The Leper #4

Friday, September 30, 2022

“When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them” (Matthew 8:1-4 KJV).

Why is this part of the Holy Scriptures?

Christ’s earthly ministry can be summarized most succinctly with two simple passages from Matthew’s Gospel Record. “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them” (Matthew 4:23,24). “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35).

The Gospel of the Kingdom—“The kingdom of heaven is at hand [near]” (Matthew 4:17)—is the Good News (Glad Tidings) that Israel’s Messiah-King has visited her. John the Baptist preached this (Matthew 3:2), as did Jesus Himself (Matthew 4:17), and even the 12 Apostles (Matthew 10:7). Israel can finally become God’s kingdom of priests in the Earth, a blessing to all the world (Gentiles or nations), the goal of the Abrahamic Covenant finally reached (Genesis 12:1-3). At the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Israel has existed for 2,000 years. For the last 1,500 years, they have had the Law of Moses—which they have repeatedly violated, corrupting it and themselves with false religion.

If Israel the leper is to become God’s kingdom of priests, able to live up to rigorous principles of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), the Lord can and will cure her spiritual leprosy (today’s Scripture)….