Chapter 27
Thou Canst Make Me Clean
OF all diseases known in the East the
leprosy was most dreaded. Its incurable and contagious character, and its horrible effect
upon its victims, filled the bravest with fear. Among the Jews it was regarded as a
judgment on account of sin, and hence was called "the stroke," "the finger
of God." Deep-rooted, ineradicable, deadly, it was looked upon as a symbol of sin. By
the ritual law, the leper was pronounced unclean. Like one already dead, he was shut out
from the habitations of men. Whatever he touched was unclean. The air was polluted by his
breath. One who was suspected of having the disease must present himself to the priests,
who were to examine and decide his case. If pronounced a leper, he was isolated from his
family, cut off from the congregation of Israel, and was doomed to associate with those
only who were similarly afflicted. The law was inflexible in its requirement. Even kings
and rulers were not exempt. A monarch who was attacked by this terrible disease must yield
up the scepter, and flee from society.
Away from his friends and his
kindred, the leper must bear the curse of his malady. He was obliged to publish his own
calamity, to rend his garments, and sound the alarm, warning all to flee from his
contaminating presence. The cry, "Unclean! unclean!" coming in mournful tones
from the lonely exile, was a signal heard with fear and abhorrence.
In the region of Christ's
ministry, there were many of these sufferers, and the news of His work reached them,
kindling a gleam of hope. But since the days of Elisha the prophet, such a thing had never
been known
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as the cleansing of one upon whom this disease had fastened. They dared not
expect Jesus to do for them what He had never done for any man. There was one, however, in
whose heart faith began to spring up. Yet the man knew not how to reach Jesus. Debarred as
he was from contact with his fellow men, how could he present himself to the Healer? And
he questioned if Christ would heal him . Would He stoop to notice one believed to be
suffering under the judgment of God? Would He not, like the Pharisees, and even the
physicians, pronounce a curse upon him, and warn him to flee from the haunts of men? He
thought of all that had been told him of Jesus. Not one who had sought His help had been
turned away. The wretched man determined to find the Saviour. Though shut out from the
cities, it might be that he could cross His path in some byway along the mountain roads,
or find Him as He was teaching outside the towns. The difficulties were great, but this
was his only hope.
The leper is guided to the
Saviour. Jesus is teaching beside the lake, and the people are gathered about Him.
Standing afar off, the leper catches a few words from the Saviour's lips. He sees Him
laying His hands upon the sick. He sees the lame, the blind, the paralytic, and those
dying of various maladies rise up in health, praising God for their deliverance. Faith
strengthens in his heart. He draws nearer and yet nearer to the gathered throng. The
restrictions laid upon him, the safety of the people, and the fear with which all men
regard him are forgotten. He thinks only of the blessed hope of healing.
He is a loathsome spectacle.
The disease has made frightful inroads, and his decaying body is horrible to look upon. At
sight of him the people fall back in terror. They crowd upon one another in their
eagerness to escape from contact with him. Some try to prevent him from approaching Jesus,
but in vain. He neither sees nor hears them. Their expressions of loathing are lost upon
him. He sees only the Son of God. He hears only the voice that speaks life to the dying.
Pressing to Jesus, he casts himself at His feet with the cry, "Lord, if Thou wilt,
Thou canst make me clean."
Jesus replied, "I will;
be thou made clean," and laid His hand upon him. Matt. 8:3, R. V.
Immediately a change passed
over the leper. His flesh became healthy, the nerves sensitive, the muscles firm. The
rough, scaly surface peculiar to leprosy disappeared, and a soft glow, like that upon the
skin of a healthy child, took its place.
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Jesus charged the man not to
make known the work that had been wrought, but straightway to present himself with an
offering at the temple. Such an offering could not be accepted until the priests had made
examination and pronounced the man wholly free from the disease. However unwilling they
might be to perform this service, they could not evade an examination and decision of the
case.
The words of Scripture show
with what urgency Christ enjoined upon the man the necessity of silence and prompt action.
"He straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; and saith unto him, See thou
say nothing to any man: but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy
cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them." Had the
priests known the facts concerning the healing of the leper, their hatred of Christ might
have led them to render a dishonest sentence. Jesus desired the man to present himself at
the temple before any rumors concerning the miracle had reached them. Thus an impartial
decision could be secured, and the restored leper would be permitted to unite once more
with his family and friends.
