Well, we are studying in the book of Mark, the Gospel according to Mark. In each of the four Gospels, their records are designated as the Gospel of, the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, of Luke, of John, and each of them center their Gospel account. Luke gives us a summary statement of his Gospel in the opening chapter, verse 1, of Acts chapter 1 when he says this, All that Jesus began both to do and to teach. Now, although Luke speaks concerning his Gospel account, the same could be said by the others.
The Gospels are the record concerning the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and specifically the record of what he did and what he said. That's critical to our understanding. And with that in mind, as we come to our text this morning, we are going to come to the end of chapter 1, we see that double emphasis about what Jesus teaches and what he does. Now, all of Mark chapter 1 takes place in the duration of about a year.
We can kind of get lost with that. We're only in chapter 1 and we think, well, these are the early days of Jesus's ministry. No, actually about a year has taken place, has gone by from the beginning of his ministry to the present time. We would be, I say, a little bit more conscious of that when we realize that Luke addresses these same events in Luke chapter 4 and Luke chapter 5. Matthew addresses them in chapter 8 so we can see, well, they're getting on in their Gospel account. We see the reason for Christ's enormous popularity.
And it was twofold. It was, I think, primarily, mostly because of the miracles that he performed. But secondarily, it was his teaching, his preaching ministry. You remember the reaction of those in the synagogue when Jesus went in and took the scriptures and read the scriptures and expounded the scriptures and applied the scriptures. What authority is this?
What doctrine is this? They were astonished. So it wasn't as though everything was dominated by his miracles. No, there was this teaching aspect that also contributed to his popularity. But that, you remember, I kind of framed the three plus year ministry of Christ. There was the time of inauguration. There was the year of inauguration beginning, then a year of popularity, and then a year of opposition.
And we are moving toward the end of that popularity where the opposition begins to manifest itself and continue to build an increase. So let's look together today from Mark chapter 1 beginning at verse 35. The verse begins, now in the morning.
Now in the morning. I think it's helpful to think through the previous day. What happened in the day before? Well, you remember, Mark gives this account where he went into the synagogue at Capernaum with his disciples, and there he preached with power, cast out a demon. In the afternoon, they went to Peter's house, he and some of the other disciples, and Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law.
They, no doubt, were refreshed and served by Peter's mother-in-law, ate a meal together. In the evening, we're told in verse 34 that he healed all manner of diseases and cast out many demons. So the day before was a very exhausting, demanding day of ministry upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 35 says, now in the morning, a long while before daylight, he went out and departed to a solitary place, and there he prayed. A long time before daylight.
We don't know exactly when he arose, but a good while before daylight. You know, as men and women of God, if we are going to be men and women of prayer and of devotion and of Bible study, we're going to have to esteem our quiet time above our sleep to a degree. I'm not saying that we ought to cheat ourselves on sleep, but the best part of the day for most people is the beginning of the day. We're the strongest, we are the most alert, the demands of the day haven't wore us out, we're not fatigued at the end of the day. The beginning of the day, we rise from rest. And God has designed our bodies to require rest. A certain number of hours is customary for good health and maintenance of life.
But if we do not discipline our life to go to bed early in the evening, we're going to have a hard time getting up in the morning. So it's a matter of intentional discipline of our life. And we see that here in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a repeated pattern of his life.
Think with me about these various occasions. When he was baptized in Luke chapter 3 verse 21, we are told that he was praying. When he was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration, we're told that as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed.
Luke 9 29, before he chose the 12 apostles, we're told. He spent the night praying to his father in Luke 6 verse 12. When the people were clamoring and wanting to make him a king, we're told he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
Matthew 14 verse 23, when tempted in the garden at Gethsemane, he said, sit here while I pray. The Lord Jesus Christ was a man of prayer. You say, well, he was God come in the flesh.
Yes, he was. But he was also manifested himself not only in his deity, but in his humanity. And my thought here is if he who was holy, blameless, and set apart from sinners, prayed continually like this, how much more should we who are sinners and subjected to weakness and spiritual warfare on every front be given to this discipline of prayer? So we see the priority of prayer here in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see, number two, the essentials of prayer. What are the essentials of prayer?
Well, excuse me for being so simple, but it requires time. It requires solitude. What are the two great essentials for a quiet time?
Think hard. Quiet and time. You say, thank you, Captain Obvious.
Sometimes we need Captain Obvious to speak, right? The essentials of prayer requires time. It is maintained by deliberate, intentional planning and effort. You don't plan to do it.
You will at best be very sporadic in it. So that's my challenge to you in regards to your prayer life. Let's be men and women who are noted for consistently seeking the Lord, demonstrating our dependence upon him by seeking him in prayer. And when we pray, we're not only looking for his help, but we worship him in prayer. We acknowledge his sovereign rule over our lives.
