"When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 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.” - Matthew 8:3
The first thing we notice is that "a leper came and worshiped Him." The leper, someone made unclean by a defiling skin disease, worshiped Jesus. And the leper "believed" Jesus could do it saying, "You CAN make me clean." Jesus cleansed lepers a lot. Leprosy was synonymous with sin.
The next thing we see is that Jesus WAS willing. He is always willing to cleanse us of OUR sins if we believe.
The third thing we can see is in verse four, and this is the interesting part. Jesus doesn't want the cured leper to tell anyone about his cleansing. What did Jesus want him to do instead?
"show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded."
Hmm. What is "the gift that Moses commanded?" Check out Leviticus 14. Are you ready for this? Hold on . . . it's about you and me and Jesus.
"14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest.
Who is OUR high priest? It's Jesus!
"3 And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, 4 then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed . . . "
The leper, the sinner, is to be cleansed. That's you and me! And what does the law of Moses say to do?
"(take) two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop."
Two birds. One is Jesus, the other represents you and me. Any guess what type of wood Jesus was crucified on? Was it cedar? And hyssop . . . it used for during Passover . . . when death passed over those who had lamb's blood smeared on their door posts. And what color is blood - Jesus blood? Red. Scarlet.
"5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.
God commanded that Jesus be killed in an earthen vessel (His earthly body) for our sins.
"6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. . . .
You and I are literally required to be washed in the blood of Jesus! And He is "living water."
"7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field." - Leviticus 14:1-7
Seven is the number of completion in the Bible. Remember when Jesus said, "It is finished" on the cross? And then the one who has sinned (that's you and me again), the living bird, is to be set free. Free from the punishment of sin. Amazing!
In Mark's account of this same story guess what the cleansed leper did after Jesus commanded him not to tell anyone? He disobeyed.
"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." - Mark 1:45
Isn't that just like us? Disobeying God after we have had our sins forgiven? Jesus died for MY sins. I need to show more appreciation for that in the way I live my life.
The Bible is an amazing book. If one takes the time to not only read it but to study it there are amazing treasures to be found. And, as always, God is glorified in ALL of them.
Are You Washed In The Blood / I'll Fly Away - Alan Jackson
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