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27 - The Desire of Ages - Ellen Gould · Philosophy and Faith

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Thou canst make me clean. Of all diseases known in the East, the
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leprosy was most dreaded. Its incurable and contagious character and its horrible effect upon
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its victims filled the bravest with fear. Among the Jews, it was regarded
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as a judgment on account of sin, and hints was called the stroke the
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finger of God. Deep rooted, ineradicable, deadly, it was looked upon
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as a symbol of sin. By the ritual law, the leper was pronounced
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unclean, like one already dead. He was shut out from the habitations of
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men. Whatever he touched was unclean, The air was polluted by his breath.
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One who was suspected of having the disease must present himself to the priest,
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who were to examine and decide his case. If pronounced a leper,
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he was isolated from his family, cut off from the congregation of Israel,
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and was doomed to associate with those only who were similarly afflicted. The law
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was inflexible in its requirement. Even kings and rulers were not exempt. A
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monarch who was attacked by this terrible disease must yield up the scepter and flee
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from society, away from his friends and his kindred, the leper must bear
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the curse of his malady. He was obliged to publish his own calamity,
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to rind his garments, and sound the alarm, warning all to flee from
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his contaminating presence. The cry unclean, unclean, coming in mournful tones from
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the lonely exile, was a signal heard with fear and abhorrence. In the
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region of Christ's ministry. There were many of these sufferers, and the news
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of his work reached them, kindling a gleam of hope. But since the
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days of Elisha the prophet, such a thing had never been known as the
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cleansing of one upon whom this disease had fastened. They dared not expect Jesus
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to do for them what he had never done for any man. There was
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one, however, in whose heart fate began to spring up. Yet the
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man knew not how to reach Jesus. Debarred as he was from contact with
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his fellow men, how could he present himself to the healer? And he
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questioned, if Christ would heal him, would he stoop to notice one believed
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to be suffering under the judgment of God. Would he not, like the
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Pharisees and even the physicians, pronounce a curse upon him and warn him to
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flee from the haunts of men. He thought of all that had been told
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him of Jesus, not one who had sought his help had been turned away.
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The wretched man determined to find the Savior. Though shut out from the
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cities, it might be that he could cross his path in some by way
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along the mountain roads, or find him as he was teaching outside the towns.
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The difficulties were great, but this was his only hope. The leper
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is guided to the Savior. Jesus is teaching beside the lake, and the
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people are gathered about him. Standing afar off, the leper catches a few
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words from the Savior's lips. He him. Laying his hands upon the sick.
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He sees the lame, the blind, the paralytic, and those dying
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of various maladies rise up in health, praising God for their deliverance. Faith
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strengthens in his heart. He draws nearer and yet nearer to the gathered throng
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the restrictions laid upon him, the safety of the people and the fear with
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which all men regard him are forgotten. He thinks only of the blessed hope
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of healing. He is a loathsome spectacle. The disease has made frightful inroads,
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and his decaying body is horrible to look upon. At sight of him,
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the people fall back in terror. They crowd upon one another in their
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eagerness to escape from contact with him. Some try to prevent him from approaching
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Jesus, but in vain he neither sees nor hears them. Their expressions of
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loathing are lost upon him. He sees only the Son of God. He
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hears only the voice that speaks life to the dying. Pressing to Jesus,
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he cast himself at his feet with the cry, Lord, if thou wilt,
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thou canst make me clean. Jesus replied, I will be thou made
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clean, and laid his hand upon him Matthew eight three r V. Immediately
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a change passed over the leper. His flesh became healthy, the nerve sensity,
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the muscles firm, The rough scaly surface peculiar to leprosy disappeared, and
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a soft glow like that upon the skin of a healthy child took its place.
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Jesus charged a man not to make known the work that had been wrought,
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but straightway to present himself with an offering at the temple. Such an
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offering could not be accepted until the priest had made examination and pronounced the man
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wholly free from the disease. However unwilling they might be to perform this service,
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they could not evade an examination and decision of the case. The words
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of scriptures show with what urgency christ enjoined upon them man the necessity of silence
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and prompt action. He straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away and
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seth unto him. See thou say nothing to any man, but go thy
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way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things
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which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. Had the priest known the facts
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concerning the healing of the leper, their hatred of Christ might have led them
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to render a dishonest sentence. Jesus desired the man to present himself at the
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temple before any rumors concerning the miracle had reached them. Thus an impartial decision
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could be secured, and the restored leper would be permitted to unite once more
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with his family and friends. There were other objects which Christ had in view.
