He Makes All Things New – 9/22/24

Good morning, Church. How are we? Let’s turn in our Bibles to Matthew 8. Leprosy. What a fun way to start. What is leprosy? Well, leprosy is a horrible disease that has plagued millions of people since the beginning of time. Leprosy is mentioned all throughout the Bible, sometimes in reference to the Law. Sometimes God uses leprosy as a punishment, and sometimes God uses it to show his power. The first mention of leprosy in the Bible is in Exodus 4, when God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses was hesitant and told God,

“They will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”

But in Exodus 4:6-7, God gave Moses a powerful sign to show him that the Lord did indeed appear to him.

“Again, the Lord said to him, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ And he put his hand inside his cloak. And when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, ‘Put your hand back inside your cloak.’ So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold it was restored like the rest of his flesh.”

Later in the chapter, Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the people of Israel and showed them the signs that God commanded. What was the result?

“Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.”

In the ancient world it was widely accepted that leprosy was an incurable disease. Only God could cure it. Thus, when the people of Israel saw Moses’ sign, they instantly knew it was a sign from God.

But what do people in the modern world have to say about leprosy? I found a weird source, “The New Zealand Herald.” Great article, but kind of a weird source. But it reads this:

“Leprosy is a dreaded affliction which mutilates and causes horrible disfigurement and was believed to be highly contagious. The name of those afflicted with the disease – lepers –  is associated with social outcasts, the ‘unclean’ and those who must be shunned from society and disowned by their ashamed relatives. It carries such a stigma that it was known as ‘the living death’, its victims given funeral services to declare them ‘dead’ to society and relatives allowed to claim their inheritances.

“In Medieval times, sufferers were banished to leper colonies, condemned to wander the roads wearing a sign or ringing bells to warn healthy people of their approach.

“In the modern era leper colonies were set up on islands which became known as ‘Islands of Death’ from which lepers often never returned.

“Many people believe that leprosy is an ancient disease long eradicated from the face of the earth. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Every two minutes, one more person is diagnosed with leprosy, International Leprosy Awareness Charity lepra.org.uk says:

“Each day, 600 new lepers, including 50 children, are diagnosed. But ‘due to fear and lack of knowledge’ more than three million people around the world live with undiagnosed leprosy.”

Although the article goes on to say that leprosy has been mostly eradicated, and there is a cure, the article does not short change the fact that leprosy has and still affects millions around the world.

Why do I tell you any of this? Well, in the account we are about to examine from Matthew 8, there is a leprous man that comes to Jesus and asks for healing. Let’s look at our text for today.

“When he came down the mountain, great crowds followed him.  And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him saying, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, ‘See, that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.’”

For today, I want to break this passage into three big points:

1. The Request

2. The Response

3. The Restoration

But before we get into any of this, I want to point out a major transition in Jesus’ ministry that has just occurred. If you’ve been here for the last six and a half months and a lot before that, we have been in the book of Matthew, in our “Behold the King” sermon series. For the last six and a half months, we have been going through the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has just laid out pretty plain and simple, who he is, what he says, what he commands, where his authority comes from, and how he came to fulfill the Law. And if you’re anything like me, a lot of that information is really hard to digest. It’s complex. Sometimes it’s hard to hear. But Jesus in his grace and in his mercy, over the next few chapters in the book of Matthew, lives out what he preached in the Sermon on the Mount, shows his disciples how to live, and who he is, and what he means by what he says.

So let’s call chapters 5-7 “Jesus’ words” and 8 and beyond “his works.” There’s not a lot of that in today’s sermon, but I want us to kind of have a picture of what that looks like for going forward. There are going to be a lot of sermons where that matters a lot more. And I think it helps us to have a better picture of what Jesus is trying to communicate to us.

1. Request

But for today, let’s start with the request. Matthew 8:1,

“When he came down the mountain, great crowds followed him.”

The first thing I want to look at is the setting. In a parallel passage from Luke 5, the Bible says,

“While Jesus was in one of the cities…”

which tells us that Jesus was in a crowded area and a place where lepers should not be. The Old Testament law gave strict instructions for how lepers were to be treated. The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook puts it this way:

“Persons diagnosed with this condition in the Old Testament were to wear torn clothing, leave their hair hanging loose, cover their mouth, and live apart from the community of God’s people.

“Because the afflicted person or object was removed from the community of God’s people, leprosy was associated with divine judgment.”

In other words, leprosy was effectively a death sentence.

“He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

Pretty grim stuff. The text states there were great crowds and this took place “in one of the cities.” What we should gather from this is obviously the fact that the leper should not have been in the crowded area where Jesus was. This was against what he was supposed to do, but I think it is a clue as to how much faith the leper had that Jesus could heal him. Matthew 8:2:

“And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’”

The word “behold,” I want to point this out, the word “behold” is essentially used as an attention grabber. Matthew is trying to draw our attention into this verse. This is a very important moment in this passage because it’s socially unacceptable, right? The normal thing to do if a leper came into a crowded area would be to run, to flee, to get away from him. But he’s trying to point this out so that when we see what Jesus does, it means that much more.

The leper knelt before Jesus. In Luke 5:12, it also says,

“He fell on his face and begged him.”

