Live Free with Josh Howerton - Hope for the Unclean | Ep. 412 | Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

Jesus was not just an accessible rabbi, but also the most approachable man to ever walk the earth. Even those considered untouchable during that era, like lepers, could have a close and personal interaction with Jesus. Individuals afflicted with leprosy in those days faced severe consequences - loss of employment, reputation, relationships, health, and, worst of all, a loss of hope. Despite these challenges, Jesus extended His hand, as seen in Luke 5:13: “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him.” For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up, everybody? Thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive. My name is Bro.

And in our last episode, we started looking at a one-on-one encounter that a guy had with Jesus. This man had been canceled by his culture and was lumped into the group of the untouchables. This guy was infected by leprosy, and he needed it. He wanted to be healed. So he seeks out Jesus. It says this in Luke chapter 4. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean.

And Jesus reaches out and touches the man. And he says, I'm willing, be clean. And the leprosy immediately vanished. Now, before we move on, I want to look first at this disease called leprosy. I mean, this wasn't like acne or alopecia. It wasn't even like a rash or like psoriasis. Leprosy in the first century meant that you had lethargy and pain in every single one of your joints. You had discolored patches of skin all over your entire body.

You had ulcerated sores on your face. Your face would literally fall off. You carried an intense smell like the stench of death. Your vocal cords will ulcerate it. You experienced a loss of sensation in all of your extremities. It was a terrible, contagious, terminal skin disease that eventually infected the entire body. Dr. Paul Brand was a leading researcher on leprosy,

died probably 20, 25 years ago now. Super compassionate Christian guy, brilliant guy who did research on leprosy treatment and underdeveloped parts of the world. He said that the greatest damage that he would witness from leprosy came from that loss of sensation in your extremities. I don't want to be graphic here, but just so you know what we're dealing with,

as these impoverished homeless lepers would sleep, he would say rats would come and gnaw off the end of a finger. And because the lepers felt no sensation, they would sleep right through it. and all kinds of infection would then enter the body. And leprosy was not just considered a physical disease, but also carried a social stigma. Leopers were not just physically quarantined.

They were spiritually quarantined. The disease was seen to be a curse from God that announced to the rest of the world, this person, this person right here, is unclean, from the inside out, as well as the outside of it. And not only were they called unclean, they were instructed to shout those very words about themselves, whenever they got close to crowds.

Now they seldom got close to crowds because they were quarantined into colonies like-inflicted people. When they received the news that leprosy had invaded their body, they were immediately taken out of their homes. They lost their spouse, they lost their kids, their jobs, their reputation, they lost their position, eventually their hands, their face, and their lives. They carried a disease and a stigma that isolated them so, socially, physically, and spiritually. You talk about being canceled. And as a result, they were

seen and they saw themselves as the untouchables. Mother Teresa, who like Dr. Brandt also work with leprosy in the streets of Calcutta, India, once said, we have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy, but the drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted. And it feels awful to feel unwanted, doesn't it? It just sucks the whole. out of your life. That's the way lepers felt in Jesus' day, absolutely hopeless. Can you imagine what it's like to be strictly forced to shout unclean about yourself when you walk down the road so that people can avoid you? I mean, to walk through life and see your former neighbor's working, to hear your former buddies laughing, even your own children playing, and no longer get to be a part?

I mean, to be alive, but to feel so dead? Sumont Kid writes, it's anguish to come to that place in your life where you know all the words, but none of the music. That must have been the way this guy felt. I mean, you wonder how long it had been since this man had experienced the touch of another person's hand on his hand. When was the last time he'd been hugged by child? When was the last time he'd been kissed by his wife? When was the last time he'd felt the embrace of a friend?

I mean, when was the last time anybody even bumped into him? The religious leaders, the Pharisees, they taught that if you touched an unclean person, then you would be defiled. You'd become like them. unclean. So people were to avoid all lepers, and all lepers were to avoid all people, especially religious rabbis. In fact, a strict rule-enforcing rabbi was the last person most lepers wanted to see. They knew if they even got close to a rabbi, they could get busted for breaking the law. And rabbis, they proud of themselves and being so holy, so close to God that they were just

unapproachable to any of the untouchables of the day. And so the great irony is this. The Only rabbi the leper could approach was God himself. You know, Jesus was the most approachable person who ever walked this planet. Prostitutes, tax collectors, little kids, brilliant scholars, lawyers, widows, uneducated fishermen, didn't matter. Jesus was amazingly approachable. And that reputation followed him around. So this leper takes a risk and approaches Jesus. Now, he knew the law, and he makes no attempt to touch Jesus.

But he had seen something in this rabbi that made him at least comfortable. enough to approach him. And so this man feeling untouchable, unworthy, unclean, falls on his face in the dirt. And in spite of the law of the Pharisees, in spite of this man's contagious condition, in spite of the social implications, Mark's account adds, filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. Now what's cool to me is that Jesus knew that even before he needed to be healed, this guy needed to be touched. I mean, think about it. Jesus could have done, like drive-through healings. He could have stayed in one isolated spot saying, may it take your order? Thank you. Please pull the next window, please. He could have set up a

headquarter, just sent out like healing vibes over a thousand-mile radius or do social media posts saying, click here to be healed. But he knew the power of a personal touch. And you know what, gang, he's still doing that. And in his eyes, no one, no one is untouchable. So when I thank him today for that reality, and we'll pick up here tomorrow, I'll see him. you back then. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.

Visit lakepoint.church slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.