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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Monday, January 17, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Jesus Heals a Leper Bible Verse:Matthew 8:1-4 (ESV) "When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”" Message:
Leprosy is rare today; humanity has built up “herd immunity” to it, as it has to bubonic plague. But it was a terrible disease. The victim becomes covered in ulcers that seep and give off a foul smell; the eyebrows fall out, the voice becomes hoarse — no need to give all the symptoms. It is awful and, after about nine years of progressive mental and physical decline, the victim dies.
If the symptoms are terrible, the isolation was (historically) even worse, for to have leprosy was to become utterly outcast. A Jew could not touch a leper, could not walk within six feet of a leper, could not even allow a leper to look through an open door into his house. People with leprosy were forbidden to enter walled towns or synagogues. They were relegated to foul colonies, clothed in rags, filthy, lucky if they had enough food, water, and any sort of roof over their head. Employment was out of the question. It was forbidden even to greet them.
Jesus heals leper - Rennaissance
Jesus reached out his hand
and touched the man.
So, pause for a minute, and consider the full implication of the verse: “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.”
This is the first instance we see of Jesus challenging the Pharisees’ interpretation of the law of Moses, to fulfill the spirit of the Law. Matthew has given us a long three chapters filled with nothing but the words of Christ. Now, in Chapter 8, we move on to see the actions of Christ. There are really two miracles here. First, of course, the leper is healed. Secondly, Jesus flouts the Law (as interpreted by the Jewish rabbi’s) to touch an unclean thing in Judaism; but, of course, it is not a “thing”, but a man. It is you and I.
We might feel a little less sense of Christ’s personal danger than the danger to an ordinary man, for He does not fear to actually contract the disease; but we must remember that He will be despised, mocked, whipped and crucified for his actions. Would He have risked contracting leprosy, to save us? Yes, without doubt.
The man knelt before Him and then requested to be healed. He did exactly what a person would do today; he essentially prayed to a living God, in faith and reverence. Jesus then instructed the man to go to a rabbi and follow the law, a fairly complicated ritual for one who has been cured of leprosy. He shows us His commitment to the law of Moses in deed, as He had just done in His words. Christ very clearly saw His ministry as part of a single exposition of God to humanity. He kept a direct link to Judaism; He would change it radically, but the new covenant was nevertheless a modification, not the establishment of a new religion. As he told us in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Meditation : Prayer : I pray to you, dearest Jesus, for all the graces I need to know you, to love you and serve you faithfully unto death, and to save my soul. Give me a tender and fervent devotion to your sacred passion by which I was redeemed, venerating you each day in prayer, and teach me how to unite sorrows and sufferings of my life with your own........Amen |
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