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In enjoining silence on the man, The Savior knew that his enemies were
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ever seeking to limit his work and to turn the people from him. He
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knew that if the healing of the leper were noised abroad, other sufferers from
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this terrible disease would crowd about him, and the cry would be raised that
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the people would be contemnedminated by contact with them. Many of the lepers would
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not so use the gift of health as to make it a blessing to themselves
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or to others, And by drawing the lepers about him, he would give
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occasion for the charge that he was breaking down the restrictions of the ritual law.
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Thus his work in preaching the Gospel would be hindered. The event justified
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Christ's warning. A multitude of people had witnessed the healing of the leper,
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and they were eager to learn of the priest's decision. When the man returned
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to his friends, there was great excitement. Notwithstanding the caution of Jesus,
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the man made no further effort to conceal the facts of his cure. It
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would indeed have been impossible to conceal it. But the leper published the matter
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abroad. Conceiving that it was only the modesty of Jesus which laid this restriction
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upon him, he went about proclaiming the power of this great healer. He
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did not understand that every such manifestation made the priests and elders more determined to
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destroy Jesus. The restored man felt that the boon of health was very precious.
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He rejoiced in the vigor of manhood and in his restoration to his family
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and society, and felt it impossible to refrain from giving glory to the physician
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who had made him whole. But his act in blazing abroad the matter resulted
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in hindering the Saviour's work. It caused the people to flock to him in
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such multitudes that he was forced for a time to cease his labors. Every
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act of Christ's ministry was far reaching in its purpose. It comprehended more than
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appeared in the act itself. So in the case of the leper, while
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Jesus ministered to all who came unto him, he yearned to bless those who
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came not. While he drew the publicans the Heathen and the Samaritans. He
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longed to reach the priest and teachers, who were shut in by prejudice and
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tradition. He left untried no means by which they might be reached. In
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sending the healed leper to the priest, he gave them a testimony calculated to
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disarm their prejudices. The Pharisees had asserted that Christ's teaching was opposed to the
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law which God is given to Moses. But his direction to the Klin's leper
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to present an offering according to the law disproved this charge. It was sufficient
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testimony for all who were willing to be convinced. The leaders at Jerusalem had
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sent out spies to find some pretext for putting Christ to death. He responded
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by giving them an evidence of his love for humanity, his respect for the
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law, and his power to deliver from sin and death. Thus he bore
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witness of them, they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for
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my love Psalms one O nine five. He who on the mount gave the
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precept love your enemies himself exemplified the principle, not rendering evil for evil or
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railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing Matthew five forty four one Peter three
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nine, the same priest who condemned the leper to banishment certified his cure.
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This sentence, publicly pronounced and registered, was a standing testimony for Christ,
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and as the healed man was reinstated in the Congregation of Israel, upon the
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priest's own assurance that there was not a taint of the disease upon him,
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he himself was a living witness for his benefactor. Joyfully he presented his offering
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and magnified the name of Jesus. The priest were convinced of the divine power
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of the Savior. Opportunity was granted them to know the truth and to be
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profited by the light. Rejected it would pass away, never to return.
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By many, the light was rejected, yet it was not given in vain.
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Many hearts removed that for a time made no sign. During the Saviour's
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life, his mission seemed to call forth little response of love from the priests
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and teachers. But after his ascension a great company of the priest were obedient
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to the faith. Acts six seven. The work of Christ in cleansing the
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leper from his terrible disease is an illustration of his work in cleansing the soul
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from sin. The man who came to Jesus was full of leprosy, its
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dead poisoned permeated his whole body. The disciples sought to prevent their master from
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touching him, for he who touched the leper became himself unclean. But in
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laying his hand upon the leper, Jesus received no defilement. His touch imparted
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life giving power. The leprosy was cleansed. Thus it is with the leprosy
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of sin, deep rooted, deadly, and impossible to be cleansed by human
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power. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From
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the soul of the foot. Even unto the head, there is no soundness
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in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores Isaiah one five and six.
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But Jesus, coming to dwell in humanity, receives no pollution. His
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presence has healing virtue for the sinner, whoever will fall at his feet,
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saying in faith, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean?
