Daily Devotions

Luke 5: 13Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.

Here is the account of a leper coming to Jesus for help. Leprosy in the first century was an incurable disease and it would have been a very painful life for the leper. For one there was no cure and the leper would experience the eating away of all the flesh and the bones. The fingers and toes will drop off and even the nose and ears would drop off.

On top of that the leper has to suffer rejection from the community and separation from the family. Leprosy in the first century was considered as a disease of sin. It was believed that when a person had committed grievous sins, he would be afflicted with leprosy.

When lepers are around, the people would keep far away from them and even the priests in those days keep away from the lepers. However in this passage we see the leper crying out to Jesus for His help and Jesus did not turn away from him because Jesus felt the pain and rejection that the leper had experienced. So in response Jesus reached out and touched the leper.

The leper was healed instantly and Jesus asked the leper to show himself to the priests so that they can declare the leper as healed and clean and can be accepted back into the community as well as his family.

Jesus came to heal and restore. He healed the sick and he restored the confidence, the healing that the people needed. Today there are many in the churches who are hurting because some of the other believers have judged their brothers and sisters and have rejected them and removed them from the fellowship. These are hurting as a result of the rejection and separation. They have lost their confidence in the Church as well as with their God.

These too need to be restored and healed so that they can become useful again in the church. Looking for the unsaved in the community is great but there is also a need to forgive and restore some of the brethren in the Church. We know that not everyone is lovable, there are some who are like thorns in our side. They may be like that because they have suffered first through the rejection they had received.

They need to be reached out to and loved back into the body of believers.