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MOVED WITH COMPASSION 09 25 2017 1 Moved with Compassion Mark 1 40 42 And a leper came to him imploring him and kneeling said to him If you will you can make me clean Moved with pity he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him I will be clean And immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean ESV In Leviticus 13 45 46 anyone with the disease of leprosy was declared unclean by Jewish law The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out Unclean unclean He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease He is unclean He shall live alone His dwelling shall be outside the camp ESV This law had not changed by the time Jesus arrived Anyone who touched a leper was considered impure to be impure meant that you could not approach or touch anything holy Lepers therefore were shunned by all of society because they were unclean Someone with leprosy would never have the opportunity to approach anything or anyone holy including God Can you imagine the audacity this man with leprosy must have had to approach Jesus Would you have had enough courage and faith to approach Jesus knowing that society looked at you as being vile But Jesus was moved with pity compassion love He touched this man and healed him He went against all of the customs of society and touched him After mustering up enough boldness out of his misery and desperation to approach Jesus what would have happened to the man if Jesus had refused his plea for mercy Jesus had the choice of turning away and not allowing the man near him As a matter of fact it was expected of him What if Jesus had not shown the leper any compassion at all Can you imagine what 2017 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved
MOVED WITH COMPASSION 09 25 2017 2 would have become of the leper Not only was he already shunned by society not allowed to approach anything holy but now he was turned down by a man that visibly healed others by a man that preached about God s love loving your neighbor equality mercy and forgiveness yet he was shown no mercy Has anything similar ever happened to you There s another story about mercy and compassion in the Bible that we should look at And behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test saying Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life He said to him What is written in the Law How do you read it And he answered You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself And he said to him You have answered correctly do this and you will live But he desiring to justify himself said to Jesus And who is my neighbor Jesus replied A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed leaving him half dead Now by chance a priest was going down that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side So likewise a Levite when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side But a Samaritan as he journeyed came to where he was and when he saw him he had compassion He went to him and bound up his wounds pouring on oil and wine Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper saying Take care of him and whatever more you spend I will repay you when I come back Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers He said The one who showed him mercy And Jesus said to him You go and do likewise ESV Luke 25 37 2017 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved
MOVED WITH COMPASSION 09 25 2017 3 Have you been in a position where you should have shown mercy and haven t I have and I wish I could go back in time and redo it but I can t All I can do is seek forgiveness and pray that God has mercy on me I wish to live my life as the Samaritan and show mercy at all times Have you ever been in a position when you ve begged for mercy and it wasn t given I ve been there too It is not a good feeling and it makes you feel kind of inhuman like a special kind of trash I don t care to ever make anyone feel like that and I strive hard not to No matter how right or wrong we think we are about something and no matter how righteous and justified we feel that we may be in the eyes of God we all need to give mercy and we all need to receive mercy Jesus showed compassion to the leper and went against all social taboos to touch and heal him If you have the ability to touch a leper whether its someone you despise someone you don t trust someone who is homeless and stinks would you touch them Would you reach out to them with true compassion in your heart Would you be like Jesus or the Levite and priest on the road to Jericho 2017 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved