Matthew 8:4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
Oh Friends, it’s Sunday again. Wow! This week has certainly passed quickly. It’s time to celebrate the Sabbath again; to rest, worship in company with other believers, and renew our spirits for another week of work. And I hope those who celebrate the Sabbath on Fridays and Saturdays also did that cause it’s the only way we can handle this crazy, evil, fast moving world. Furthermore, if the mighty God we worship rested after creating the universe, then we’d be rather arrogant to think that we can keep on working without any rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. It would also be a gross violation of His statutes since in His absolute wisdom He specifically ordered us to do so. Anyway, let’s see what edification and enlightenment our Bit has to offer today. It consists of words spoken by Jesus after He came down from preaching His famous Sermon on the Mount. This leper…ahh chuh! Let’s hear the beautiful language of the Good Book. ‘And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.’ (Mat.8:2-3) Ah my people, you see what faith can do! Remember back then the life of a leper was horrendous; outcast and ostracized from society. You couldn’t live amongst the normal community. People were afraid to touch you, for not only fear of contagion, but also because lepers were ceremoniously unclean. Notice though that when Jesus touched him, it did not make Jesus unclean, but instead cleansed the leper. Yes Friends, that sad outcast certainly had a lot of faith, believing deep down that if Jesus wanted to heal him, He surely could. Now that’s the first phase in any Christian’s life, in fact to anyone’s life at all. If we don’t believe that we, or any other people we’re dealing with have the capacity, the ability to do a particular job, then the odds are the venture will fail miserably. It’s just something about faith and belief, the way the Lord set it up, that those two qualities draw success to them more than lack of faith and disbelief. So now that Jesus has cleansed the man, He says to him; ‘See thou tell no man.’ Oh Friends, that aspect of Jesus’ healing has puzzled me for a bit because it’s not the only time He said it to someone He’d healed. You’d think that instead of keeping it a secret, He’d express the opposite instruction; go and broadcast it all over the place, like the two blind men whose sight He restored did. He told them; ‘See that no man know it.’ (Mat.9:30-31) But as soon as they left Him, they began spreading the news far and wide. But fortunately, now I’ve found a plausible reason through the wisdom of the scholars. I guess that’s why there are scholars; to inform the unlearned and uninformed like me. (smile) They contend that Jesus desired it kept quiet because He wanted to draw attention away from the miracle itself, the physical aspect, but to appeal to the spiritual need of man; exactly what we were just talking about, the faith and belief. I guess the crowds were mostly attracted to Jesus by His miracles, rather than the message He was trying to convey. Unfortunately, that has not changed much since then my Friends, cause today we’re still entranced by the show, the outward spectacle rather than its substance. But again, to show how our standards have plummeted, 90 % of what now passes for excellence is rich in show, but sadly lacking in substance. However, now that we know why Jesus wanted it kept quiet, His next instruction was; ‘but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.’ Now why that directive? To be in accordance with the Mosaic Law, for a person being cured of a skin disease or leprosy was a very significant event in the Jewish tableau. Since they were de facto outcasts, their healing was a big deal. It meant they could return to fellowship with their families and the community as a whole. They were also allowed back into the temple, a sort of restored relationship with God, which meant everything to the devout Jew. And it was the priest’s job to check them out before they could be reintegrated into the community. Chapter 14 of Leviticus outlines God’s instructions to Moses on the cleansing of lepers. ‘He shall be brought unto the priest. And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper. Then shall the priest command…’ (Lev.14:2-4) It’s a whole lot of stuff Friends, so you’ve got to read it for yourselves, but it was a very significant moment in the community. One thing I’d like to point out though is the smearing of blood by the priest on the right ear, thumb and big toe of the cleansed man. (Lev.14:14) That symbolized the man should now hear God’s voice, perform works of righteousness with his hands and should walk in God’s ways. Maybe we should begin doing that, it might make better Christians of us. It was the same type of ceremony performed with Aaron and his sons on their consecration as priests. (Lev.8:24) And though Moses explained the cleansing ritual in Leviticus, he reminded the Israelites of it when he spoke about the laws of domestic relations in Deuteronomy. ‘Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.’ (Deut.24:8) Yes Friends, leprosy, its contagion and cleansing were significant events in the lives of the Israelites. However, as the scholars emphasize; ‘The tragedy of leprosy lay not so much in personal sin as in isolation from community life and worship. The real message of the legislation is that any type of uncleanness separates the believer from God. Leprosy is symbolic.’ And anything that separates us from God, my people, is totally unacceptable. Please, let’s remember that and sincerely try not to be separated from the Father. Much LOVE!…separation from God…invites death and eternal damnation…
Oh Friends, it’s Sunday again. Wow! This week has certainly passed quickly. It’s time to celebrate the Sabbath again; to rest, worship in company with other believers, and renew our spirits for another week of work. And I hope those who celebrate the Sabbath on Fridays and Saturdays also did that cause it’s the only way we can handle this crazy, evil, fast moving world. Furthermore, if the mighty God we worship rested after creating the universe, then we’d be rather arrogant to think that we can keep on working without any rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. It would also be a gross violation of His statutes since in His absolute wisdom He specifically ordered us to do so. Anyway, let’s see what edification and enlightenment our Bit has to offer today. It consists of words spoken by Jesus after He came down from preaching His famous Sermon on the Mount. This leper…ahh chuh! Let’s hear the beautiful language of the Good Book. ‘And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.’ (Mat.8:2-3) Ah my people, you see what faith can do! Remember back then the life of a leper was horrendous; outcast and ostracized from society. You couldn’t live amongst the normal community. People were afraid to touch you, for not only fear of contagion, but also because lepers were ceremoniously unclean. Notice though that when Jesus touched him, it did not make Jesus unclean, but instead cleansed the leper. Yes Friends, that sad outcast certainly had a lot of faith, believing deep down that if Jesus wanted to heal him, He surely could. Now that’s the first phase in any Christian’s life, in fact to anyone’s life at all. If we don’t believe that we, or any other people we’re dealing with have the capacity, the ability to do a particular job, then the odds are the venture will fail miserably. It’s just something about faith and belief, the way the Lord set it up, that those two qualities draw success to them more than lack of faith and disbelief. So now that Jesus has cleansed the man, He says to him; ‘See thou tell no man.’ Oh Friends, that aspect of Jesus’ healing has puzzled me for a bit because it’s not the only time He said it to someone He’d healed. You’d think that instead of keeping it a secret, He’d express the opposite instruction; go and broadcast it all over the place, like the two blind men whose sight He restored did. He told them; ‘See that no man know it.’ (Mat.9:30-31) But as soon as they left Him, they began spreading the news far and wide. But fortunately, now I’ve found a plausible reason through the wisdom of the scholars. I guess that’s why there are scholars; to inform the unlearned and uninformed like me. (smile) They contend that Jesus desired it kept quiet because He wanted to draw attention away from the miracle itself, the physical aspect, but to appeal to the spiritual need of man; exactly what we were just talking about, the faith and belief. I guess the crowds were mostly attracted to Jesus by His miracles, rather than the message He was trying to convey. Unfortunately, that has not changed much since then my Friends, cause today we’re still entranced by the show, the outward spectacle rather than its substance. But again, to show how our standards have plummeted, 90 % of what now passes for excellence is rich in show, but sadly lacking in substance. However, now that we know why Jesus wanted it kept quiet, His next instruction was; ‘but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.’ Now why that directive? To be in accordance with the Mosaic Law, for a person being cured of a skin disease or leprosy was a very significant event in the Jewish tableau. Since they were de facto outcasts, their healing was a big deal. It meant they could return to fellowship with their families and the community as a whole. They were also allowed back into the temple, a sort of restored relationship with God, which meant everything to the devout Jew. And it was the priest’s job to check them out before they could be reintegrated into the community. Chapter 14 of Leviticus outlines God’s instructions to Moses on the cleansing of lepers. ‘He shall be brought unto the priest. And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper. Then shall the priest command…’ (Lev.14:2-4) It’s a whole lot of stuff Friends, so you’ve got to read it for yourselves, but it was a very significant moment in the community. One thing I’d like to point out though is the smearing of blood by the priest on the right ear, thumb and big toe of the cleansed man. (Lev.14:14) That symbolized the man should now hear God’s voice, perform works of righteousness with his hands and should walk in God’s ways. Maybe we should begin doing that, it might make better Christians of us. It was the same type of ceremony performed with Aaron and his sons on their consecration as priests. (Lev.8:24) And though Moses explained the cleansing ritual in Leviticus, he reminded the Israelites of it when he spoke about the laws of domestic relations in Deuteronomy. ‘Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.’ (Deut.24:8) Yes Friends, leprosy, its contagion and cleansing were significant events in the lives of the Israelites. However, as the scholars emphasize; ‘The tragedy of leprosy lay not so much in personal sin as in isolation from community life and worship. The real message of the legislation is that any type of uncleanness separates the believer from God. Leprosy is symbolic.’ And anything that separates us from God, my people, is totally unacceptable. Please, let’s remember that and sincerely try not to be separated from the Father. Much LOVE!…separation from God…invites death and eternal damnation…
SCRIP-BITS 