The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 84

J.cprons Bcurf or shining scale&; BOree and ewellings ensued. For a long tlmo 1t aeomod only cutaneous. But it did not stop with the skin; it ponotrated dcop down. It nte ita way to the bones, it attacked tho joints, it reached the marrow, The blood la corrupt, portions of tbo extremities mortify and drop off, a wasting away aupervenoa, till the poor loper, mutilated and disfigured, presents a &bocking eight-a hideous epectaolo, when dissolution at last brings him to a welcome grave. How dreadful wae all this I And yot how liko the leprosy of sin I It also is little in Its beginnings, but it mnkea gradual, sometimes rapid, progress. No one has become entirely vile all at once. At the tirst appearance of the leprosy of sin in childhood, it ia a mere spot-a small speck. '!'he beginning may be some slight evasion of parental authority, some trifling act of dis- ebedience; or it_ ma;y be som_o s!11a~l depar~ure from stri~t truth; or it _may be, perhaps, a pelty act of p11fcnng, an 1ns1gn1ficant instance of dishonesty; or 1t may be a little outburst of childish passion. It appears ao smnll a matter that the indulgent parent or guardian overlooks it as unworthy of noticc--at all events, undeserving of punishment• or the kind friend laughs at it as a mere childish trick. Dut oh I let it never be for~ gotten that that trifling disobedience, or small fib, or petty theft, or little ebullition of passion is the first breaking out of a spiritual leprosy-the first manifestation of the pl~e-spot of sin. And who can set limits or bounds to a seemingly small trans- gression, once it has been repeated and repeated until it bas grown into a habit? Who can t.ell where that single sin will end? Who can check its onward progress? What can resist its downward sweep when, like the rushing of the roaring torrent, or with more than the impetuosity of the mighty waterfall, it overbear& and overcomes all resistance, hurrying its hapless victim downward to perdition? 4. Leprosy separated those a.fftict~d with it from society; so does sin. As might be reasonably expected, leprosy, from its loathsomeness, the ceremonial uncleanness which it produced, as well as its infectious nature (if rightly judged to be so), excluded from society and rendered its victims a terror to all who saw or met or came near them. Thus we read in Lev. xiii. 45, "The leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and hie head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Tame, tame, Unclean, unclean." Here there are four unmistakable signs, which, when combined, served &S a sufficient deterrent to any wayfarer or unwary person that might through igno- rance or inadvertence approach the leprous person, and thereby catch infection, or at least contract ceremonial defilement. The bare head, with locks dishevelled; the garment rent from the neck to the waist; the beard, man's ornament, covered in token of grief ;-were the ordinary signs of mourning for the dead or any great calamity; while the bandaged chin, and muffled lips uttering in doleful accents the melancholy cry, "Unclean, unclean!" was a warning which the most unwary passers-by were not likely to neglect at the time or ever after to forget. Dut it ie further added, "He shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." From other passages of the Word of God, we learn that they were not only Reparated from inter- course with others, but dwelt in a separate house, companied together, and were cut off entirely from the house of God. What a dreadfully deserted condition I Their nearest relatives shunned them, their dearest friends dreadt:d them, the tenderest ties were sundered by this loathsome disease of leprosy. Their touch was feared and fled from, for it was the touch of contagion; their company was shuuned, for it imparted uncleanness and defilement ; their very breath was dreaded as the pestilence, for it was the breath of disease and death. Here, in all this, is a sad symbol of sin. It separates between us and our God; it excludes us from hie presence and privileges, from his friendship and family; it shuts us out from the society of his saints, from their benefits and blessedness ; and, t!nless cleansP,d in God's own way, it will shut ns out at last finally and for ever from his heavenly temple, for "without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." When King Uzziah became leprous in the house of the Lord, "the priests thrw,t him out from thence, yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him.n If we could suppose the possibility of an unrenewed sinner being admitted into heaven-if for a moment we might suppose the occurrence of a thing impoeeible, for the unclean shall never enter there-would not the pure spirits of that upper sanctuary rush upon that unholy one with deepest indignation, thrusting him out at once from thence, and hurling him over the high battlements of heaven? Yea, Ill, L 1-16.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BT. MARK. 81