We're encouraged. We get direction as we pray. No doubt, prayer contributed significantly to his powerful ministry.
The account continues. We're told that Peter and the others rose later in the morning. We don't know how much later after Jesus arose, but they rose and discovered that Jesus was not in the house and they began to search for him.
Notice verse thirty six and thirty seven. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him. And we don't know for certain, but I think it's pretty obvious that Jesus probably spent the night. He went to Simon's house.
He healed Simon's mother-in-law. They ate a meal there. He probably spent the night, slept there in the house, rose early. And here Peter, Simon and others searched for him. And when they found him, they said to him, everyone is looking for you.
So it would seem to me that they woke probably after daylight. And what's happened? Well, Jesus's popularity has spread. People have gathered at Simon's house because word has come. Jesus is there. And there's this group of people, no doubt with various needs outside Peter's house. And Peter, he looks around and goes, Jesus, help!
He wasn't prepared to address those needs. He knew only Jesus could. So they went looking for Jesus. And I think there probably was a sense of desperation as they sought him. And when they found him, verse thirty seven says, they said to him, everyone is looking for you. But he said to them, let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.
Well, come forth from where? I think what is implied here is I have come forth from heaven itself for this purpose to preach. Having had his prayer time interrupted by Peter and the others and the demands of ministry awaiting him, Jesus says, let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth. So what gave direction and brought clarity and purpose to Christ's life? He was clear about his purpose. His purpose in coming from heaven to earth was to preach. And I find it interesting that that's what he says and not to perform miracles. So I think his purpose was to come to preach primarily and only secondarily to perform miracles.
Because people love to chase the spectacular. You remember feeding of the five thousand, multitude sought him. Where were they in the upper room? All these people that sought Jesus for a meal. They're searching after him, seeking after him, wasn't out of great spiritual need.
They were interested in getting their bellies filled. Now, the miracle did serve a purpose. All those miracles served a purpose. They confirmed, they attested that Jesus was who he claimed to be.
You cannot read the I am statements that Jesus makes in the gospel of John and see that they're accompanied by miraculous power. I am the light of the world. John Chapter nine. What does he do? He restores sight to a blind man. I am the bread of heaven. What does he do? He feeds the multitudes. I am the resurrection and the life. What does he do? Raises Lazarus from the dead.
And we could go on. The miracles attested that Jesus was who he claimed to be. They were confirming.
So they're only secondary. Primarily, his purpose in coming was to preach. And I thought a good bit about this. Christ elevates in our minds the calling and the exercise of preaching and the accomplishment of God's purpose in this sinful, broken world. It was by preaching that the church was established. It is by preaching the church's health is maintained. It is by preaching that saints are fed and build up in the most holy faith.
But think with me. This is the king of kings and the Lord of lords coming from the glories of heaven. For what purpose? He says here to preach. To preach. I don't know where preaching is in terms of your sense of priority, but we don't need anything more than the words of the Lord Jesus here.
I am humbled. I am incredibly grateful that God called me to the ministry and assigned for me a responsibility to preach. I get to do what Jesus came to this earth to do. Preach. A few of us gathered here have the same calling that I have, but the vast majority of us do not. But does not dismiss or diminish the importance that preaching ought to have in your thinking. This is the primary means of grace for the people of God. So if you do not have a high view and a high appreciation for preaching, you need to rethink that.
Because Jesus has elevated it to a high degree by saying, for this purpose, I have come forth. Now, Mark's gospel makes a dramatic shift. Christ encounters a leper in verse 40. The account is recorded there in verses 40 through 45.
So let's give attention with the remainder of our time to this dramatic event. All three of the synoptic gospels record this. Matthew 8, 1 through 4, Luke 5, 12 through 16, and then Mark here, 40 through verse 45. And let me show you six things. In this account we will see, number one, the hopeful coming of the leper. Number two, the horrible condition of the leper. Number three, the incredible compassion of the Savior. Number four, the remarkable cure of the leper. Number five, the puzzling command of Christ. And last, the zealous disregard of the leper.
Let's walk through these points together. Number one, the hopeful coming of the leper. Verse 40 says, now a leper came to him. Well, where was this leper?
Well, what does the last verse of verse 39 say? And he was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out demons. So either en route to Galilee or as he moved from one preaching place to another in Galilee, he encounters this leper.
The hopeful coming of the leper. He took hope in Christ's concern and his power. What's strongly implied here is that the news and the reputation and the fame of Christ has come to him. That's the only explanation of why he's coming to Jesus. He's heard about this man. He's heard about the miracles. He's heard about the demons. He's heard about the demons being cast out.
