Mark 1:40-45 Jesus the Great Physician
Title: The Great Physician and the Miracle Cure (Mark 1:40-45)
Focus Keyphrase: Healing, Great Physician
Excerpt: Jesus is willing to forgive and cleanse those who trust in him. The cure he offers is not just spiritual - it impacts every part of our lives.
Talking Points:
Discussion:
See Also:
Jesus is willing to forgive and cleanse those who come to him by faith. The right response for salvation is to be obedient to his commands.
Mark 1:40-45 (NLT) A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.
Mark 1:40 (NLT) A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.
(Teaching moment about leprosy.) Mainly affects the nerve endings in the body making it so that you can’t feel any pain. Pain is good because it causes you to protect and nurse wounds / injuries. When you can’t feel a burn, scrape, bruise it is left untreated. Start to lose fingers and toes. Skin infections happen from cuts and bruises. Nose deformity and loss of extremities.
Leprosy was an incurable disease. This man’s faith is proven by his statement that Jesus was able to heal him. There was no question of Jesus’s power but only his willingness. He kneels as a sign of respect and worship. This man knows who Jesus truly is. He knows of his power and authority. He comes by faith.
How did this man get to the point of desperation? In OT law he would have been an outcast. “Unclean’ is what he would have been labeled by his community.
Leviticus 13:45-46 (ESV) “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 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.
This man was self-loathing and alone. Hopeless. He wouldn’t have been able to have any close relationships. This disease ultimately kept him from being able to worship God.
(Illustration of this in modern day) My own sin and hopelessness from addiction.
Leprosy is analogous to sin. It is an incurable infection that affects every part of our lives: physical, mental, emotional, relational, spiritual etc. Sin causes so many harmful and unwanted circumstances. Disease and illness are ever present in us and people around us because of the Fall. Mental health issues are more common than not. We’ve been hurt by people we love and we continue to hurt those we love via not having control over our emotions. Most significantly, humanity’s connection with God is broken due to our own sin and the sinful nature we inherited.
What is the hope of mankind? We are all like lepers.
(Trans) There’s only one person who can cure this infection… Jesus!
Mark 1:41-42 (NLT) Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.
Only the Great Physician could heal this disease. Only Jesus can take away our sin. He’s not just powerful enough to heal, he’s also willing. Jesus broke the religious barriers of some and risked touching this man. No one touched lepers, but Jesus did out of compassion, power and authority. The rituals that mere men would have to do to be clean, Jesus would not have to do because of who he is.
Restating the leper’s faith moment, he knew that Jesus was powerful enough to heal him. Not only did he state that he could heal him but also make him clean as well. In the OT, the only person that could declare a person clean was a priest, and that was after a ritual. Here we see his faith in Jesus being sovereign to do only what God can do which is instantaneously heal and cleanse him. This means he believed that Jesus was none other than the Messiah, the Son of God. This faith in who Jesus is and what he can and will do is his saving grace.
This is how a person comes to faith and starts a relationship with God. Trusting Jesus for who he is and for the forgiveness of sins. Topics 4,5,6 in the Pursuit help us with this:
The leper symbolizes starting a relationship with God. He’s openly declaring that “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9). In a moment, this man is set free from the bondage of his infectious disease.
This is what Jesus came to do! May we see our need and have faith like this man. In a sense, even though this man had a rough go at life for a while he is more blessed than any of the religious leaders of his day. Why? Because the sickness revealed to him his need for the Savior. The rule following legalists of their day and ours are blind to the fact that their infection is internal. In Chapter 2 we’ll see Jesus challenge these guys and here’s something he says:
Mark 2:17 (ESV) When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
Jesus will operate on those who know they have the need for a heart transplant. The hearts of the Pharisees were prideful and arrogant. They thought salvation was in themselves following the law not understanding that no one could measure up to the standards of God because the heart is deceitful and wicked (Jer 17:9).