There were other objects
which Christ had in view in enjoining silence on the man. The Saviour knew that His
enemies were ever seeking to limit His work, and to turn the people from Him. He knew that
if the healing of the leper were noised abroad, other sufferers from this terrible disease
would crowd about Him, and the cry would be raised that the people would be contaminated
by contact with them. Many of the lepers would not so use the gift of health as to make it
a blessing to themselves or to others. And by drawing the lepers about Him, He would give
occasion for the charge that He was breaking down the restrictions of the ritual law. Thus
His work in preaching the gospel would be hindered.
The event justified Christ's
warning. A multitude of people had witnessed the healing of the leper, and they were eager
to learn of the priests' decision. When the man returned to his friends, there was great
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excitement. Notwithstanding the caution of Jesus, the man made no further effort to
conceal the fact of his cure. It would indeed have been impossible to conceal it, but the
leper published the matter abroad. Conceiving that it was only the modesty of Jesus which
laid this restriction upon him, he went about proclaiming the power of this Great Healer.
He did not understand that every such manifestation made the priests and elders more
determined to destroy Jesus. The restored man felt that the boon of health was very
precious. He rejoiced in the vigor of manhood, and in his restoration to his family and
society, and felt it impossible to refrain from giving glory to the Physician who had made
him whole. But his act in blazing abroad the matter resulted in hindering the Saviour's
work. It caused the people to flock to Him in such multitudes that He was forced for a
time to cease His labors.
Every act of Christ's
ministry was far-reaching in its purpose. It comprehended more than appeared in the act
itself. So in the case of the leper. While Jesus ministered to all who came unto Him, He
yearned to bless those who came not. While He drew the publicans, the heathen, and the
Samaritans, He longed to reach the priests and teachers who were shut in by prejudice and
tradition. He left untried no means by which they might be reached. In sending the healed
leper to the priests, He gave them a testimony calculated to disarm their prejudices.
The Pharisees had asserted
that Christ's teaching was opposed to the law which God had given through Moses; but His
direction to the cleansed leper to present an offering according to the law disproved this
charge. It was sufficient testimony for all who were willing to be convinced.
The leaders at Jerusalem had
sent out spies to find some pretext for putting Christ to death. He responded by giving
them an evidence of His love for humanity, His respect for the law, and His power to
deliver from sin and death. Thus He bore witness of them: "They have rewarded Me evil
for good, and hatred for My love." Ps. 109:5. He who on the mount gave the precept,
"Love your enemies," Himself exemplified the principle, not rendering "evil
for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing." Matt. 5:44; 1 Peter
3:9.
The same priests who
condemned the leper to banishment certified his cure. This sentence, publicly pronounced
and registered, was a standing testimony for Christ. And as the healed man was reinstated
in the congregation of Israel, upon the priests' own assurance that there
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was not a taint
of the disease upon him, he himself was a living witness for his Benefactor. Joyfully he
presented his offering, and magnified the name of Jesus. The priests were convinced of the
divine power of the Saviour. Opportunity was granted them to know the truth and to be
profited by the light. Rejected, it would pass away, never to return. By many the light
was rejected; yet it was not given in vain. Many hearts were moved that for a time made no
sign. During the Saviour's life, His mission seemed to call forth little response of love
from the priests and teachers; but after His ascension "a great company of the
priests were obedient to the faith." Acts 6:7.
The work of Christ in
cleansing the leper from his terrible disease is an illustration of His work in cleansing
the soul from sin. The man who came to Jesus was "full of leprosy." Its deadly
poison permeated his whole body. The disciples sought to prevent their Master from
touching him; for he who touched a leper became himself unclean. But in laying His hand
upon the leper, Jesus received no defilement. His touch imparted life-giving power. The
leprosy was cleansed. Thus it is with the leprosy of sin,--deep-rooted, deadly, and
impossible to be cleansed by human power. "The whole head is sick, and the whole
heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but
wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores." Isa. 1:5, 6. But Jesus, coming to dwell
in humanity, receives no pollution. His presence has healing virtue for the sinner.
Whoever will fall at His feet, saying in faith, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make
me clean," shall hear the answer, "I will; be thou made clean." Matt. 8:2,
3, R. V.
