The Power of the Lord Was Present to Heal Them: St. Luke 5:12-39

St. Luke 5:12-39: "12 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' 13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He charged him to tell no one, 'But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.' 15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. 17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. 20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, 'Man, your sins are forgiven you.' 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, 'Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?' 22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, 'Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Rise up and walk?" 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'--He said to the man who was paralyzed, 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.' 25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, 'We have seen strange things today!' 27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' 28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. 29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, 'Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' 31 Jesus answered and said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.' 33 Then they said to Him, 'Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?' 34 And He said to them, 'Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.' 36 Then He spoke a parable to them: 'No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better."'

We are told by the Evangelist St. Luke that in a certain city our Lord Jesus was met by a man full of leprousy. We learned from the Evangelist St. Mark that this "certain city" was Capernaum. Why does the Evangelist St. Luke leave out the specific name of the city? It is because he is showing that this healing of the leper, although a specific instance here, happened throughout the land wherever our Lord Jesus went. And so, this same event happened often in many different places, and St. Luke, by relating one instance, relates all curing of lepers done by our Lord Jesus.

What is interesting about this healing embraces two things. One, the manner in which the leper approaches our Lord. And two, the fashion in which Lord Jesus heals the leper. In the first instance, the leper "fell on his face, and implored him." He approached Him as one would approach God. Let us first look at the ceremonial laws regarding lepers, for it will give us a greater understanding of what is happening here. For the full description of these laws governing leprousy, one can find them in Leviticus 13-14. Leprousy is a disease of the skin, that involves sores. It is still around today, but it is called "Hansen's disease." It can also be treated with a simple cream applied to the sores.

But for the Israelites of our Lord Jesus' time, and for the time during Moses, a leper had no cure. And this disease was very contagious. So if a leprous person touched another person, they could also acquire the disease. For this reason, lepers were considered "unclean." If one was diagnosed as a leper, and they were diagnosed by the priests, who would look at the sore, and determine if it was just a rash, or some other skin irration, or if it was indeed leprousy. If it was leprousy, then the person would be declared unclean, he would then be isolated from the rest of the people, most likely with other leprous people, he was to tear his clothes, and shave his head, and cover his mustache, and if he was out and about, and other people passed by, he was to shout out, "Unclean, unclean!" So that the person who they passed by knew that he was not to be approached on account of his leprousy.

The same was true when the leper was healed of his leprousy. He was to show himself to the priest, he was to shave his head, and wash himself and his clothes, and wait seven days outside his tent but among the people to see if it would return. If after seven days, he was still clean, he would shave his head again, along with his beard and eyebrows, and wash his clothes and his body, and then he would be clean. There were also sacrificial rituals attached to this as well. The most interesting being the taking of two clean birds, along with some cedar wood, and scarlet, then killing one of the birds over running water in a earthen vessel, and dipping the other bird, the cedar wood and scarlet into the blood of the other bird, and setting the alive bird free in a field as an atonement for the leper. For the complete details on the sacrificial element, they are in chapter 14 of Leviticus.

What is interesting about the approach of this leper to Jesus, is that he doesn't call out "Unclean, unclean!" like he was supposed to but instead approaches our Lord and falls on his face before Him. The priests were the only ones who could declare a leper clean or unclean, so what this leper is professing with his actions, is that our Lord Jesus is the True Priest. For what does he say? "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Now consider for a moment that this leper, on account of his uncleanness, could not worship in the synagogues, he could not approach let alone come into the Temple. He was by law forced to live by himself. Therefore this individual was forbidden to be anywhere near the people of God, or the Church. And only a priest could grant that.

We see in this individual his great desire to be a part of the Church, and so he goes to the One Man Who can grant that desire. So, he shows himself to the True Priest, to be declared clean, so that he might worship the Lord again with the other people.

Even more strange than the man's behavior, is our Lord Jesus' behavior, for our Lord does not run away, or take a few steps back, but instead proclaims that He is willing to make this man clean. Then He doesn't something which was forbidden by ceremonial law, that is, to touch the unclean person. But in this He shows that He, as true God, has power over uncleanness, for our Lord is so pure and clean, that He can pass that cleanness along to this leper, so that he may be healed. The leper is then told to go and show himself to the priests, and he would be declared clean, and be allowed to once again enter into the synagogue and the Temple. In short, he would be welcomed back into the Church.

In this we see a picture of Private Confession and Absolution. For on account of our sin, we are leprous and unclean. But when we confess our sins, we are approaching the True Priest through the man of God who serves in His place, and having confessed our sins, and asked to be made clean, the Lord Jesus, through the minister, pronounces that we are clean, by pronouncing us forgiven of sins. We then live no longer as one leprous and unclean, that is, we do not return and immediately keep doing the sin which we just confessed and professed to not do anymore, but we instead, seek to live according to God's commandments.

