Cleansing from uncleanness

Matthew 8:3 NASB
Jesus stretched out His hand
and touched him, saying,
I am willing; be cleansed.
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Other translation

King James Bible
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Study

We need to understand:

1. That this disease is a type of moral corruption.
2. That only God’s grace can effect a cure.
3. That prayer is heard.
4. When the prayer is answered, the answer is complete.

We see in this verse:

1. The lamentable condition of the leper.
2. The appropriate prayer of the leper.
3. The complete restoration of the leper.
4. The instant dismissal of the leper.

Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him.

The act was itself a proof at once of the will and the power to heal.
He did not fear becoming unclean by that contact, and was therefore not subject to the law that forbade the touch.
And He met the one element of doubt in the sufferer’s mind by the words – yet more, perhaps, the tone or look that told of pity – “I will; be thou clean.”
Mark adds, “Had compassion on him.”

Touched him

It was a touch

1. of purity;
2. of sympathy;
3. of power.

Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

We may venture to picture the process to our minds: the skin cleansed, the sores closed, the diseased whiteness giving way to the tints and tones of health.

Illustration

The house

I have seen a fair and well-built house, lifting its head proudly above its neighbours, and having a goodly outside presence.
And I have looked within, and found that the dry rot had eaten away rafter and beam, and that the house was ready to fall to ruin.

During the Crimean War, our ships suffered far more from the dry rot within their timbers, than from the outside attacks of shot and shell.

How many lives there are like that grand house, or those stately ships!
Outside they are fair to look upon, men envy their wealth, or position, or good fortune, and all the while the foul leprosy is within, eating away the moral nature, making that life a ruin.
(Wilmot Buxton.)

Devotional

And Jesus, stretching out his hand, touched him.
That it is the Lord Jesus, as we saw before, only to do about our salvation, is clearly shown in the history of this text.

Here is a man with a terrible and incurable ailment.
He was an outcast, for the leprosy that affected him, left one outside of any form of society.

He had to cry from afar: unclean, unclean.
This sick person now takes refuge in the Lord Jesus.

And that he does not do so lightly, but with unshakable faith in His power, is evident from what he says: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

When he had said this, the Lord touched him.
He is not afraid of contamination.
He also enters into communion with such.
Despite that touch, he remains spotlessly holy and pure.

We are all tainted with the leprosy of sin.
We are all unclean, who are not allowed to come near God, but that does not prevent the Lord, when the heartfelt supplication comes with faith. And listening to such, He will bend over, and take their unclean hand, to cleanse them with one word, from all their sins.

Now, what is the uncleanness with you?
▪︎ Is it the leprosy of an impure life?
▪︎ Is it the leprosy of a selfish nature,
▪︎ Is it the leprosy of a cruel tongue,
▪︎ Is it the leprosy of a proud, rebellious spirit?
Whatever it may be…
Are you willing to be made clean?

Note that before you can find pardon, you must see your sin, and hate it.

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