The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 31

i,in and need, and every recorded miracle seems to convey some special lesson conoernlug the Healer's grace and power. Let this narrative be thus regarded, and we find here- I. A SYMBOL OF HU:111~N SIN Al\~ MISERY. Leprosy was evidently so regarded among the ~:ws, and 1:1pon D1vme authonty, as. is clear from the detailed directions given in :r-,ent1cus ~or its treatment by the p~1ests.. A loathsome, spreading, and generally mcurable disease, leprosy was'regarded with umversal repugnance and disgust, and lepers ~ere excl1:1de~ from ordinary human society and banished from ordinary hume.n dwcll- mgs. Thu, d,sease, therefore, has always been regarded as emblematical of sin which lays_ ho\~ of man'_s moral nature, cripples and di.sables it, spreads to every dep~rtment of bis bemg, and 1s by human means altogether mcurable. It renders the subject of it unfit for the society of holy beings, and unworthy of a place in the Church of the living God. . II. The conduct of this leper is AN EXAMPLE OF BELIEVING APPLICATION TO CHRIST. We observe : I . .Approach to the Saviour. Though lepers were not permitted to come into the neighbourhood of their fellow-men, this man drew near to Jesus, with the bolrlness inspired by necessity and hope. 2. There was reverence. He knelt, he fell on his face, he worshipped the llfaster; thus evincing his sense of inferiority and need, and his conviction of Christ's authority. 3. There was faith; for his lanuuage implies this, "Thou canst make me clean." Not perfect faith, but sincere and in accordance with what he had heard of the great Healer. 4. There was entreaty. He besought Jesus, as one who felt that here was his only hope," Here I live, or here I die." III. The record describes CHRIST'S POWER TO SAVE, The unusual fulness of the narrative gives us an insight into the movements and operations of Divine mercy. 1. Our Lord's action is traced to compassion, which stirred within his Divine heart,--.the source of all our salvation, the ground of all our hope. 2. Contact with the sufferer was the means and the symbol of healing. What Naaman expected Elisha to do to him, that Jesus did to this sufferer-laid his hands upon the place, and recovered the leper. How often is our Saviour represented as thus condescendingly and compassion- ately coming into personal contact with the wretched and sinful I It is the spiritual touch of the Redeemer that heals the sinner's maladies and banishes his woes. 3. Jesus exercises his authority, utters hls will, pronounces the sentence of re!e:tse, "I will; be thou clean!" What simplicity, majesty, authority, in the Saviour's language I It is thus that he addresses every believing suppliant, that he rewards the faith of every lowly applicant. No voice but that Divine voice rau !~lve this assurance and pronounce this sentence of liberty. 4. Tl1e heuling is e.ffect~d by him who is Lord of nature. No failure attended the Saviour's ministry of compassion. The leper's doubt, if he had any, was as to Christ's willingness, not as to his power. The result proved that there was no deficiency in either. The leprosy departed, and the man was cleansed. Christ's is ever a full and complete salvation; for he is" mighty to save." IV. THE SAVIOUR HERE SANCTIONS THE OPEN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE, In bidding the cleansed leper go to the priest and present the customary offering, J~s?s not only magnified the Law and conformed to custom, he also approved a grateful spmt, and commended the public acknowledgment of Divine mercy. It is well that we should "pay our vows unto the Most High," that we should "bring an offering, and come into his courts." He is the God who "healeth all our diseases," and every signal interposition on our behalf ought to be gratefully and publicly acknowledged, V. \Ve remark in this narrative the working of AN IMPULSE TO CELEBRATE AMONGST MEN THE MERCY OF Gon. Our Lord had reasons for enjoining silence upon this healed leper. Yet he would not be di~pleased with the grateful an_d _benevolent spi_rit which led him to publish and blaze abroad the matter. Every Chnstlan must exclaim, "The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad!" "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good ! " VI. We see the issue of this miracle in THE INCREASING FAME OF CHRIST and the increasing number of applicants to him for relief and help. The tidings of this marvellous cure awakened such public attention to Christ's power and grace that he could not for a season fulfil his ministry in the crowded towns, but retired to secluded spots, where, however, he might well be sought and fou?d by those who were drawn to him, not by an idle curiosity, but by a conviction of hlB power and grace, and by the urgency of conscious need, OIL I, 1-4.5,] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 27