Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

Welcome to corona chemicals. We're looking in Mark. I don't know whether you've ever feel or felt excluded in an outcast. And perhaps with God, perhaps you're saying, How on earth could I ever come to God? You don't know what I'm like and what I've done I'm an outcast.

Well, we've got a great story to show you how Jesus welcomes outcasts. It's Mark chapter 1 and I'm reading verse 4 from verse 40. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees. If you were willing, you can make me clean. Jesus was indignant.

He reached out his hand and touched a man. I'm willing. He said, be clean. Immediately, the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning See that you don't tell this to anyone.

With go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded, for your cleansing as a testimony to them. Instead, he went out and began to talk freely spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. Yeah.

This is the I mean, this is another 1 of these very personal encounters that we've seen already in this gospel. And thinking about Simon, Simon's mother-in-law, few days ago, last week rather, and it's just a very personal way that Jesus takes her hand and the fee believes her. And This is another 1 of those quite personal encounters. And we've got this man in verse 14 with leprosy. And you know, it's worth saying that that that was really not a pleasant thing to have.

I mean, not only was it physically awful, but it meant that you would be cut off from the social and the religious side of of of life. You would be you would be on the edge of all all kinds of society. And and yet he's coming to Jesus. And the religious the religious leaders would have not wanted someone like this near them. You know.

So for this leprosy to becoming near a rabbit, particularly, you know, what's what Jesus gonna do confronted with this unclean man? And interesting though, isn't he? Because he he seems to know that Jesus can make him clean. So he's obviously maybe heard a bit about Jesus. And seems to say, if you are willing, you can make me clean.

So it's not that Jesus doesn't have the authority. The question is, will he be willing to help this man? And, yeah, that's where we begin. That's right. I I mean, I guess in in in the these days that leprosy was a sort of picture of sin as well.

And you did get that in the bible. It's not that this man was more sinful. Than anybody else because, you know, you've got leprosy. But it is a picture of of that outcast. An outcast from God as well, because they weren't allowed in the temple if you had leprosy, and there were proper procedures, you know, in order to know whether you're healed.

But I love that. You're right. You know, if you are willing, you can make me clean. So he knows, as you say, the power Yeah. Of Jesus.

But I think this little next line is quite surprising. Because if you stop there, you'd wonder what Jesus was indignant at, because it says, in verse 41, Jesus was indignant. Or what what is it? He he filled with compassion in the form or filled with compassion, which is sounds sort of opposite thing, but he he's angry, not the man. Yes.

Which I think a lot of people would say, ah, yes. The rabbi is being good. This man shouldn't be in this position. But he's indignant at what sin does to the airport. What leprosy does to people, and and what leprosy stands for sin.

And so, he does what you're not meant to do. Yeah, touches the man. Yeah. And the amazing thing is that if you touch a leper or an unclean thing, you become unclean. But the interesting thing is here, of course, Yeah.

He touches the unclean, and Jesus does become unclean in 1 sense, but the man becomes clean. Yeah. And I I think all of this is a picture of the cross -- Yeah. -- happens at the end. Yeah.

It's a picture of the substitutionary atonement. In other words, Jesus stands in. He takes the sin. He takes the leprosy. He becomes unclean so that we can become clean.

And there's definitely a picture going on here, isn't it? Yeah. Definitely. And just to pick up on something you said, it reminds me a bit of the John 11 story when Jesus goes to lazarus' grave. And that combination of emotions is used there as well.

So Jesus is is is kind of angry and indignant about the effect of sin and death and what it's doing to people -- Mhmm. -- as it continues to ravage ravage the world. But he also weeps you know, and has compassion upon the family. So those things go together in Jesus' life quite a lot. And and as you say, the the wonderful thing here is that Jesus He is both willing and able to cleanse sinners.

And if you only had 1 of those, it would be a disaster. So if he was only willing to do it but not able -- Yeah. -- it would be no good. If he was able to do it but unwilling, it would also be no good, you know, but he's willing and he's able. And that's the exact savior that we need, 1 who loves us enough to want to take away our sin and has the power to be able to do it.

And that's what we see. And then you get the picture carrying on because he says to the man, you know, don't tell anyone. Which we've had before, yeah, in Mark. There's lots of things we could talk about there, but I wanna carry on with this story. The the then says, go go to the priest and to the sacrifices of Moses and stuff.

In other words, he's he's showing because they're all sacrifices around the temple and around the tabernacle. Mhmm. So as I say, this man was an excluded man because of his his leprosy, and therefore couldn't come into the place where you could meet with God. And so this is a picture of sin. Jesus cleanses us, Now you can go to the place -- Yeah.

-- where you meet with God. Now all of the law is fulfilled -- Yeah. -- because Jesus made him clean. Yeah. And it's such a picture of what Jesus does on the cross that his sacrifice, his cleansing of us -- Mhmm.

-- makes us able to come to the place where God is. And that's something that every leper, I guess, we've been longing for, isn't it? To to be able to go to that temple and to be pronounced clean because it meant as you say, the door to religious life was open again. The door to an a sort of normal functioning member of society was open again. Jesus has bought about a complete cleansing and restoration in this man's life.

And, yeah, verse 45. He does the opposite. He instead of going, we've seen this in Mark as well. He goes out and starts to spread the news freely. It once it's very perfectly understandable reaction, isn't it?

But look at the result, Jesus could no longer enter ham openly but stayed outside. And and we've seen that before, that that Jesus is He has come to teach. He's come to preach the kingdom of God and to proclaim the gospel. And what he doesn't want at this stage is to be so swamped with people that he's actually unable to go about the teaching and preaching ministry that he needs. So, he has to stay outside in the lonely place, because, actually, he doesn't wanna be swamped by the crowds.

Oh. Yeah. And I mean, it this is a slightly technical thing because it it it is the different halves of Mark. So Mark is clearly in 2 parts -- Mhmm. -- chapter 1 to 8 and then 9 to 16.

And the 2 parts are, you know, Jesus is is this this king really that can turn the curse around and hear and stuff. And then the second part is, but that king is going to die on across. And so you've got these 2 things in this cleansing. And I think the problem is, if if they hear that Jesus is just king -- Yeah. -- but not save your king who dies on the cross, They'll get the wrong picture of him.

But here, you've got that picture. He cleanses. He has the power to cleanse And I think we just need to say to people, look, if you're feeling you can't approach God, you're right. But you can come to God through Jesus, who says he is the way, who will cleanse us. Who will change us, who will buy his act on the cross, make us clean enough to be able to know God as a farmer, and that's the great thing about this, isn't it?

So when you when we think, oh, yeah. But I'm a leper before God, you know, I'm sinful. Yes. But here's 1 who cleanses us. Yeah.

Yeah.