In some instances of healing,
Jesus did not at once grant the blessing sought. But in the case of leprosy, no sooner was
the appeal made than it was granted. When we pray for earthly blessings, the answer to our
prayer may be delayed, or God may give us something other than we ask, but not so when we
ask for deliverance from sin. It is His will to cleanse us from sin, to make us His
children, and to enable us to live a holy life. Christ "gave Himself for our sins,
that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and
our Father." Gal. 1:4. And "this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if
we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." 1 John
5:14, 15. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
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In the healing of the
paralytic at Capernaum, Christ again taught the same truth. It was to manifest His power
to forgive sins that the miracle was performed. And the healing of the paralytic also
illustrates other precious truths. It is full of hope and encouragement, and from its
connection with the caviling Pharisees it has a lesson of warning as well.
Like the leper, this
paralytic had lost all hope of recovery. His disease was the result of a life of sin, and
his sufferings were embittered by remorse. He had long before appealed to the Pharisees
and doctors, hoping for relief from mental suffering and physical pain. But they coldly
pronounced him incurable, and abandoned him to the wrath of God. The Pharisees regarded
affliction as an evidence of divine displeasure, and they held themselves aloof from the
sick and the needy. Yet often these very ones who exalted themselves as holy were more
guilty than the sufferers they condemned.
The palsied man was entirely
helpless, and, seeing no prospect of aid from any quarter, he had sunk into despair. Then
he heard of the wonderful works of Jesus. He was told that others as sinful and helpless
as he had been healed; even lepers had been cleansed. And the friends who reported these
things encouraged him to believe that he too might be cured if he could be carried to
Jesus. But his hope fell when he remembered how the disease had been brought upon him. He
feared that the pure Physician would not tolerate him in His presence.
Yet it was not physical
restoration he desired so much as relief from the burden of sin. If he could see Jesus,
and receive the assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven, he would be content to
live or die, according to God's will. The cry of the dying man was, Oh that I might come
into His presence! There was no time to lose; already his wasted flesh was showing signs
of decay. He besought his friends to carry him on his bed to Jesus, and this they gladly
undertook to do. But so dense was the crowd that had assembled in and about the house
where the Saviour was, that it was impossible for the sick man and his friends to reach
Him, or even to come within hearing of His voice.
Jesus was teaching in the
house of Peter. According to their custom, His disciples sat close about Him, and
"there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every
town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem." These had come as spies, seeking an
accusation against Jesus. Outside of these officials thronged the promiscuous multitude,
the eager, the reverent, the curious, and the unbelieving. Different
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nationalities and all
grades of society were represented. "And the power of the Lord was present to
heal." The Spirit of life brooded over the assembly, but Pharisees and doctors did
not discern its presence. They felt no sense of need, and the healing was not for them.
"He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty
away." Luke 1:53.
Again and again the bearers
of the paralytic tried to push their way through the crowd, but in vain. The sick man
looked about him in unutterable anguish. When the longed-for help was so near, how could
he relinquish hope? At his suggestion his friends bore him to the top of the house and,
breaking up the roof, let him down at the feet of Jesus. The discourse was interrupted.
The Saviour looked upon the mournful countenance, and saw the pleading eyes fixed upon
Him. He understood the case; He had drawn to Himself that perplexed and doubting spirit.
While the paralytic was yet at home, the Saviour had brought conviction to his conscience.
When he repented of his sins, and believed in the power of Jesus to make him whole, the
life-giving mercies of the Saviour had first blessed his longing heart. Jesus had watched
the first glimmer of faith grow into a belief that He was the sinner's only helper, and
had seen it grow stronger with every effort to come into His presence.
Now, in words that fell like
music on the sufferer's ear, the Saviour said, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be
forgiven thee."
The burden of despair rolls
from the sick man's soul; the peace of forgiveness rests upon his spirit, and shines out
upon his countenance. His physical pain is gone, and his whole being is transformed. The
helpless paralytic is healed! the guilty sinner is pardoned!
In simple faith he accepted
the words of Jesus as the boon of new life. He urged no further request, but lay in
blissful silence, too happy for words. The light of heaven irradiated his countenance, and
the people looked with awe upon the scene.
The rabbis had waited
anxiously to see what disposition Christ would make of this case. They recollected how the
man had appealed to them for help, and they had refused him hope or sympathy. Not
satisfied with this, they had declared that he was suffering the curse of God for his
sins. These things came fresh to their minds when they saw the sick man before them. They
marked the interest with which all were watching the scene, and they felt a terrible fear
of losing their own influence over the people.