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Shall hear thee answer? I will be thou made clean Matthew eight two three
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are in some instances of healing, Jesus did not at once grant the blessing
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sought. But in the case of leprosy, no sooner was the appeal made
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than it was granted. When we pray for earthly blessings, the answer to
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our prayer may be delayed, or God may give us something other than we
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ask, but not so when we ask for deliverance from sin. It is
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His will to cleanse us from sin, to make us his children, and
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to enable us to live a holy life. Christ gave himself for our sins
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that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will
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of God and our Father Galatians one four. And this is the confidence that
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we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to his will,
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he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask,
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we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. First
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John five, fourteen fifteen. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
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and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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First John one nine. In the healing of the paralytic at Capernaum, Christ
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again taught the same truth. It was to manifest his power to forgive sins
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that the miracle was performed, and the healing of the paralytic also illustrates other
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precious truths. It is full of hope and encouragement, and from its connection
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with the caviling Pharisees, it has a lesson of warning as well. Like
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the leper, this paralytic had lost all hope of recovery. His disease was
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the result of a life of sin, and his sufferings were embittered by remorse.
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He had long before appealed to the Pharisees and doctors, hoping for relief
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from mental suffering and physical pain, but they coldly pronounced him incurable and abandoned
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him to the wrath of God. The Pharisees regarded affliction as an evidence of
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divine displeasure, and they held themselves aloof from the sick and the needy.
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Yet often these very ones who exalted themselves as holy, were more guilty than
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the sufferers they condemned. The palsied man was entirely helpless, and seeing no
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prospect of aid from any quarter, he had sunk into despair. Then he
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heard at the wonderful works of Jesus. He was told that others as sinful
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and helpless as he had been healed, even lepers, had been cleansed.
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And the friends who reported these things encouraged him to believe that he too might
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be cured if he could be carried to Jesus. But his hope fell when
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he remembered how the disease had been brought upon him. He feared that the
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pure physician would not tolerate him in his presence. Yet it was not physical
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restoration he desired so much as relief from the burden of sin. If he
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could see Jesus and receive the assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven, he
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would be content to live or die according to God's will. The cry of
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the dying man was, Oh, that I might come into his presence.
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There was no time to lose. Already his wasted flesh was shown signs of
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decay. He besought his friends to carry him on his bed to Jesus,
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and this they gladly undertook to do. But so dense was the crowd that
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had assembled in and about the house where the Savior was that it was impossible
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for the sick man and his friends to reach him, or even to come
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within hearing of his voice. Jesus was teaching in the House of Peter,
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according to their custom. His disciples set close about him, and there were
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pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every
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town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem. These had come as spies seeking an
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accusation against Jesus. Outside of these officials thronged the promiscuous multitude, the eager,
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the reverend, the curious, and the unbelieving. Different nationalities in all
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grades of society were represented, and the power of the Lord was present to
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heal. The spirit of life brooded over the assembly, but pharisees and doctors
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did not discern its presence. They felt no sense of need, and the
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healing was not for them. He hath filled the hungry with good things,
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and the rich he hath sent empty away Luke one fifty three. Again and
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again, the bearers of the paralytic tried to push their way through the crowd,
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but in vain the sick man looked about him in unutterable anguish. When
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the long forehelp was so near, how could he relinquish hope. At his
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suggestion, his friends bore him to the top of the house, and,
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breaking up the roof, let him down at the feet of Jesus. The
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discourse was interrupted. The Savior looked upon the mournful countenance and saw the pleading
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eyes fixed upon him. He understood the case he had drawn to himself,
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that perplexed and doubting spirit. While the paralytic was yet at home, the
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Savior had brought conviction to his conscience when he repented of his sins and believed
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in the power of Jesus to make him whole. The life giving mercies of
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the Savior had first blessed his longing heart. Jesus had watched the first glimmer
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of faith grow into a belief that he was the sinner's only helper, and
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had seen it grow stronger with every effort to come into his presence. Now,
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in words, it fell like music on the sufferer's ear. The Savior
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said, Son, be of good cheer, Thy sins be forgiven thee The
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burden of despair rolls from the sick man's soul. The peace of forgiveness rests
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upon his spirit and shines out upon his countenance, His physical pain is gone,
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and his whole being is transformed. The helpless paralytic is healed, the
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guilty sinner is pardoned. In simple faith, he accepted the words of Jesus
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as the boon of new life. He urged no further request, but lay
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in blissful silence, too happy for words. The light of Heaven irradiated his
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countenance, and the people looked with awe upon the scene. The rabbis had
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waited anxiously to see what disposition Christ would make of this case. They recollected
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how the man had appealed to them for help, and they had refused him
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hope or sympathy. Not satisfied with this, they had declared that he was
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suffering the curse of God for his sins. These things came fresh to their
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minds when they saw the sick man before them. They marked the interest with
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which all were watching the scene, and they felt the terrible fear of losing
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their own influence over the people. These dignitaries did not exchange words together,
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but looking into one another's faces, they read the same thought in each that
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something must be done to arrest the tide of feeling. Jesus had declared that
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the sins of the paralytic were forgiven. The Pharisees caught at these words as
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blasphemy, and conceived that they could present this as a sin worthy of death.