And he breaks from societal norms and the laws of Moses restricting his activity in society. And he comes to Jesus. But I want you to notice the language here in verse 40. The single mindedness of this man in his coming.
I will emphasize it as I read verse 40 again. Now a leper came to him imploring him, kneeling down to him and saying to him, If you are willing, you can make me clean. This man came to the right person, didn't he? He came to Jesus. And folks, it's simple, but in our time of need, whether we're a sinner under the wrath and condemnation of God, or whether we're in a terrible strait, we need to get to Jesus.
We need to make that a habit. That needs to be our disposition. Coming to him, coming to him, imploring him, worshipping him, saying to him, this man did. Notice not only to whom he came, that is to Jesus, but notice the manner of his coming. What's the manner of his coming?
Number one, it's humble. He comes in humility. Mark says, now a leper came to him imploring him, kneeling down to him.
Luke tells us he fell on his face. Matthew tells us that he came and called Jesus Lord, Kurios. He not only came humbly, he came respectfully. He came, number three, imploringly. Now a leper came to him imploring him, begging him, an urgent appeal he was making. The manner of his coming, he came submissively.
He doesn't come making demands. He comes and says, if you are willing, if you are willing, we see his submission. And number five, we see him coming in the manner of faith.
If you are willing, you can make me clean. His faith is given voice. That's the hopeful coming of the leper. Notice with me number two, the horrible condition of the leper. The man had an incurable disease. That disease, most of us, what little bit we know of leprosy, we think, well, it attacks the extremities.
Well, it's far worse than that. It attacks the skin, the blood, the flesh, the bones. It's a horrific disease. He was ostracized from society. He lived in a separate house.
No one was permitted to touch him. It was a loathsome disease. His condition was horrible. Number three, notice the incredible compassion of the Savior. The incredible compassion of the Savior, verse 41, then Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I am willing, be cleansed. You know, compassion is not just an emotion. Compassion is an emotion that gives way to action.
If you're a compassionate person, you're going to feel something, but that sense of feeling, that emotion is going to motivate you to action. And it did here in the part of the Lord Jesus. And what action did this compassion produce in Jesus? He stretched out his hand and touched him. He touched him. What a tender picture of our Savior. He didn't keep his distance from him. He wasn't revolted by this man. He drew near to him.
He touched him. And the lepers question, if you are willing, is met with the divine will. I am willing, Jesus said. And then with the command, be cleansed, verse 41. I am willing, be cleansed. Now, you may have a question in your mind here. And I don't want to get lost on this.
But if the question rose in my mind, it may have risen in your mind. I thought the law of Moses prohibited anybody touching a lepers man. And that would be true. I thought Jesus came to fulfill all the law.
He didn't violate the law at any point. That would be true as well. So how do we reconcile the fact that he touched this man who was a leper?
We reconcile that by saying this. The will of Jesus to bring cleansing to the man. The man was already cleansed when Jesus touched him. It was that immediate. He wasn't a leper when Jesus touched him. That's how quickly the miracle took place.
And I could talk to you a good bit about the details of that. But that, I think, for our purposes and time needs to be sufficient. So we've seen the hopeful coming of the leper, the horrible condition of the leper, the incredible compassion of the Savior. Notice number four with me, the remarkable cure of the leper. By a word and a touch, there stands a man before our Lord, sound and healthy and free from this loathsome disease.
I love the word picture here from J.C. Ryle. Listen to what he says here. Quote, The morning sun rose upon him, a miserable being, more dead than alive. His whole frame a mass of sores and corruption, his very existence a burden.
The evening saw him full of hope and joy, free from pain and fit for society. Surely the change must have been like life from the dead. Yes, indeed. That brings us to the puzzling command of Christ. The puzzling command of Christ. Verse 43, And he, that is Jesus, strictly warned him and sent him away at once and said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded as a testimony to them. Those things which Moses commanded for a leper to be pronounced cleansed.
He was to come before the priest to be examined. Those instructions are in Leviticus chapter 14, one through seven. That's what Jesus was instructing him to do. But not only was he telling him to do that, but he says, Say nothing to anyone.
And we wonder, why? Why did Jesus tell the man, Do not tell anyone what has happened to you? I think it comes back to what we're told there in verse 38 where Jesus said, My purpose in coming from heaven was to preach. Jesus didn't come to be a miracle worker.
That confused an awful lot of people. People came to him simply to have healing, have a demon removed. People came out of curiosity to see a miracle performed. You remember how the religious leaders go to Jesus? Well, if you're the son of God, show us a miracle like he hadn't been performing miracles everywhere.
