Wednesday, June 24, 2026
When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made lean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 8:1-4
Choosing Hope
This past Sunday in the Come and See series Pastor Jim talked about a man who had leprosy. He had absolutely no hope until the Messiah came and, in faith, he was willing to step out and find true hope that only Jesus could offer.
In Jesus’ day no disease was more feared than leprosy. It slowly eats away parts of the body leaving its victims deformed. Among the Jews, lepers lived in separate communities, away from the general population, so that others would not be infected. They lived solely on alms, leaving them poor. People, even their families, avoided them because they were considered “unclean,” cursed by God.
One day a man with leprosy came up to Jesus and asked if he would be willing him to make him clean. Jesus told him he was willing, and he healed the man. Jesus healed a man from an incurable disease that no doctor or medicine could. No one approached lepers or even got near them, yet Jesus took the time to stop, pay attention to this man and heal him. Jesus was his only hope.
This man had absolutely no hope. He was an outcast, unclean, helpless - and desperate. He saw the opportunity for hope when he saw Jesus. He obviously had the need for hope and knew that Jesus was the answer to hope. Jesus was modeling for us how we are to take his hope to those around us who are desperate and seeking - and even those who may have given up.
Do you know someone that needs hope? If you have ever felt hopelessness, it is unmistakable when you see it in someone else’s eyes. The problem with hopelessness is that once we believe that hope is not for us we move into the leper colony, create an identity as a leper with no hope of being healed, and live as a leper. We stop looking for hope. It takes faith like the man in the story to step out and run to Jesus. It takes faith to surrender and want to be made clean - because that requires change. Jesus cleans us but we have to live differently. We have to move out of the leper colony and live in hope. There will be those who are still living in no hope and won't understand why you don't want to stay there. They may pull and tug on you to come back. But it takes some work on our part to choose hope again and again after we have been given the everlasting hope of Jesus, because even after the leper spots are going and healed, sometimes we can loose sight of that hope in the midst of other circumstances. Choose hope over and over again.
Jesus wants us to reach out and love the lepers in our lives. We don’t know what seeds we are planting or how God is touching their hearts when we offer a kind or encouraging word. He changes people’s lives and heals their diseases - both physical and spiritual - and He uses us to touch people’s lives in ways we may not even be aware. We should always have eyes to see those around us who not only need to hear the gospel, which is hope, but need to know we are a product of his hope. We have been hopeless and now we are not. We know how Jesus pours hope into a life that seems over - an outcast, unclean, helpless, and desperate. His saving grace erases our lepers’ spots and gives us a new identity in him. His saving grace gives us the hope of eternal life - hope for today and hope for eternity. We no longer belong in the leper colony but instead have a seat at his table and a place with him in eternity.
Look around you as you go through the day. Who needs this everlasting hope that only Jesus offers?
