Jesus Our Mighty Savior – Luke 5:12-16

Jesus Christ is our Savior – our caring Savior who is mighty, forgiving, and is ever calling His own.

“Behold, there was a man covered with leprosy…” (v. 12).

In the time of Jesus, lepers had to be isolated so as to not pass their infectious disease onto others. They had to cry out, “Unclean!” as they approached the city so that others might stay away from them. In the Bible, leprosy is a symbol of sin – it spreads all over the body and brings with it terrible consequences. Sin, like leprosy, begins small. Leprosy often may start off as a skin blemish, but it eventually leads to multiple skin lesions and nerve damage. In the same way, Adam and Eve’s disobedience of eating the forbidden fruit may seem small and inconsequential, but it was through this one small act of rebellion that their relationship with God was broken.

Leprosy starts from within, by a bacterial infection. We have a similarly viral sinful nature, which causes us to sin. We all sin because we are all sinners (Mark 7:21-23) endowed with sinful nature. We have no basis for self-righteousness.

Leprosy damages the brain and spinal cord leading to numbness. Likewise, when we are overtaken by sin, we become spiritually numb to sin, and it becomes difficult to distinguish between good and evil.

Leprosy, however, is curable, though it often it leaves permanent deformities and scars. Unlike leprosy, sin is incurable – and the permanent consequence of sin is death. This is why all of humanity faces death – except for Jesus, who was sinless and faced death as a choice, conquering death through resurrection. If we receive salvation through Jesus, we are not left with permanent deformities and scars of sin; we are cleansed perfectly.

Jesus came to save sinners and defeat sin, because it is only through Christ that sinners will receive salvation through repentance. As we repent of our sin, we will receive salvation – but how can one identify a sinner who is genuine in his desire to be rescued form his life of sin unto salvation? Sinners who want to be rescued consider Jesus as God (Jn 1:1,3; Col 2:9). “And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing…” (v.12). They also consider Jesus as the Lord of lords and the King of kings. They surrender everything to the Lord in every moment of their lives, realizing that they are undeserving. “Lord, if you are willing…” (v.12). They leave everything up to God; they are humble (Lk 18:12-14). They know and recognize that Jesus is the only object of their saving faith.

Jesus healed the leper in a unique and unprecedented method – Jesus touched the leper. “And He stretched out His hand and touched him…” (v.13).  The healing came through a divine intervention in which God answered Jesus’s prayer for the healing of the leper, which displayed the power of God to all those around Him. Just as He willingly intervened for the salvation of the leper, Jesus willingly died on the cross for our sins. (Isa 53:4-5). He bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24). Jesus touched the leper. “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Having been saved, we sinners can be cleansed and sanctified by the Word of God.

Jesus came as Messiah to fulfill the Old Testament. It was prophesied that the Messiah would drive away demons, heal the blind, and cleanse lepers. Jesus came and drove out demons, healed the blind, and cleansed lepers. He came to rescue sinners, spiritual lepers, by His crucifixion and resurrection.