This healing of the leper also brings to mind the restoration of someone who has been excommunicated. For they have been barred from receiving Holy Communion, just like the leper was forbidden to approach unto the synagogue. But after repentance of the sin, and confessing that what he did was wrong, the Church welcomes him back with open arms, no longer considering him unclean.

Therefore, we as the Church desire, like our Lord Jesus, that all those who remain outside, full of leprousy, unclean from sin, may show themselves to the priests, that is, the ministers of Giod, and confess their sins, and desire for themselves to be made clean through the waters of Holy Baptism, that they, like this leper, may be made a part of the synagogue of our Lord.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Son, Your Sins Are Forgiven You: St. Mark 2:1-28

St. Mark 2:1-28: "1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven you.' 6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 'Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?' 8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, 'Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Arise, take up your bed and walk?" 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'--He said to the paralytic, 11 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.' 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We never saw anything like this!' 13 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he arose and followed Him. 15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, 'How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?' 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.' 18 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, 'Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?' 19 And Jesus said to them, 'Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.' 23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, 'Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?' 25 But He said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?' 27 And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.'"

In today's reading, our Lord is under constant attack. It seems everything that He does in today's reading from the Gospel of St. Mark is met with accusing questions. We can definitely see the hand of the devil in these questions. The devil seeks to lead men away from the truth, and therefore he plants doubt into men's hearts.

Our Lord is simply doing what the Messiah is supposed to do, heal the lame, preach, and give forgiveness to sinners. However, these are met with opposition. The first thing our Lord is accused of is blasphemy, which is what He is eventually accused of that led to His crucifixion. The Jews considered it blasphemy to forgive someone, for afterall, as the pericope points out, they believed only God could forgive sins. This proves one thing for us for certain, that our Lord Jesus is the Son of God; that He is the God/man incarnate who was promised from long ago, and has come into the world to redeem us. For those of us trained to see these things and believe, it is hard for us sometimes to grasp why the people in the Gospel doubt so much. But this is not an uncommon reaction when people come in contact with the mysteries of God.

The same can be said of the mysteries of today, of water, wine and bread, and word. Our Lord veils Himself in these things, yet we only see these physical elements, just like the Jews of our Lord's day only saw a man. How can water do such great things? How can bread and wine be the Body and Blood of our Lord? How can the proclamation of a guy dressed in a funny robe actually bring forgiveness? These things cannot be by themselves, but it is the Word of God attached to them that makes them these things.

The Jews only see Jesus. He is just a man, they assume. However, His Word, is the Word of God, and this man's sins are forgiven in Heaven, and they are forgiven on earth by our Lord. But our Lord, in order to show the crowds His true authority and reveal His divine nature, He heals the paralytic.

Now, there is a point that should be made here before moving on, and that is that when our Lord tells the paralytic to get up and go, we see His true divine power and nature. For let us view this from the paralytics standpoint. He has lost the ability to use his limbs, and therefore, he has lost his muscle memory. It is easy for us to move around; to get up and go, because we don't need to tell our muscles to react to the brain's impulses, as a matter of fact, we don't even consciously think about getting up to walk, or anything other activity that requires our arms and legs. Not so with the paralytic, he hasn't used them, and he has lost his muscle memory. We can be certain that he has tried many times to will his body to do what he wants it to do, but it just won't happen.

This is what makes this healing so full of awe, because when our Lord says, "Arise, take up your bed and walk," he immediately (and this is one of St. Mark's favorite words in his Gospel) gets up and walks. He doesn't have to think about it, he just does it. Not only that, but this man's limbs would have been useless because of atrophy from lack of use. Again, this does not come into play, for our Lord heals him completely in mind, body, and soul. To say it another way, our Lord has re-created him, restored him to his original self. And not just physically, but also spiritually, for he forgives him of his sins. Even his soul is re-created, that is, restored to its original nature, simply by our Lord speaking His Word.

This is what our Lord does for us when He speaks His Word into our ears, through water, wine and bread, and word. He re-creates us, He restores us to our original nature, removing from us the stain of sin and death, so that we may walk in His way. This re-creation, this restoration, is given to us in the holy means that our Lord has given us to use just for this purpose. And these holy means are found only in the house of God. Therefore, we have a need just like this paralytic, who had to be brought to our Lord Jesus in the house, and even when there was no room, he was let down through the roof. We have this need as well to be brought to where our Lord is giving out His holy Word, in the house of God. So that having been let down into the house, that is, upon humbling ourselves in His presence, we may rightly receive His holy gifts, and be healed of all of our sins.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas