THE UNTOUCHABLES

Mark 1:40-45

 

Leviticus 13:45-46 –  45 Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 He shall be unclean.  All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

  1. Elliot Ness was the famous “UNTOUCHABLE”

1.      That label was given to him because he couldn’t be bought

2.      In a time when many law enforcement officials were taking money from criminals

3.      Ness and his men were “Untouchable”

4.      Long before there was a law enforcement group called the “Untouchables” -  There was another group of UNTOUCHABLES

 

  1. This group of Untouchables

1.      Were literally untouchable

2.      They could not just walk into any community

3.      Wherever they went they had to cry out a warning to others

4.      This group of untouchables were lepers

 

  1. Lepers

1.      Were defined as unclean under the law of Moses

2.      There were strict guidelines to follow to determine if a person was unclean due to leprosy

 

3.      Leviticus 13:45-46 -  45 Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 He shall be unclean.  All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

 

4.      If a person had the disease – They were sent outside the camp – Away from all other people

 

  1. Literally UNTOUCHABLE

1.      They were to cry – UNCLEAN anywhere they went

2.      So healthy people could steer clear of them

3.      Could not have a normal home life / Could not worship with other believers

4.      Anyone who came into contact with a leper was considered unclean as well

5.      Lepers were – Social / Spiritual / Physical outcasts

6.      Condemned to a life of isolation and banishment by all the healthy people of the community

 

  1. Mark tell us a powerful story of one such Untouchable

1.      Word has already spread about Jesus’ power to heal

2.      So one leper decided to see Jesus about his leprosy

3.      Mark 1:40-45 – 40 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.” 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 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.” 45 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.

 

  1. This encounter between Jesus and the Untouchable can teach us many lessons

 

BODY:

 

I.                   ALL SIN IS UGLY

A.     God chose skin diseases such as leprosy to stand as a symbol for sin

1.      God probably had many reasons for doing this

2.      Such diseases are often contagious – So God wanted people to be protected from contamination by coming into contact with leper

 

B.     God also wanted people to see how He viewed sin

1.      He did this by choosing a disease that was ugly in all its forms

2.      God wanted mankind to see how ugly sin looks to God

 

C.     Leprosy is a horrible disease

1.      Physically the sufferer could lose toes / fingers / ears / and more as the disease progressed

2.      It would eventually lead to death

3.      The victim could not associate with anyone who did not have the disease

4.      That meant no family contacts / No hugs from the kids or grandkids

5.      The leper could not worship God with other believers

6.      The victim was often treated as a sinner – That they somehow deserved this curse

 

D.    All sin looks this way to God

1.      Isaiah 59:1-2 – 1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.

 

2.      God wants to save man / Be near man

3.      But God keeps man at a distance because of sin

 

E.     We rate sins

1.      This one is worse than that one

2.      I may do this but sister / brother so and so does that

3.      We may convince ourselves that our “little” sin is no big deal

4.      But to God – ALL SIN IS UGLY

5.      Sin in any form is disgusting to God

 

F.      We have all come down with this horrible disease called sin

1.      Romans 3:10 – There is none righteous, no, not one

 

2.      Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

 

3.      We all look ugly before God – Just as a leper would look ugly to us

 

G.    We cannot

1.      Look down on people whose ugliness is different from ours

2.      Pretend our particular disease is better than someone else’s

3.      We are all sinners and we are ugly to God in our sinful state

 

H.    But thankfully…

 

II.                COMPASSION MOVES GOD

A.     Jesus had already begun his public ministry

 

B.     Leper

1.      Had chose to go to Jesus

2.      Probably thought he had nothing to lose and every thing to gain

3.      So he obediently approached Jesus

 

C.     What we know about this leper

1.      He trusted Jesus to do something

2.      He had faith

3.      We know he was obedient as he did not approach Jesus  too closely so as to make Him unclean

 

D.    Jesus was filled with compassion

1.      He cared for this man who had this dreaded disease

2.      Jesus looked beyond the ugliness

3.      Jesus saw to the person underneath

4.      Jesus could not / would not stand by and let this disease win the battle

5.      Jesus acted out of compassion

 

E.     That is the nature of God

1.      God reaches out to sinners like us because He loves us – Ugliness and all

2.      John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

3.      The nature of God is to reach out to sinners like Jesus reached out to the leper

4.      Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

 

F.      Never doubt how much God loves you and me

1.      He is willing to reach out to us sinners

2.      In spite of our failures / mistakes / sins

 

G.    Something else this story tells us about God

 

III.             GOD GIVES MORE THAN WE ASK

A.     Jesus does an interesting thing

1.      Mark 1:41 – Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

 

2.      Jesus healed the man

 

B.     But first Jesus touched the man

1.      How long had it been before he was touched by another human?

2.      Jesus runs a risk in touching the man

3.      According to Mosaic Law anyone touching a leper would be considered unclean

4.      But Jesus looked beyond even the physical need

5.      Jesus also saw the need for Human contact / Acceptance / Love

6.      So before Jesus healed the man – He touched him

7.      Jesus knew the man’s need even better than the man himself

 

C.     Jesus is the same with us

1.      He knows we have a great need to be forgiven

2.      But Jesus knows we have other needs as well

3.      He knows we need to Get along / Be loved / Be accepted

4.      So Jesus reaches out to us – Even while unclean

 

D.    Jesus loves us

1.      He places us within a body of believers who will Love and Accept us

2.      1 John 4:7-11 – 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loves us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

E.     God looks beyond the surface requests we make of Him

1.      God gives us more than we can imagine

2.      Ephesians 3:20-21 – 20 – Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 

F.      How that leper must have felt to have had a human hand on him

1.      You and I can only imagine how he felt

2.      And just imagine how we will feel when God gives us more than we can ask or think.

 

G.    Something else about that leper

 

IV.              THE CLEAN CRY OUT

A.     Jesus tells the leper to follow the Law of Moses

1.      Go show yourself to a priest and let him examine you

2.      Make the necessary sacrifices

3.      Then he would be allowed back – Into Home / Family / Worship service / Community

4.      Jesus also tells the man to keep this even private – Tell no one

 

B.     But the leper

1.      Experienced too much of a blessing to keep it quiet

2.      He had to spread the news

3.      What a story he must have told !!!

4.      He couldn’t help but tell the world what had just happened

 

C.     That is what happens when people meet Jesus

1.      They cannot keep quiet

2.      When we realize that the ugliness is gone – We want to tell others

3.      As God reclaims sinners – It is a natural process that we want to tell others of the cleansing

 

4.       Psalm 107: 1-2 – 1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

 

 

 

 

 

V.                 YOU ARE INVITED TO BE CLEANSED AND TO CRY OUT

A.     Come to Jesus for a Spiritual cleansing today

1.      Accept Him as your savior

2.      Put on Christ in Baptism

3.      Let Him wash away your sins as you are immersed into that watery grave with Christ

4.      As you rise up a cleansed / new creature in Christ

5.      Spread the news about your cleansing

 

B.     We all can tell people

1.      Word of mouth

2.      How we live

3.      With integrity / honesty

4.      What we stand For / Against

5.      How we handle Crisis / Adversity / Prosperity

6.      We do it all for His glory