Hope

Easter is coming. I like to read through the Gospels in the early spring days that usher in Resurrection Day. Last week, I read this short story found in Mark 1: 40 - 45.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus was filled with compassion.v He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

The Greek word used for leprosy could be used for various diseases affecting the skin, but most people believe it was leprosy by the way the people reacted to his healing. In the days of Jesus, leprosy was considered a hopeless, incurable, mutilating disease.

I didn't really know anything about leprosy except that it was a yucky disease of the skin. I knew people thought it was highly contagious by the way in which they treated lepers. God created laws found in Leviticus 13 in order to prevent the spreading of these skin inflictions.

I'm a fan of WebMD, so I looked up leprosy and this is what I found out. Nowadays, we know that leprosy is a chronic infection disease that is caused by a nasty, slow acting bacteria. Today, there are treatments available for lepers, but back in Jesus' time, there were none.

Lepers experience skin lesions that are pale or red, dry, hairless and numb. These lesions can appear anywhere on the body or in mucus membranes (think eyes, nose, and mouth). Not only do lepers lose sensation where the lesions appear, the disease also affects the peripheral nerves in the body, particularly the hands, feet and eyes.

Remember in kindergarten when you learned about the five senses. Lepers slowly lose them. First, they lose the ability to feel. The man in Mark 1 would reach down to pet a cat, and not feel the softness of its fur. He would touch a hot pan and not feel the heat burn away his skin. He would step on a sharp stone and not feel it cut into his flesh. A cool breeze would blow across his face, and he would not feel the refreshment it could provide.

As lesions spread into his mucus membranes, the man would lose his ability to smell. The nerves within his nose would deaden to the smell of spring flowers. Mercifully, he would also not be able to smell the stench of his own flesh rotting away or the odor of the decomposing trash. Most lepers lived in either dumps or graveyards.

Though rare, lepers can also lose their ability to taste and hear if lesions develop in their mouth and ears. Vision, however, was almost always affected by leprosy. As the disease progressed, the man in Mark 1 would not have been able to see well; the reality around him would have been cloudy and unclear.

As lesions spread over his body, the man would have become disfigured as lumps and bumps expanded over him. Deadened by the disease, he may have had fingers and toes literally fall off.

Most profound, the man would have been cut off from society. A true outcast, not only may he have been numb to human touch due to deadened nerves, it is very likely he did not have human contact since the disease was first noticed. At any potential for human contact, the man would have had to yell, "Unclean! Unclean!" so that others could avoid him.

The man in Mark 1 did not yell unclean when he came to Jesus. Instead he bowed before his only hope of healing with faith uncommon in the healthy. "If you are willing, you can make me clean." And with a touch, the man was healed, cleaned, renewed.

There are less than 200 cases of leprosy in the United States a year. It is a bacteria, a nasty bacteria, but treatable. So why did I spend all of this time telling you about the disgusting symptoms of leprosy?

It is because leprosy reminds me of another terrible disease, a disease that deadens the senses, isolates its victims and robs people of their ability to function. Many people have this disease and don't even know it. Maybe even you. Sometimes even me.

Some people call it spiritual leprosy. The heart becomes hard. Lesions grow on the soul. Apathy overtakes the spirit. The true person God has created you to be is distorted. Maybe you stopped feeling compassion for those in pain. Not only have you lost the ability to feel love, but you also don't feel the pain of rejection anymore. You feel numb. You can no longer taste and see that the Lord is good. Your vision is so cloudy, you can't see reality. You ceased to hear God call you to him. You're indifferent to determining right from wrong. Your heart is calloused. Maybe you have to physically hurt yourself to feel anything at all. You feel hopeless.

There is hope for this disease. The hope is the same for you and the same for me as it was for the man in Mark 1. The hope is Jesus. He is the one who can heal your distorted heart. He is the one who can cleanse your soul. He is the only one who can renew your spirit. Through him, you can be all God created you to be.

Maybe it is not you with the disease, but someone you know. Either way, I invite you take to few minutes and watch the following video. It is called, "A Man Fell in a Hole."

Easter is about resurrection, a new life, a real hope. My prayer is that you would experience it this year.

One more thing. God has put someone in your life to help you through this. It might be your friend, a teacher, a co-worker or even a family member. But God will never leave you without help. If you can't figure out who the person is, leave a comment and we will help you find someone to help you. There is hope.

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Click here to go to the HOPE page at lovelybranchesministries.org http://lovelybranchesministries.org/HOPE.html