Incurable Disease

There are many diseases that man cannot cure but with the Lord all things are possible.  One of these diseases was leprosy and some types of leprosy were very contagious.  

One type of leprosy was a death sentence unless the Lord chose to heal miraculously from His great love, compassion and mercy.  People with this kind of leprosy, in the days when Jesus walked the earth, had to live in communities by themself because the disease was so contagious and so dreaded.  When those who were afflicted with this disease went out of their commune and walked around they would have to be sure to be downwind of others and if they got within fifty feet of someone they would have to holler out, “unclean, unclean.”  This disease caused your body to rot, so as time went on various parts of the body, such as toes, fingers and ears, might eventually fall off and death would be the result of this disease.  If you contracted this disease you would have to be examined by the priest and also if you were healed.  Dying from this disease would have been bad enough but to make things worse you would have to be separated from your family and friends with no hope whatsoever.

There is a story in Matthew 8:1-4 about a healing that took place, read this, “When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

And Jesus said to him, ‘See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’”  

There were many diseases in Jesus’ day that were referred to as leprosy but to be healed of any kind of disease, and especially miraculously by Jesus, would have been something to shout about so being told to tell no man must have been very hard.  I know in my case I wanted to tell everyone about my miraculous healing of my asthma.  When they had one of their testimony times on the Family Life Network on the radio, I called in and shared with them about my healing along with all who were listening and also gave a testimony in my church.  It was more than just being healed but it was the fact that the Lord loved me enough to heal me.  It has been close to ten years now and I am still sharing it with people, praise the Lord!  This man was probably so excited I don’t know how he could have kept his healing to himself, it must have been very difficult but everyone that knew him would have known without being told.  One thing this man did do was he worshiped Jesus from the start so he had the right attitude.

Now let’s compare this to another true story in God’s Word about the same topic, it is found in Luke 17:11-19, “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’

So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’”

All these men wanted mercy from Jesus and they all received it, but only one of them seemed to appreciate what Jesus did for them and this man was a Samaritan, thought to be an idolatrous half breed who were despised by the Jews.  This shows that God is gracious to everyone and He loves each and every one of His creation with an unconditional love.  It also shows how people can receive God’s grace and mercy and not be thankful.

Let’s strive to be like the first leper that worshiped Him and the second one that thanked Him and not take His blessings for granted.  Something to think about and may the good Lord bless you and keep you and may you have a great day!!