And they were in the crowd to try and discredit him. So Jesus wasn't going to play their game. So I think the puzzling command of Christ is explained because he was not first a miracle worker.
He was first a preacher. That was his purpose. And I think secondarily, it was to keep opposition from rising prematurely. As Jesus's popularity and fame increased, it became more of a threat to the religious establishment.
And the more that happened, the more determined they were that they could not coexist. Lastly, notice with me the zealous disregard of the leper. Again, let me read verse 44. Jesus said to him, see that you say nothing to anyone, but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded as a testimony to them.
However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the matter so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city but was outside in deserted places, and they came to him from every direction. What do we say about this zealous leper? We commend his zeal.
We can understand it. The man had known nothing but a life of misery, and he's been cleansed. He's been given a new lease on life. It's like being raised from the dead. He's now alive.
And if that's happened to you, why wouldn't you be compelled to run anywhere and everywhere and tell what had happened to you and who's responsible for it? So we can appreciate his zeal. However, he had zeal without knowledge. We cannot commend his blatant disregard of Christ's instruction. Jesus had reasons for telling him and restricting him in the way he did. And what was the result of this man's disregarding the instructions of Jesus? It caused Christ to adjust his ministry strategy. From that point forward, Jesus could no longer openly enter the city but was outside, it says, in deserted places, and they came to him from every direction. Others were prohibited from receiving from Jesus what this man had received. Now the question is, why is this miracle preserved? Why did all three synoptic gospels preserve it?
Why has God preserved it and given it to us? Well, if it's simply to learn some lessons about leprosy, very few people could relate to it. There is a disease known in our culture as Hansen's disease that's very similar to the leprosy of that time. But the point of this is there is a disease that plagues all people, and it's not leprosy. It is a universal condition. No one is immune from it.
All are affected by this disease. It is a deep-seated disease infecting every part of the human nature, the heart, the will, the understanding, the affections. It makes a person unfit for the company of God and for heaven itself. Sin, sin like leprosy, has no known physical cure. It is a glorious thing when a sinner is made aware of his hopeless condition apart from Christ. That is a work of the Spirit of God.
Jesus said, it's expedient that I go away because if I don't go away, the Spirit can't come. And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. That's the business of the Spirit of God, one of his ongoing activities in this world, coming to sinners and convicting them of sin and of righteousness. What do you mean of righteousness? Of their need of righteousness and their lack of righteousness and the kind mercy of God in providing the righteousness that he demands?
To convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, that there's judgment awaiting sinners. So happy indeed are those who have been taught to feel they are miserable sinners and that there is no health in them. Blessed indeed are those who have learned that they are spiritual lepers, sinful creatures.
One commentator said, to know our disease is the first step to the cure. It is the misery and ruin of many souls who have never seen themselves as sinners in need of divine cure. And what causes a person to evaluate their lives, however long they've lived, and draw the conclusion that they're not a sinner?
Well, several things have to be going on there. Number one, they've redefined sin. And number two, most likely they're comparing themselves with other people. I'm not a sinner in need of God's help. I didn't do... I'm not as bad as... I try and illustrate this with people.
I say, okay, let's just... The issue is you've fallen short of the mark. God has a standard. You have violated his law.
You are a law breaker. Well, let's suppose that there's this chasm, and it's 30 feet from this place to the other side to safety, and in between is a chasm. What difference does it make if your neighbor can jump 26 feet, and you can jump 28 feet? What difference does it make? Well, I jumped further than he did.
Well, where are you, and where is he? In the bottom of the chasm. There's a great chasm between a holy God and sinful men. And none of us can bridge that gap. That gap is bridged by the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the only bridge to heaven. So it's folly, it's deceptive to compare yourself with other people and find solace there, because we're all sinners, and it is appointed unto man wants to die, and after that the judgment. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
So what do I say as I bring this message to a close? Well, my prayer is that for sinners in our midst and those that we know and love, that the Spirit of God would work in them and bring them to the same conclusion that this leper was brought to. Now a leper came to him, imploring him, kneeling down to him and saying to him, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Come to Christ, go to him in faith, in humility, implore him for forgiveness and for cleansing. There is no heart disease so deep that he is not able to cure that sinner.
Look to Christ for cleansing and for forgiveness. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for our Savior in this beautiful picture of his compassion for the needy. And we're reminded that Jesus stands with open arms saying, come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Come to me! And may that blind and deaf and dead sinner hear the words of Christ and come. Come in humility. Come in faith and receive the forgiveness and the cleansing that only comes from him. Father, thank you for providing a Savior for sinners. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who is a perfect Savior. May all of us rejoice that know him in who he is and what he's done for us. And for those who do not know him, may they run to him and find in him even today the Savior of their soul. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
