I Saw the Sign: Part 4
God appears in the midst of humanity - and who is standing there, ready to be made clean and bow before Him? The religious elite? The rich? The powerful? As always, the gospel 9the Good News about Jesus) is ready to surprise us. The one who comes and bows before Jesus after giving the new like up on the mountain (like Moses did in Ex. 19 and 34) is a leper. Someone unclean and cast out, yet the first one to be “made clean” and ready for the coming King.
Title: Healing of a Leper Date: 1913 Artist: Niels Larsen Stevns, 1864-1941, Denmark
Anchor Texts:
Matthew 8:1-4 NIV - Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
Questions to Ponder:
Jesus doesn’t say very much in our main passage today - What is significant about Jesus saying “I am willing”?
Many translations don’t use the word “healed” in this passage - the word consistently used is “clean” and “cleansed” - what is different about “healing” someone versus “cleansing” them? What other themes of the Bible come up through “cleansing”?
Why do you think it’s important for the man to not tell anyone that he has been cleansed? Read Mark 1:40-45 to get another angle on this event.
Do you have an experience of meeting Jesus and knowing in your heart that you have been “cleansed” or changed significantly in some way? Could you share about it?
The Theme in Art:
Jesus Cured the Leper, William A Foster, 1891, Wood Cutting
There are a few key differences between the painting by Stevns at the top of the blog and the wood cutting directly above.
What do you notice about the posture and positioning of Jesus and the leper? What do you notices about the others gathered around and how are they different in the two works? How does the addition of colour affect your interpretation of the first painting compared to the wood cutting? Most importantly, is God getting your attention through a certain detail in either of these works of art, and what might he be saying to you about himself, or people?
The Theme in Video:
If you haven’t seen “The Chosen” before, it is a TV series about the life of Jesus. In this amazing clip, we see our passage from Matthew dramatized.
The Theme in Song:
This song is part of a full-length album written by Joshua Leventhal, a worship leader and friend of mine from Briercrest College. Have a listen and here the words and themes of our passage expressed in a beautiful and simple song.