But to return to the leper. Was it a question if he were well enough, or good enough? Was it not the opposite? We are told in Luke 5:11And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, (Luke 5:1)2 That he was “full of leprosy,” and that he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus. Why, it is the very badness of his case that makes him a fit object for Jesus. Is it your badness, or your goodness, that makes you a fit object for the mercy of God? If you have never been thus brought to Jesus, what is your case? Full, your very nature full, of the leprosy of sin—incurable depravity. This is our very condition from birth. How our sins have proved this to be the case, getting worse and worse, nearer every day to endless woe! “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.” (Mark 1:4141And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. (Mark 1:41).) Here is One that can heal him, and have compassion on him, just as he is. Ah, He had compassion on us; He put forth His hands to be nailed to the cross; He gave Himself that He might heal us, and save us. What compassion on us, what righteousness before God. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree.
Now mark what took place. “And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.” This is the grand secret: the moment the words of Jesus are heard and believed, the work is done; the change has taken place; sins are gone forever, never to be judged, or remembered again. We enter a new existence; we have a new position; yea, we have eternal life. Carefully compare this miracle of Jesus with His words in John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [or, judgment]; but is passed from death unto life.” Is it not exactly as it was with the poor leper? Is it not so in every case where the anxious soul, really awakened, and knowing the utter loathsomeness of sin, comes to Jesus? Yes, direct and first to Jesus, though full of sin—just as he is—and falls at the feet of Jesus. You own your true condition; He is ever moved with compassion; He speaks—you hear His word; you believe God that sent Him to save you by the death of the cross; and, on the truth of His own word, the work is done, the change is wrought. You have eternal life: no more judgment for sins; you are passed from death unto life. The leper was cleansed—the believer is cleansed; and, to his astonishment, it is revealed to him in the word that the work was done, long, long ago, that cleanseth him from his sins. He no longer walks in the darkness of seeking salvation by baptism, confirmation, and the Lord’s supper; but it we now walk in the light, u as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).)
Yes, the work is done, and it is complete. As it regards the charge of guilt before God, nothing more is needed, nothing more can ever be needed; all sin, to that believer who is in the light, and receives the testimony of God, is gone, to be remembered no more; yes, all sin. It must be so, blessed Lord; Thine infinite and perfect sacrifice cannot have an imperfect effect.
Now mark the word—immediately the leprosy departed from him, &c. Jesus then gave a remarkable test for his faith, and also to ours. He charged him to go to the priest, and offer the things for his cleansing which Moses had commanded. Jesus did the same to the ten lepers of Luke 17. He said, “Go, show yourselves unto the priests.” There was only one that understood the fact, that, since he was really cleansed, he need not go to the ceremonies of the law for cleansing. “When he saw that he was healed, [he] turned back, and, with a loud voice, glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.” How could he go to be cleansed, since God had cleansed him? What did Jesus say to this? He said, “There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.” So it is said of our leper in Mark, “But he went out, and began to publish it much.”
How simple the test, both to the leper, and to the sinner. Have you still need of ceremonies and sacraments to heal you, or can you return to the feet of Jesus, giving glory to God? Can you go out and publish it much, that the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from all sin? The cleansing of the leper in Lev. 14 is most instructive as types and figures. But that leper whom. Jesus had perfectly healed, plainly need not go to those shadows for healing. Now, if you have been brought to Jesus just as you are; if you have known His infinite compassion in dying for your sins, and rising again for your justification, if you know, on the very testimony of Jesus, that you have passed from death unto life, you cannot certainly go to anything else for life. To do so, is to deny that you have got it. We will, in the next place, look at the third picture of man’s condition, as seen in the man sick of the palsy.