SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/24/2021 3:37 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “Wretched
Man: Leper”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
8:1-4
Message of the verses: “1 When Jesus came
down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him
and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can
make me clean." 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I
am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And
Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the
priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’”
Today
we begin to look at how leprosy is a graphic illustration of sin. Sin infects the whole person just like
leprosy, it is ugly, loathsome, corrupting, contaminating, alienating, and it
is also incurable by man. The lepers in
ancient times in Israel were vivid objects of lessons of sin.
MacArthur
states that there are four things about the leper found in our verses today
that stand out. The first thing was this
man came to Jesus having great confidence.
I don’t suppose that we can totally grasp this truth not living in those
times, but lepers just did not do things like that. The leper certainly sensed a love and
tenderness in Jesus that allowed him to approach Jesus without fear of reprisal,
(he could have been stoned). Another
thing he could have been reprimanded.
Let me just say he would not have wanted to do this to a Jewish
Pharisee. Great confidence in Jesus was
what caused him to come to him, for perhaps he had heard of some people that
Jesus had already healed. You are
supposed to yell “unclean” “unclean” but he did not do this.
Second,
the man came to Jesus with great reverence.
The boldness that he had did not come from presumption but he came with
humble adoration the way we all should approach Jesus. MacArthur writes “When he reached Jesus he ‘bowed
down to Him.’ Proskueno (from which
comes ‘bowed down’) literally means to prostrate oneself and is most often
translated ‘to worship’ (see Matt. 2:2; 4:9-10; John 4:20-24; Acts 7:43; Rev. 4:10;
19:10). From the reverential nature of
his request it seems that the leper addressed Jesus as ‘Lord’ not simply in the
sense of ‘Sir,’ but as an acknowledgment of deity. He felt he was in the presence of God and that
therefore Jesus could heal him of his terrible disease. It is both interesting and instructive to
note that the scribes and Pharisees who were doubtlessly in the multitude that
day were beautifully and richly attired, yet were inwardly corrupt, proud, and
unbelieving. By contrast, the leper
appeared loathsome and repulsive on the outside, but inwardly he was reverent
and believing.”
Thirdly
we see that the leper came to Jesus with humility. This man truly expected Jesus to heal him but
he did not demand for it to happen as he said “Lord, if You are willing.” If it were the Lord’s will then it would happen
and that was good enough for him. Some
people today want to claim something from the Lord, and that is not true
humility at all. We cannot demand things
from the Lord as we must come in humility after all we are talking to God.
The
fourth is the leper came with faith, as he declared “You can make me clean.” MacArthur writes “He literally said, ‘You
have the power to make me clean.’ That is faith at its highest—the absolute
conviction that God is able, coupled with humble submission to His sovereignty
in the exercise of His power. The man
knew that Jesus was not obligated to heal him, but he also knew that He was
perfectly capable of doing it. He had
the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who declared to Nebuchadnezzar, ‘If
it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of
blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to
you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden
image that you have set up’ (Dan. 3:17-18).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Come to Jesus in the same way that this man
did.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord that He will bring those to
our prayer meeting for revival the ones He wants there.
3/24/2021 4:51 PM
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