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They said, in their hearts, he blasphemeth who can forgive sins?
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But one even God Mark two seven r V. Fixing his glance upon them,
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beneath which they cowered and drew back, Jesus said, whereforethink ye evil
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in your hearts, For whether is easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee,
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or to say, arise and walk, But that ye may know that
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the son a man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he said,
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turning to the paralytic, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto
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thine house. Then, he who had been born on a litter to Jesus,
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rises to his feet with the elasticity and strength of youth. The life
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giving blood bounds through his veins. Every organ of his body springs into sudden
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activity. The glow of health succeeds the pallor of approaching death. And immediately
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he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them, all
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insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw
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it on this fashion, O wondrous love of Christ stooping to heal the guilty
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in the afflicted divinity, sorrowing over and soothing the ills of suffering humanity.
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Oh, marvelous power thus displayed to the children of men. Who can doubt
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the message of salvation? Who can slight the mercies of a compassionate redeemer.
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It required nothing less than creating power to restore health to that decaying body.
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The same voice that spoke life to man created from the dust of the earth,
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had spoken life to the dying paralytic. And the same power that gave
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life to the body had renewed the heart. He who at the creation spake
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an it was who commanded, and it stood fast Psalm thirty three nine,
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had spoken life to the soul dead in trespasses and sins. The healing of
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the body was an evidence of the power that had renewed the heart. Christ
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bade the paralytic arise and walk, that ye may know. He said that
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the son of Man power on earth to forgive sins. The paralytic found in
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Christ healing for both the soul and the body. The spiritual healing was followed
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by physical restoration. This lesson should not be overlooked. There are to day
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thousands suffering from physical disease, who, like the paralytic, are longing for
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the message thy sins are forgiven. The burden of sin, with its unrest
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and unsatisfied desires, is the foundation of their maladies. They can find no
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relief until they come to the healer of the soul. The peace which he
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alone can give would impart vigor to the mind and health to the body.
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Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. In him was life,
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and he says, I am come that they might have life, and that
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they might have it more abundantly. He is a quickening spirit First John three
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eight, John one, four, ten ten, First Corinthians, fifteen forty
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five. And he still has the same life giving power as when on earth
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he healed the sick and spoke forgiveness to the sinner. He forgiveth all thine
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iniquities. He healeth all thy diseases Psalms one, O. Three three.
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The effect produced on people by the healing of the paralytic was as if Heaven
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had opened and revealed the glories of the better world. As the man who
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had been cured passed through the multitude, blessing God at every step, and
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bearing his burden as if it were a feather's weight, the people fell back
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to give him room, and with awe stricken faces gazed upon him, whispering
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softly among themselves, we have seen strange things to day. The Pharisees were
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dumb with amazement and overwhelmed with defeat. They saw that here was no opportunity
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for their jealousy to inflame the multitude. The wonderful work wrought upon the man
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whom they had given over to the wrath of God had so impressed the people
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that the rabbis were for the time forgotten. They saw that Christ possessed a
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power which they had ascribed to God alone. Yet the gentle dignity of his
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manner was in marked contrast to their own haughty bearing. They were disconcerted and
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abashed, recognizing but not confessing the presence of a superior being. The stronger
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the evidence that Jesus had power on earth to forgive sins, the more firmly
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they intrenched themselves in unbelief. From the home of Peter, where they had
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seen the paralytic restored by his word, they went away to invent new schemes
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for silencing the Son of God. Physical disease, however malignant and deep seated,
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was healed by the power of Christ, but the disease of the soul
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took a firmer hold upon those who closed their eyes against the light. Leprosy
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and palsy were not so terrible as bigotry and unbelief. In the home of
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the healed paralytic, there was great rejoicing when he returned to his family,
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carrying with ease the couch upon which he had been slowly born from their presence,
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but a short time before they gathered round with tears of joy, scarcely
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daring to believe their eyes, he stood before them in the full vigor of
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manhood. Those arms that they had seen lifeless were quick to obey his will.
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The flesh that had been shrunken and leaden hued, was now fresh and
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ready. He walked with a firm, free step. Joy and hope were
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written in every lineament of his countenance, and an expression of purity and peace
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had taken the place of the marks of sin and suffering. Glad, thanksgiving,
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went up from that home, and God was glorified through his son,
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who had restored hope to the hopeless and strength to the stricken one. This
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man and his family were ready to lay down their lives for Jesus. No
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doubt dimmed their faith, no unbelief marred their fealty to him who had brought
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light into their darkened home. End of Chapter twenty seven.