Matthew 8:2-4 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Good morning! I hope this passage helps you get a good start to your day and reminds you of the power of our God!

In this section of scripture, Jesus had just done teaching with authority to the multitudes, and now many of them followed him when a man with leprosy came to Jesus with a great sense of need and desperation. In the ancient world, leprosy was a terrible, destructive disease that left the affected with no hope of getting better. It is said that leprosy might begin with losing all sensation in some part of the body; the nerve trunks are affected; the muscles waste away; the tendons contract until the hands are like claws, and it progresses throughout the body, slowly leading to death. It is a terrible progressive death in which a man dies by inches. In the Middle Ages, if a man became a leper, he was brought to the church and read a burial service over him. For all human purposes, the man was dead.

I want us to compare the condition of leprosy to the model of sin and its effects. Sin starts out small, and little by little, it begins numbing our spiritual senses. It has a destructive effect and, over time, will destroy us just as leprosy will. The more time we spend living in sin, the further it drives a wedge between us and God; just how as leprosy progresses, it pushes the affected further and further away from life. For all human purposes, you are as good as dead with leprosy; sin is just the same. You are just a dead man walking in need of divine intervention.

We need to view sin as a disease that it is and turn to our only source of hope to be made clean, and that is Jesus. The sinful condition we have inherited from birth is leading us to death. We have been afflicted with sin since the fall of man in the garden. We must acknowledge our sickness and turn to Jesus for cleansing. There’s nothing we can do about it other than call on the name of Jesus!

 I pray this passage has encouraged you to steer away from sin as much as possible and cling tightly to Jesus. Only through Him are we made clean and can stand righteously before God. What a powerful God we serve!

-Tyler