40 DAYS in the GOSPEL Sample

NO MORE CONTAMINATION

"Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him 'I will; be clean.'" (Mark 1:41)

Not far from where I (Shawn) live, there is a place that used to be a nice town on the edge of a scenic river. But after many strange illnesses, animal deaths, and miscarriages, scientists and biologists determined this was no place to live, let alone raise a family. The area was contaminated and declared unsafe. Now, the area is strangely quiet. The houses are gone, and nothing remains except the blacktop roads that once meandered through the neighborhood. The area has been cleaned up, and the dangerous toxins have been removed. But the area is scarred with memories and a label that no town wants to own: possible contamination.

When Jesus came to earth, there were those who society considered contaminated. Their understanding of how germs work was limited, but they figured out that some things were contagious. For this reason, the leper was permanently unclean.

Jesus does something revolutionary here. He touches the leper. This was against health and religious codes. But what Jesus shows is that He has the authority to make someone clean who was considered unclean. With one touch and the words, “Be clean,” the leper was no longer contaminated. Jesus’ wholeness overcame the man’s sickness. Jesus could not be contaminated! He was greater!

How many years had it been since he hugged his children? How long since he shared a meal with family?

Mark follows this with an account of a man who was paralyzed. He was powerless to come to Jesus except he had wonderful friends who went to extraordinary measures to bring him to Jesus. But Jesus’ first words surprised the crowd, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” He would go on to heal the physical condition of this man, but Jesus shows us there is something worse than paralysis. It’s the contamination of sin that separates him from God. Jesus is pointing to humanity’s greatest need: forgiveness.

The good news of the gospel is that sin’s contamination is no match for Jesus. He not only has the authority to heal the body, but also more. He not only cleanses the leper. He cleanses the heart. With God, forgiveness is not a process. He speaks and it is done: Be clean!

PRAY ABOUT IT: Have you forgotten the magnitude of sin’s contamination? God is holy and hates sin’s effects on us. But you can experience forgiveness right now. Pray and thank Him now for forgiveness.