Also, the fact that he called him “Lord” shows us that he recognized who he was talking to. The leper asked Jesus to heal him by saying, “if you will.” What I need to point out here is what the word will actually meant in Greek. The word translates to “desire.” The leper was asking Jesus if it was his desire to heal him. Now let’s look at Jesus’ response.

2. The response.

Matthew 8:3:

“And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will, be clean.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

Jesus touching the man is extremely important for two big reasons.

1. Jesus shows us his power over physical disease.

In 2 Kings 5:1-14, the Bible tells of a man named Naaman, who was the commander of the army of the king of Syria. He was afflicted with leprosy, but had a servant girl from Israel who served in Naaman’s household. She told her master of a prophet in Samaria, Elisha, who could heal him. Naaman went to the king of Syria and told him what he had heard. The king then sent gifts and a letter to the king of Israel.

“And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of leprosy.’ And when the king of Israel read this letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends words to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider and see how he is seeking to quarrel with me.’”

What a fascinating response. The king of Syria sends a letter to the king of Israel and simply asks him to heal a man of leprosy. And what does the king do? He tears his clothes and is like, “Do you think I’m God? Who do you think I am?” He equates killing a man and raising him from the dead to healing leprosy. And then he goes as far as to say, only consider, he’s trying to fight with me. This is one of them guys. This is that uncle at Thanksgiving that brings up politics. Come on. What I find interesting about this is how adamant the king was that only God could heal physical leprosy. And Jesus, he did just that.

2.  Jesus shows us his heart.

As Dane Ortlund puts it in his book “Gentle and Lowly,”

“When the leper says, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean,’ Jesus immediately stretches out his hand and touches him, with the words, ‘I will, be clean.’ The word ‘will’ in both the leper’s request and in Jesus’ answer is the Greek word for wish or desire. The leper was asking about Jesus’ deepest desire. And Jesus revealed his deepest desire by healing him.”

This is our behold moment. Just take a minute and think about this. A man who has leprosy, a man who is in his most vulnerable state, he is practically nothing to society. He is literally considered dead. His relatives have probably already run off with his fortune. He’s nothing. And he comes to Jesus, and he falls on his face and says, “Lord, if you desire, you can make me clean.” And what does Jesus do? Without hesitation, without consulting anyone, immediately reaches out and says, “I desire, be clean.”

Jesus shows us who he is right here. Jesus shows us why he came. Jesus desires to heal you. He desires to make you well. He desires to reveal himself to you and show you his goodness. And all we have to do is come to him. This reminds me of James 4:8 which says,

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

Not only does Jesus heal this man, he restores him.

3. The Restoration.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” (Matthew 8:4)

Why did Jesus send him to the priest? Two reasons.

1. Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. He expanded on the law and submitted to it. Matthew 5:17,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

This is an example of what I was talking about earlier with words to works. Jesus in a really small way in this passage is showing us that he came to fulfill the Law and not to throw it away. He’s living out what he preached in Matthew 5.

2. In his goodness, Jesus wanted to “resocialize” the man.

Leviticus 14:20 says,

“And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus, the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.”

In this story, Jesus shows us that his true desire is to draw close to us. By responding and restoring this leper, he shows us who he is and what he desires. And I just want to say this. I know, without knowing, there are people in this room who have been through it this last week, this last month, this last year, many years. You’re struggling with something; could be sickness, family, friends, spouse. And you have on multiple occasions come to Jesus and fallen on your face and said, “Lord, God help me. Be with me. Walk with me. Heal me.” And you don’t feel him there.

Brothers and sisters, this is a hard thing that we have to wrestle with. Our world is so dark. Our hearts are dark. Our flesh is dark. It is wicked. And sometimes in our evil and in our wickedness, it is so hard to see the Father’s light. And we cry out to him and say, “Father, God, show me you were there.”

But in this passage, Jesus did just that. Throughout the Bible Jesus does that. On the cross, Jesus did that. Jesus is there. He is right beside you. He is working in your heart. He is healing you. He is making us new. And even though we can’t always feel it, we can’t always see it, let us be filled with the joy that we know that he is making us new. I want to end with this. Revelation 21: 1-5:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. And he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.’ And the one seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.’”

The one who is seated on the throne most high, the one who created this universe with his very breath, the one whom hung on a cross because he loves you that much, the one whom all creation longs for, it holds its breath for, that God said, “I made things new and I make things new. And I will make all things new.” Amen? Let’s pray.

Father God, we are so broken. Our hearts are wicked and our flesh is wicked. And just like that leper, we struggle with, not physical leprosy, but spiritual leprosy. We have a sickness that we can’t shake, and it weighs on all of us. God, show us who you are. Show us that you came to remake us. To renew us. So that one day we might live with you in your glory and peace.

God, I want to pray for anyone in this room who is struggling with something. God, they might not be able to see you, and the enemy uses that for his advantage. God, let today be the day their eyes are opened again to see who you are and that you are right there, and you are working.

And God, I pray if there’s anyone in this room who has not accepted you as their Savior, God, I pray today will be the day that they let the Builder in and they let him build his house. We love you, Father. We long for you. Thank you for who you are and what you did on that cross and what you still do today. Thank you for giving us a second chance, so we might see you again. We love you, Father. Thank you. Amen.