clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
14 And he charged him to tell no man : hat go, and shew thyself to the Priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
15 But 10 much the man went thero a fame ahroad of him : and great mul- titudes came together to hear, and to he healed hy him of their infirmities.
16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
We see in this passage, our Lord Jestis Chrisfa power over incurable diseases. " A man full of leprosy/' applies to Him for relief, and is at once healed. This was a mighiy miracle. Of all ills which can afflict the body of man, leprosy appears to be the most severe. It affects every part of the constitution at once. It brings sores and decay upon the skin, corruption into the blood, and rot- tenness into the bones. It is a Uying death, which no medicine can check or stay. Yet here we read of a leper being made well in a moment. It is but one touch £rom the hand of the Son of God, and the cure is effected. One single touch of that almighty hand ! ^* And im- mediately the leprosy departed from him.''
We have in this wonderful history a lively emblem of Christ's power to heal our souls. What are we all but lepers spiritually in the sight of God P Sin is the deadly sickness by which we are all affected. It has eaten into our constitution. It has infected all our faculties. Heart, conscience, mind, and will, all are diseased by sin. From the sole of our foot to the crown of our head, there is no soundness about us, but wounds, and bruises, and putri- fying sores. (Isaiah i. 6.) Such is the state in which we are bom. Such is the state in which we naturally live. We are in one sense dead long before we are laid in the grave. Our bodies may be healthy and active, but our souls are by nature dead in trespasses and sins.