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These dignitaries did not
exchange words together, but looking into one another's faces they read the same thought
in each, that something must be done to arrest the tide of feeling. Jesus had declared
that the sins of the paralytic were forgiven. The Pharisees caught at these words as
blasphemy, and conceived that they could present this as a sin worthy of death. They said
in their hearts, "He blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but One, even God?" Mark
2:7, R. V.
Fixing His glance upon them,
beneath which they cowered, and drew back, Jesus said, "Wherefore think ye evil in
your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise,
and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive
sins," He said, turning to the paralytic, "Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto
thine house."
Then he who had been borne on
a litter to Jesus rises to his feet with the elasticity and strength of youth. The
life-giving blood bounds through his veins. Every organ of his body springs into sudden
activity. The glow of health succeeds the pallor of approaching death. "And
immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they
were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion."
Oh, wondrous love of Christ,
stooping to heal the guilty and the afflicted! Divinity sorrowing over and soothing the
ills of suffering humanity! Oh, marvelous power thus displayed to the children of men! Who
can doubt the message of salvation? Who can slight the mercies of a compassionate
Redeemer?
It required nothing less than
creative power to restore health to that decaying body. The same voice that spoke life to
man created from
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the dust of the earth had spoken life to the dying paralytic. And the
same power that gave life to the body had renewed the heart. He who at the creation
"spake, and it was," who "commanded, and it stood fast," (Ps. 33:9),
had spoken life to the soul dead in trespasses and sins. The healing of the body was an
evidence of the power that had renewed the heart. Christ bade the paralytic arise and
walk, "that ye may know," He said, "that the Son of man hath power on earth
to forgive sins."
The paralytic found in Christ
healing for both the soul and the body. The spiritual healing was followed by physical
restoration. This lesson should not be overlooked. There are today thousands suffering
from physical disease, who, like the paralytic, are longing for the message, "Thy
sins are forgiven." The burden of sin, with its unrest and unsatisfied desires, is
the foundation of their maladies. They can find no relief until they come to the Healer of
the soul. The peace which He alone can give, would impart vigor to the mind, and health to
the body.
Jesus came to "destroy
the works of the devil." "In Him was life," and He says, "I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." He is
"a quickening spirit." 1 John 3:8; John 1:4; 10:10; 1 Cor. 15:45. And He still
has the same life-giving power as when on earth He healed the sick, and spoke forgiveness
to the sinner. He "forgiveth all thine iniquities," He "healeth all thy
diseases." Ps. 103:3.
The effect produced upon the
people by the healing of the paralytic was as if heaven had opened, and revealed the
glories of the better world. As the man who had been cured passed through the multitude,
blessing God at every step, and bearing his burden as if it were a feather's weight, the
people fell back to give him room, and with awe-stricken faces gazed upon him, whispering
softly among themselves, "We have seen strange things today."
The Pharisees were dumb with
amazement and overwhelmed with defeat. They saw that here was no opportunity for their
jealousy to inflame the multitude. The wonderful work wrought upon the man whom they had
given over to the wrath of God had so impressed the people that the rabbis were for the
time forgotten. They saw that Christ possessed a power which they had ascribed to God
alone; yet the gentle dignity of His manner was in marked contrast to their own haughty
bearing. They were disconcerted and abashed, recognizing, but not confessing, the presence
of a superior being. The stronger the evidence that Jesus had power on earth to forgive
sins, the more firmly
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they entrenched themselves in unbelief. From the home of Peter,
where they had seen the paralytic restored by His word, they went away to invent new
schemes for silencing the Son of God.
Physical disease, however
malignant and deep-seated, was healed by the power of Christ; but the disease of the soul
took a firmer hold upon those who closed their eyes against the light. Leprosy and palsy
were not so terrible as bigotry and unbelief.
In the home of the healed
paralytic there was great rejoicing when he returned to his family, carrying with ease the
couch upon which he had been slowly borne from their presence but a short time before.
They gathered round with tears of joy, scarcely daring to believe their eyes. He stood
before them in the full vigor of manhood. Those arms that they had seen lifeless were
quick to obey his will. The flesh that had been shrunken and leaden-hued was now fresh and
ruddy. He walked with a firm, free step. Joy and hope were written in every lineament of
his countenance; and an expression of purity and peace had taken the place of the marks of
sin and suffering. Glad thanksgiving went up from that home, and God was glorified through
His Son, who had restored hope to the hopeless, and strength to the stricken one. This man
and his family were ready to lay down their lives for Jesus. No doubt dimmed their faith,
no unbelief marred their fealty to Him who had brought light into their darkened home.
