Every single person God ever made has rebelled against Him; and ever since this rebellion began with the very first man and woman, one of the main results has been a fearful shame. Interestingly, one of the ways the Lord teaches us about the effects of sin in the Bible is through a sickness called Leprosy, which is like a living parable of what rebellion against God does to the human heart. A person with Leprosy has basically lost the ability to feel, so they don't know when they're doing something that is harmful to them. They are completely unaware of being burned, cut or having a spreading infection. As a result, the disaster on the inside starts to affect the outside and as they physically fall apart, they become isolated, alone and ashamed. Lepers were outcasts; people no one wanted to know or be around. One of the first things Mark includes in his narrative is the story of a man with Leprosy who comes to Jesus and basically says, "I know You have the power to heal me... I don't know if you would want to or not." Mark tells us that as Jesus heard this, He became "filled with compassion" and not only healed him, but reached out, touched him and then healed him. I love Jesus because not only did He have the power to take away my sin, He wanted to; and in so doing, took away my shame.
No comments:
Post a Comment