minister in Cullinish in Lewis many years ago.

[24:12] You probably know his son, Kenny I, the assistant minister in Stornoway. But my mother often told me about the way this man prayed because every time he prayed he would end his prayer saying, answer our prayers if it please the Lord.

[24:32] Answer our prayers if it please thee. And his humble words were prayed knowing that all these things in life are subject to God's will if it please the Lord.

[24:45] And this leper's condition, the illness that he had, he knew it was subject to God's will and whether Jesus would heal him or not was all determined by his will.

[24:56] It wasn't because of his faith that Jesus healed this leper. It was his willingness to ask. And as I know what Jesus said on another occasion, you do not have because you ask a miss.

[25:11] And whatever issue that we may be facing in this life, whether it's an illness that causes us so much pain or a sin that we struggle with or whatever thorn in the flesh that we have to bear, we come to this Jesus because we know he's the only one who can help us and we say, if it please thee, Lord, if it please thee, we know that he is the only one who can, but it is all if he is willing.

[25:36] And sometimes it's the hardest thing to take, but you know today that all things are in the Lord's hand. And if you're still out of Christ today, still not saved, be assured that he is wanting you to come and ask him to save you, to cleanse you from sin, to make you a new person.

[25:56] And do you not see that like this leper, you're riddled with a disease that is going to kill you. It's going to kill you. And you need to be healed. You're riddled with sin.

[26:07] It's destroying everything that you come into contact with. It's destroying even you from within. And you know that if there was one cure to heal your disease, would you ignore it?

[26:21] Would you ignore this disease and try and get on with life as best as you could? Try and get on without it. But if you knew that this disease was going to kill you eternally and that there was one remedy for it, I know that you would move earth and sea just to get to it.

[26:39] Then why do you stay away from Jesus? Why stay away? Why, if you know he's the only one who can save you, why stay away?

[26:51] What holds you back from coming to be cleansed? The question is not if Jesus is willing because the Bible tells us plainly that he is not willing that any should perish.

[27:04] Not willing that sinners should perish but willing that all should be saved. Then the problem of willingness is obviously on your part. You know he can save you.

[27:14] You know he can change you. You know he can convert you but the real question is are you willing? Are you willing to ask? Are you willing? My friend you do not have because you ask amiss.

[27:29] You must ask him but are you willing in your heart are you willing to follow Christ? Are you willing? This leper was willing to ask and this Jesus was willing to heal him.

[27:46] And as I know what Jesus said in another occasion whatsoever you shall ask of me I will give it to you. Are you willing to ask? Are you willing?

[27:59] We've met this lonely leper but I want us now to see the way that Jesus approaches this man because this lonely leper was met by a compassionate Christ.

[28:10] A compassionate Christ. Look at verse 40 again. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees if you are willing you can make me clean. Filled with compassion Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.

[28:25] I am willing he said be clean. Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. And the question we need to ask here is why was Jesus willing?

[28:38] What made him answer this man's request? What made Jesus do what he did? because he didn't have to do anything for him. He didn't you could say that this was this man's providence that he didn't have to do anything for him.

[28:51] He wasn't obligated to heal him. He wasn't bound in any way. He didn't know this man at all. He didn't owe him anything. He didn't deserve anything from him but what made him do it?

[29:03] What made him help the helpless? He was moved with compassion. Moved with compassion. Something in Christ drew him to this leper but this leper also saw something in Jesus that drew him to Christ.

[29:22] There was a beauty in Jesus that he had never seen before. A love that he had never experienced. A touch that he had never felt and in all his years have been an outcast and a nobody no one had ever paid any attention but Jesus was moved with compassion.

[29:39] But there must have been something that compelled Jesus to perform miracles. Jesus was constrained to stop and to help this man because he saw him and when Jesus looked at this leper he looked in the face of his own creation.

[29:55] What he had made by the word of his power. This leper made from the dust of the ground came kneeling before him and begging him because he was marred by sin.

[30:07] What Jesus had made in its original state with all its perfection and holiness and all its beauty it now came to him with all the effects of sin and disease.

[30:19] And you could see that there was something that constrained Christ to restore the chaos that sin had caused and brought into his perfect creation. Jesus looked at this man and saw that it wasn't the way that he had made Adam.

[30:34] It wasn't the way he had formed the first man. He had made a world without pain. He hadn't made a world of pain and disease and heartache and sorrow.

[30:45] He made it perfect. In all its beauty when he made it it says that it was all very good. But the first Adam he brought death and all its effects but this last Adam Jesus Christ came to restore the breach that sin has caused and is still causing to this day.

[31:05] But Jesus came to heal spiritually. To conquer death. To conquer death and the grave. To bridge the great chasm between God and men and this was only through the man Christ Jesus.

[31:20] Jesus moved with compassion. A few years ago when I still lived with my parents on one occasion I went to visit my next door neighbor probably a couple of months before she died.

[31:34] And that night when I went in to see her she was lying in bed and she told me to read a passage with her. A passage from the Bible and to pray with her for a wee while.

[31:46] And as I sat with her I remember one thing about this meeting with her. Is that she showed me her Bible. It was an old Bible well read tattered falling apart. Sellotaped together but at every occasion where Jesus had shown compassion.

[32:03] compassion she had highlighted this word. And it's this one word that she had clung to all her life. The fact that Jesus had shown to her compassion.

[32:17] And she said to me that it was such a beautiful word that meant so much to her. This word compassion. And in a sense it's a word that speaks and yet its actions may be silent.

[32:30] And there are so many times in the gospels that the writers say to us that Jesus showed compassion because Jesus will show compassion to all who seek him.

[32:44] He will do it because he will show it to the poor and to the needy. To the rich and to the famous. To the alcoholic. To the drug addict. To the prostitute.

[32:56] To the widow. To the widower. To the sick and to the suffering. To the housebound. And to the homeless. Jesus will show compassion to all who seek him. But the question I ask myself is are we too cold as Christians to show compassion?

[33:14] To help the helpless. To love the unlovable. To care for those who need to be cared for. If people only knew who Jesus was by the way that we lived our lives many people would come to him.

[33:27] If people only knew how compassionate this Christ is if they only knew. And I often think of the people that we consider as the outcasts of our society.

[33:38] The true against that we see almost every day. And the people we see roaming the street of this city. And the more I think of this leper situation I see that nothing has changed in over two thousand years where homeless people they have the same plea.

[33:54] It may not be the words unclean unclean that they say. But it's words that come and we hear them in our ears again and again. Any spare change.

[34:07] And I know you're not to give money to homeless people because it could be that money which buys their next fix that kills them. But is the reply no sorry enough?

[34:22] Is the reply no sorry enough? Is that it? Is that all we have to say? Is that all we have to say as imitators of this compassionate Christ?

[34:33] That all we have to say to these people and those in need nothing else but no sorry. Do we ask them their name? Do we ask them why they've ended up where they are on the street?

[34:46] But are we so used to them? They're just there all the time that we forget about them and we ignore them. But as one commentator put it the touch of Jesus speaks more loudly than his words and the words of Jesus touch the leper more deeply than any act of human love.

[35:09] Jesus is not only able to cleanse but he is also willing to cleanse this leper. And unlike any ordinary rabbi Jesus is not polluted by the leper's disease.

[35:20] Rather the leper is cleansed and healed by Jesus' contagious holiness. And that's our example. A compassionate Christ who meets with a lonely leper.

[35:35] But that wasn't the way this meeting ended between Jesus and this poor outcast of society. Having healed this leper Jesus gave him a strong warning not to tell anyone of what he had done.

[35:47] He says in verse 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning. 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.

[36:03] 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.

[36:17] And to our mind it might seem like a strange thing for Jesus to tell this leper not to say anything. And as far as we can see this is the best day of this man's life.

[36:31] The best day he had ever had. It's a huge turnaround for him. His whole life had changed in a moment and undoubtedly he would want to tell everyone about what had happened. He would want to go up to people and say look at me.

[36:46] Just look at me. I'm healed. And is that what we're meant to do? Are we not meant to tell everyone about this Jesus and how amazing he is and how much he cleanses us?

[37:00] But why would Jesus tell him to keep quiet? Why would he tell him to not say anything? John tells us that Jesus knew what was in all people.

[37:12] And one thing Jesus knew about the Jews the Jews understanding of the Messiah who was to come was that the Messiah was to be their king. But their understanding of a king was one that would rule like King David.

[37:26] They knew he was going to be from the lineage of David. They knew he was going to be a son of David but they thought he would be a king like David and rule over the whole earth and conquer all his enemies.

[37:38] And for anyone to proclaim that Jesus was king was to say that he was someone who was going to overthrow all the Roman authorities. And it would not only cause chaos in the ancient world but they would also have it completely wrong.

[37:54] Jesus did come as king and he will return as king. But when he came he didn't come to defeat the Roman authorities as these people thought.

[38:07] when Jesus came he came to conquer the last enemy which is death. So when Jesus tells this leper to go to the priest and to be declared clean but not to tell anyone of what he has done.

[38:21] He does so because people never understood the real reason why Jesus came. They never understood that Jesus came to die. The promised Messiah was not going to rule as a powerful king on his throne but die the death of an outcast.

[38:42] He was to die the death of an outcast. Jesus was not a conquering king but a suffering servant. But the irony of this passage is that when Jesus told this leper to keep quiet he didn't.

[39:00] He told everyone of what had happened to him because he didn't understand why Jesus came. he went out and told everyone he saw but he didn't have the full revelation of God's word.

[39:10] He was only amazed at what Jesus had done and healed him and cleansed him from his sickness of leprosy. And the irony of it is that yet today we have the full revelation of God's word.

[39:25] Lord. And Jesus tells us to go and tell. Go and tell. Tell people what he has done in your life. Go and tell that he is mighty to save.

[39:38] Go and tell of his love and his compassion to lost sinners. Go and tell that with all things with him all things are possible. But the irony is we stay silent and say nothing.

[39:52] We say nothing. This leper couldn't keep it to himself. But more often than not we remain silent.

[40:06] My friend, here we see a lonely leper who met with a compassionate Christ. and although the bar which is set is so high, that's the example that we are to imitate.

[40:20] That's what we are to be like. To be like Jesus. And God willing next time we'll consider another person who encountered Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[40:33]  May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray.