A Ministry of Compassion

Our scripture this morning is from Mark chapter 1, as Pastor Tyler continues his series in the book of Mark, beginning at verse 39.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

He, that is Jesus, went into all the Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Then a man with leprosy came to him and on his knees begged him, if you are willing, you can make me clean.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him.

I am willing, he told him, Be made clean.

Immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean.

Then he sternly warned him and sent him away at once, telling him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them.

Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thank you, choir, for leading us in worship this morning.

And also, it was a special blessing hearing uh Paula's testimony.

So thank you for sharing that with us this morning.

Um well today we are going to talk about the compassion of our God.

The compassion of our God.

We serve a compassionate God.

And today it's been full of celebration, really, of that compassion, that grace, that care, that provision that God has shown us individually, as we heard from Paul.

Also as a church, as we discuss how he's been providing for us tangibly through the giving of the people of God.

Well, today what we're gonna see in this passage is the beauty of a deeply, probably the one of the most deeply important parts of Christ's character and his ministry, which is his compassion.

Because when we encounter Jesus, when you encounter Jesus, I encounter Jesus, we encounter compassion all the time, every time.

Everything Jesus does, how he heals, how he guides us, how he encourages us, how he directs us, how he commands us, even, comes from his compassionate character.

And so this morning, as we consider this uh beautiful story of this man who's healed, we're gonna see that the compassion of Jesus is shown in his response to brokenness, but the compassion of Jesus is also present in his call to obedience.

So the first thing, the compassion of Jesus is shown in his response to brokenness.

And we see this in verses 39 to 42 in the story.

We're going to just kind of this morning let the story speak for itself.

This story is not just a nice illustration of how God's compassion works, but it's a statement.

It's a statement that Jesus makes all about who come to him.

It's a statement that Jesus is making.

When you come and you encounter me, Jesus is saying, this is what you can expect.

This is what you can put your hope in.

This is what you can know for certainty.

And so that's what this story does for us.

Starting in verse 39, he went into all of Galilee.

Now Galilee is in the uh Capernaum was in the region of Galilee, so he leaves the events of Capernaum as he finishes off in verse 38.

He says to them, Let's go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there.

This is why I have commons.

So that's what is taking place in 39, as he's going and doing that.

He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

The intense ministry continues.

He's preaching in the synagogue and he's driving out demons.

And Mark doesn't give us much content as to his preaching when it comes to the messages that Jesus shares.

Uh other um Matthew and Luke give us much more than Mark does.

So, of course, we got the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, and we got other sermons that get more detail.

But Mark just kind of says he preached, and that's what he did.

He gave the good news of God.

He gave the good news of the Messiah.

So he arrives, and miracles happen, but the message of the good news of God was why he had come.

That's how we finished off last week.

And the word here for driving out, so he goes into Galilee, preaching and then driving out demons.

This word for driving out the demons is similar as a few verses earlier when we see the word uh used again as the Holy Spirit drives Jesus into wilderness, right?

It's this forceful driving out.

And here Mark is also giving us that, you know, as the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, Jesus is now driving and forcing demons out of possession of people.

So it's this forceful driving.

And it goes on in verse 40.

Then a man with leprosy, so preaching, demons driving out, and also the man with leprosy came to him and on his knees begged him.

If you are willing, you can make me clean, he says.

Verse 41.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and he touched him.

I am willing, he told him, be made clean.

So in comes a begging leper.

And as we know, leprosy, according to Leviticus 13, uh was a description of a variety of seven or even more diseases.

So when you see leprosy in the Bible, it could mean several different kinds of skin diseases or ailments.

And according to the laws in Leviticus, a person with these diseases would have to wear distinct clothing so as to tell them apart from those who are healthy.

So it's basically walking around with an orange vest on saying, I've got leprosy, a big sign on the front, perhaps a target on your back.

Run from me, I've got leprosy.

And the reason for this wasn't for personal shaming of the leper, but it was for the safety of others, of those who were healthy, and in hopes that the disease wouldn't spread.

It was a terrible disease in their day.

Absolutely terrible.

It brought with it a life and eventually a death sentence.

There was no cure.

It was spread through physical touch.

And what would happen with the person with this with this leprosy or these physical skin conditions is that they would lose sensation to touch and temperature, and eventually they'd lose sensation for pain.

And so they would hurt themselves and they wouldn't feel it.

Infection would set in, and then their skin and their flesh would start to rot and they wouldn't feel it.

And there would be this thickening that would take place of the skin and the skin on the face.

And it would leave the person with these deep formations in their face that would almost make a person look lion-like, as they would describe it.

Paralysis of the hands, legs, face, they would lose fingers, toes, feet, limbs.

Children were most susceptible to it.

Being a leper was likened to touching a corpse, as Nehemiah 12, 12 says.

Sufferers, then, were regarded as the walking dead, as Numbers 12, 12, 12, 2 tells us.

Sorry, that was Numbers 12, 12 before.

Numbers 12 tells us they're regarded as the walking dead.

So picture this preaching, demons casting out.

And in walks this guy, this leper.

I mean, he likely smelt from the disease.

Maybe he smelt of that decaying flesh.

He would have been wearing the clothes that the law of Moses required him.

And he's showing up with that orange vest, here I am, unclean and all.

And what does he do?

He comes to Jesus and he says, If you are willing, you can make me clean.

If you are willing, wow.

What confidence he had in Jesus' ability.

He knew that Jesus could do it.

But what pain.

What humility.

Only if you are willing, Jesus.

I know Jesus, you can do this, but only if you're willing.

I don't want to be a bother.

I mean, the man did, in a way, break the law of Moses or the instruction of Moses, because he was supposed to stay away, but instead he comes to a close distance with Jesus, and he comes so close that he gets down at his feet and begs him.

You know, leprosy in this story very much represents sin.

When we see and hear this story, we should identify ourselves with the leper.

As was his disease of sin, so is ours.

It stinks, it's vile, it doesn't wash off.

You can't take a shower and then your sin is gone.

But it'll slowly kill us, and because of it, there are areas of life that have become desensitized or paralyzed to the feeling of the touch of the truth.

The more sin progresses, the more we don't see how it's damaging us.

We think we're safe.

We're good.

It's a secret, it's quiet, nobody knows.

It's not hurting anybody, but it's rotting us from the inside out.

And just as this man has to come as he does to the feet of Jesus and ask for mercy, so do we.

With sin in the way, we can't dwell in the presence of God.

And so this leper comes begging.

Because Jesus is his only hope.

As Jesus is our only hope, and with certainty, he knows that Jesus can make him clean.

And what does Jesus do?

Does Jesus turn away from him?

No.

Jesus turns to him, and the passage says, He is moved with compassion.

Jesus reached out his hand in verse 41.

And he touched him.

I am willing, he told him.

One commentator notes that this phrase, moved with compassion, has deeper meaning.

That it also in some transcripts is translated as being angered.

Not that he was angry at the man, but at what sin and disease had done to this man's body and to this man's life.

Christ's compassion for us, and this is important for us to understand about his compassion, his compassion for us is as strong as it is because of the strength of his hatred for sin and hatred for oppression.

He shows us compassion because he hates our sin.

And he looks at this man with compassion and care and simultaneously full of hatred for this man's disease because of what it was doing to his body.

Verse 41.

It's beautiful.

Move with compassion.

Reaches out and he touches him.

No.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched him.

I mean, this was a big no-no.

You did not touch a leper, right?

And you almost wonder if the disciples and people watching kind of jumped out of their skins a little bit to try to stop it, perhaps.

I mean, text doesn't tell us.

But perhaps they did.

Who knows?

Not only was this a dangerous thing to do in the case that Jesus could contract it himself, but it was also ceremonially against the law of Moses to do so.

And here, what Jesus is doing, he's defining the ceremonial laws and he's redefining it as he begins to show us his attitude towards the law and fulfilling the law.

And so he touches the leper.

And the guy likely hasn't felt human touch in a long time.

He hasn't experienced the love, grace, and compassion that Jesus was now showing him that was more important to Jesus than the ritual and the regulations.

This man had only known abuse.

And what does it tell us in verse 42?

Immediately, there's that word again.

Mark loves that word.

Immediately the leprosy left him and he was clean.

Immediately, this man had been forced to be set apart from others for so long.

Be set apart from worshiping God freely with others for so long.

And in an instant, all of this changes.

All of it.

As Jesus, the holy one of God, holiness, remember, the word holy means set apart.

Jesus now, the holy one of God, now makes this man no longer set apart from the people, but set apart in a new kind of way, in a holy way.

The man is now healed.

No longer does he need to be ashamed.

No longer does he need to hide and declare his disease so openly.

This man now could proceed and participate in temple worship without any worries or concerns.

You know, listen.

When you and I come to Jesus, the only one who can heal the disease of our sin, we are met with compassion.

We're met with a compassionate Savior whose ministry and life is one of compassion.

We are met with a loving and healing, gentle hand that says, I am willing be made clean.

Jesus will never turn away a repentant sinner begging for forgiveness.

The encounter with Jesus that we have when we come to him, repent and find forgiveness.

This encounter changes us.

We're forgiven.

No more shame, no more guilt.

The Savior cleanses the repenter as he does the leper.

If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, you don't have, you've never placed your faith and trust in Jesus, you've never come and repented of your sin.

Listen, this is who Jesus is.

He wants to be compassion for you too.

He wants to save you too.

He wants to make you clean too.

If you're sitting here and you are a Christian, look at what Jesus has done for you.

Think about it for a moment.

Imagine if this guy continued to live in his leper clothes and continued to say, stay away, unclean.

That would be weird, right?

Listen to these words of Jesus.

I am willing be made clean.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus has made you clean.

You are forgiven.

You've been made holy, set apart.

You've been given eternal life.

Enjoy it.

Enjoy it.

Take off the rags.

Enjoy it.

This is why we exist as a church, and we even we have this printed on our wall out there in the foyer.

We exist to encourage all people to pursue a lifelong, joyous relationship with Jesus Christ.

He saves us and we get to enjoy it.

Your forgiveness is meant to be enjoyed.

It's meant to change you.

You've been touched with compassion by a compassionate healer, Jesus.

Enjoy it.

Resist temptation.

Don't put those rags on anymore.

Remember that you are loved, you are forgiven, you've been made clean.

Let this truth breathe life and strength into the struggles that you're facing today.

Encourage others with these words.

Jesus has made you clean.

But this has to be one of my favorite things to do is to encourage those who are weary and bogged down in struggles of life to enjoy the goodness and grace of our compassionate Lord Jesus.

But the compassion isn't just left there.

The compassion of Jesus is present in his call to obedience.

Verses 43 through 44 say this.

Then he sternly warned them, or warned him, and sent him away at once, telling him, It's easy you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and offer and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them.

Okay, remember that phrase, testimony to them.

Jesus sternly warns him and he sends them away.

The same phrasing here again in the Greek.

The driving out, the Holy Spirit driving out Jesus into the wilderness.

Jesus driving out the demons.

Now is used here for this man.

He sends or he drives him out.

And there are a few things that are happening here.

And I believe one of the things that's happening here is Jesus doesn't want to be strictly known as a miracle worker.

He had come to do so much more.

And so he sternly warns the man.

Again, not just here for the miracles, but first and foremost, here to preach the good news of God.

And he doesn't want people to get the wrong idea.

But I think also what's happening here is that he was genuinely excited and happy for this man.

And so he forcefully sends him away to be presented before the priest, as according to Leviticus 14, to show that he's clean, so that upon inspection, they would officially and ceremonially declare this man clean of a disease that had no cure.

And this man would then be have all of the rights and the privileges of being one who is clean.

Everything that would come with that would be his, finally.

He would be able to change his clothes, no longer be blacklisted.

And as a person with leprosy was like a walking corpse.

A person cleansed from leprosy would be like rising from the dead.

And this was to be a testimony to them all, Jesus says.

Allow this to be their testimony that the Messiah had come.

He is to be listened to.

His message is sure.

It's true.

Jesus' ministry of compassion heals the disease, raises the dead.

And this story of this man then becomes this illustration and even this foreshadowing of what would come as Jesus washes us of our sin, rising us up to life again.

As we will sing in just a few moments, just as I am and waiting not, to rid my soul of one dark blot, to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come.

Verse 45 happens, though.

If only that guy just did what he was told.

Here, verse 45.

Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.

But, if only the man had done that, but what happens is he couldn't contain himself.

He went out, it says, and he proclaimed it widely.

He spread the news.

This is to emphasize, it was a really bold move of him to do this.

I mean, pretty bold.

Jesus, the Son of God who just heals you.

You immediately ignore the direction he gives you.

And it wasn't like, you know, this guy was going out and telling a few buddies, or that it had casually slipped out by mistake.

No, he left his conversation with Jesus.

He posted it on Twitter and YouTube, put up a billboard, Facebook, Instagram, probably got t-shirts printed.

Who knows?

The text says that he proclaimed it widely and spread the news.

He did all he could in their day and age to tell everybody what had happened.

The reality is, is he disobeyed Jesus.

You know, even in our, I think this is true of our own stories, even in our own redemption, disobedience can and does come.

It's astounding.

Jesus did such a remarkable thing.

And all he did, he asked the guy to do one thing.

He's like, just keep quiet.

Just one thing.

Keep your mouth closed.

Just one thing.

Don't tell anyone.

But the guy couldn't resist.

And does this mean that Jesus then tracked him down and took back the healing?

Give him back the leprosy?

Absolutely not.

In this, Jesus shows us another remarkable thing.

What he does is he just, he pivots.

You know, it's a reminder to us that the things that Jesus tells us should be listened to.

But also how Jesus even responds to our own disobedience.

Sometimes Jesus says, do this, and we say, I don't want to.

I'm going to do this instead.

And I think this is a good part for us to just pause for a moment and think, do you have something like that right now in your life?

Between you and Jesus.

But you said, I don't want to.

We may not understand, and we may not want to do something that he has asked us to do.

Or we might want to do something else.

But remember who is telling us to do it?

He's healed us.

Verse 45, what happens is this results, this man goes out and he tells everyone, this results in Jesus having to change course a little bit.

He now goes out into the deserted places.

The story of this leper is over.

We don't hear more about this leper.

But people still come from everywhere to find him.

They find him even in the deserted places.

You know, the command of Jesus to this man was from a heart of compassion.

Because Jesus knew if word spread, he would have to stop going into the villages and the places where he had, it was his mission to preach the good news and to heal people in those places.

He knew that if word spread, he would have to go to a deserted place.

People would have to then come to him.

So Jesus giving this command came from a heart of compassion for other things that he had been called to do and called to care and show compassion to others.

Others who were spiritually in trouble.

And even though this man disobeyed, Jesus continued his mission of compassion.

When we encounter Jesus, we encounter everything there is about Jesus.

We encounter his compassion, his love, his grace, and his mercy.

His mercy is always greater than our sin.

Come, repent, confess, feel the touch of forgiveness, and enjoy it.

Let's pray.

But I do know this, and I promise you this.

You come to Jesus, you'll be met with compassion.

Maybe for just a moment you can just sit in silence and talk to God.

But whatever it is he may be laying on your heart by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit here this morning through his word.

Just take a moment and do that now.

Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ, his compassion.

We thank you for these beautiful words.

I am willing to be healed, be made clean.

Lord, I pray that every one of us would hear and know those words.

Those that are here that have not placed their faith and trust in you, Lord, I pray that they would burden their heart until they do.

Those of us that are struggling, Lord, with various kinds of sin and temptation, Lord, we pray you would reveal it to us so we can come to our compassionate Savior with it.

We pray, Lord, you would take those numb parts of our life that we have so desensitized because of our sin, and you would make them alive and soft again.

Help us to feel it.

As we feel the touch of Jesus and his healing and forgiveness, we thank you for who he is.

He is our Savior.

He is the one who has come, the Holy One of God.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.