Salvation is by grace through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
(Trans) So this man starts out right. Let’s see if he’ll be able to trust Jesus not only for salvation but for further instructions on what to do next with his life…
Mark 1:43-44 (NLT) Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”
Trusting Jesus for salvation isn’t where our faith ends. Being obedient to his commands honors God and proves that our faith is genuine. Jesus cares about how we live after we come to faith. (Module 3 in the Pursuit)
(Illustration of following the doctors orders or following a prescribed diet or plan)
Submitting to the One who has the authority to heal seems wise doesn’t it? We listen to doctors, scientists, fitness gurus, dieticians and, sadly, even politicians. LOL. Why wouldn’t we listen to Jesus?
He doesn’t just want to heal him but he also wants to restore him as well, even to society in a way. This man is being prescribed the way back into his community. Back into relationships. Back into the social graces of Israel. There was an OT way through the law that a person would be considered clean. This was God’s way for restoration and healing to happen. Jesus' desire was to reach more people through this guy’s testimony in a way that they could relate to. He also knew that the time hadn’t come yet to change their way of worship.
Referring back to the first part of these verses, we see Jesus for the 2nd time in Mark chapter 1 say to not tell anyone about his power and authority cast out demons or to heal. This is called the “messianic secret”. (Vs. 34 is the 1st time)
“Jesus will define his messianic role as the Son of Man who will suffer and die as a ransom for sin (8:31; 9:31; 10:45). As to its timing, rumors surrounding Jesus’ identity risk inciting the crowds to messianic furor and so thwarting his plans to proclaim the kingdom of God throughout the towns and villages of Galilee (1:38). A premature and misinformed revelation of Jesus’ identity will create a hindrance to his essential mission.” Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Mark Strauss
Jesus was going to abide by the timing of his ministry plan and would reveal his identity when he saw fit. He does not need anyone to give him fame or come up with a better plan than what he’s already doing.
(Trans) That leads us to what happens next. What will this newly cleansed and excited man do?
The Relapse
Mark 1:45 (NLT) But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.
Obedience is better than ambition and creativity. We hinder God’s work when we don’t do it his way. He doesn’t go back into leprosy but he shows that he is not fully surrendered to Christ. He wants to do it his way. Pride is a part of the old nature.
Story about a hasty decision or an idea in ministry / evangelism that was regretted. Calvin’s Cage.
My guess is that this man probably isn’t named because Peter was probably irritated with his decision to go against Jesus’ command. It says that it made their public ministry even harder than it already was. Imagine the guy at work who speaks up about something and creates more work for everyone! Don’t be that guy. LOL
I believe Mark wrote this part of the story down for us so that we can learn from the ex-leper’s mistake. We don’t need to over complicate the mission! So many churches these days are making the message of the Gospel so convoluted with hobby horses and sacred cows. If we want to know how to honor God and live out our Christian lives at church, then we need not look any further than in the bible. God’s Word gives us everything we need to figure out how to share truth.
(Illustration of church’s services that look like a circus or a broadway production)
Other ways we can hinder the work of Jesus around us is when we just blatantly live disobedient lives, even practicing and justifying sinful behaviors.
Going back to vs. 44,’This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” We are a better witness to the outside world when we follow Jesus well after salvation. Genuine faith is more attractive than hypocrisy. I know we want to go tell it on the mountain and shout it on the rooftops and we should. Yet, we ought to learn how to, first, live out our changed and cleansed lives and secondly, be obedient to Jesus’ commands out of gratitude for all he has done for us.
We all want people to be saved. Let's just do the clear and prescribed work laid out for us in scripture and trust the Great Physician to do the work that only he can do!
Close:
Jesus is willing to heal and cleanse from sinfulness all that would come to him in faith. For many, you have already experienced his life changing, cleansing power. The challenge for the believer then is to pace yourself. Continue to learn to live to honor God. Find out what his commands are and then live them out. One of them is to be a witness to what he’s done in your life by sharing and living out your testimony. Don’t complicate it or water it down. Be faithful in doing your ministry his way.
For the unbeliever or seeker, can you see the infection of sin in your life? Can you see the evidence of a broken relationship with God? Believe in who the Jesus of the bible is and trust in his willingness to restore you and heal your brokenness.