Piling On The Evidence

In football there is a penalty for an act known as ‘piling on.’ Occasionally, after a ball carrier gets tackled some of the other defensive players decide to jump on top of the downed player just for good measure. This has a tendency to squash the tackled player and is therefore deemed a foul by the powers that be. Piling on is unnecessary because once you are tackled you are down and you can’t get any more tackled than you already are.

A person can pile on in other ways that don’t include physically flinging yourself on top of another person. For instance you may be having an argument with someone. After just a short time the facts obviously support your position and you have won the argument. The other person may have even conceded the point. But if you continue to offer more and more proofs that you are correct that is called piling on. Now if the person you are arguing with refuses to admit that your position is correct even after the presentation of undeniable proof then it may become necessary to pile on the evidence in order to crack a stubborn and hardened heart.

In our study of the gospel of Luke we have seen Jesus offering evidence of who He truly is. In the Old Testament it was prophesied that the Messiah--the promised Savior--would come with healing in His hands. One example is found in Isaiah 35:5-6:

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
       and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
       and the mute tongue shout for joy.
       Water will gush forth in the wilderness
       and streams in the desert.

At the hand of Jesus already many in Israel had been healed. But there were still stubborn and hardened hearts and others that were just slow to believe. So Jesus began piling on. Even though the evidence already shown should have been good enough to convince even a skeptic Jesus offered more and more proof that He was in fact the Messiah the Jews had longed dreamed for.

There is a ton of great information packed into that one little verse. Luke doesn’t specify exactly when this incident took place or where. All we know is that it was sometime after the call of the first disciples. It was probably one of the towns surrounding Capernaum. The place or the time isn’t all that important and Luke may have purposely left it vague as if to say, “Here is another example of the great work Jesus did.”

Jesus was walking in the town when a man afflicted with leprosy found Him. Leprosy is not a disease that strikes fear into our hearts today, but it was the most dreaded disease back in Jesus’ day. Leprosy was no respecter of persons. The rich and the poor, the social elite and the peasant were all equally susceptible. The disease would start with pain in certain parts of the body. Soon after that numbness would set in. When that happened people’s hearts would sink in fear.

The term ‘leprosy’ comes from the Greek word ‘lepis,’ which means scale. The disease caused the skin to get thick and glossy with a dry, scaly covering. As the sickness progressed the scaly portions would develop open sores and ulcers because of the poor blood circulation. These sores were constantly oozing pus and dirt easily collected on them. Without constant attention gangrene frequently set in. Because of this lepers also had a very foul smell about them.

Leprosy concentrates its attack on the extremities. Because of the numbness a person could cut their hand or foot and not even realize it. As the disease got worse a person’s fingers and toes would die and fall off leaving new open sores on the body. Leprosy also attacks the larynx making the voice hoarse and raspy.

Not as medically bad but very demoralizing for the victim is what leprosy does to the face. Your eyebrows and eyelashes fall out and the skin grows thick and bunches up making the person look more like an animal than a human.

With our better treatments and hygiene today, leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease is only mildly contagious. The risk is still there but it is not great. But back then that wasn’t the case. Lepers were forced into exile living outside the protection of the city. If the town was big enough and there were enough of them lepers would sometimes form colonies and work together to try to help each other, but for the most part they were lonely outcasts. Because of the dreaded nature of the disease lepers more than any other diseased or afflicted people were considered cursed by God. The common feeling at the time was that leprosy had to be a punishment from God.

According to Jewish custom if a leper were to venture into a town they were required to stay ten paces away from other people. They had to have their body completely covered with bandages and then hold a veil over their face. Whenever another person would come close to that ten pace barrier they had to cry out, “Unclean, unclean” in order to warn the person.

Dr. Luke describes the person in our passage as being full of leprosy, which means he was in the advanced stages. This particular man shows great courage and faith by coming close to Jesus and throwing himself at His feet. And look at exactly what he says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

There doesn’t seem to be any doubt about Jesus’ ability to heal him. Perhaps he had heard stories of the other miraculous healings Jesus had performed. Maybe a family member had come outside the city and searched him out to tell him about Jesus. We don’t know how he found out about Jesus, but however he found out, he believed. “You can make me clean” he stated. He used the word ‘clean’ because a leper was declared ceremonially unclean. He could never go into the temple to worship. He could not offer any sacrifices. He could not partake in any of the religious festivals or activities. He was unclean, and he believed that Jesus could heal him and make him clean again.

Now that is a significant thing to say. Jesus could heal him. Do you remember the Old Testament story of the Syrian general who had leprosy? His name was Naaman. The king of Syria sent him, along with a special letter and gift, to the king of Israel because they had heard that he could find healing there. The response of Israel’s king was outrage. It is a fascinating story you can read all of it in 2^nd Kings chapter 5. Here’s what verse 7 says,

The Jews not only believed that leprosy was a punishment from God, they also believed only God could cure it.

But this man believed Jesus could, however he wasn’t so sure Jesus would. People in general didn’t have anything to do with lepers. Religious leaders especially would have nothing to do with them. Already Jesus was gaining the reputation of being a great religious leader. Why would He risk His status on a social outcast? It was an act of pure desperation. This man had nowhere else to turn. He had no hope and no chance except in Jesus.

So he put all his eggs in one basket and breaking several Jewish customs he came right up to Jesus, threw himself on his face at the Savior’s feet and in faith cried out in essence, “I believe you are who you say you are. You can heal me. Will you?”

There is a pleading tone in that ‘will you?” Would Jesus be like all the rest and turn away in shock, disgust and outrage?

Isn’t it great to know that is the heart and the attitude of our Savior? What is your sin? Or what is your problem that makes you feel despised and rejected and perhaps even worthless? Maybe you wonder if Jesus even cares about you. Look to the words uttered to a desperate leper. Jesus said, “I am willing.”

After the healing Jesus sent him off to the priests. They were the recognized medical officials who could declare him clean and fit to return to his family and to the temple for worship. That would be like a healer today sending a person to a doctor so there would be official proof of the healing.

For the Jews this healing would have been shocking for two reasons. One, because of the compassion Jesus showed to an outcast, and two, their strong belief that only God could heal leprosy. News began to spread about Him. Who was this man, Jesus?

Only God Can Forgive Sin

Did you notice that some new people were in the multitudes this time? It wasn’t just the peasants now. Jesus was starting to catch the attention of the religious leaders. Mark chapter 2 says that Jesus was back in Capernaum and was teaching out of a house. It was so jam packed full of people that there was no way in. But these four friends of the paralytic weren’t about to let that stop them. We don’t know whether they knew about the leper but apparently they did believe that the power of Jesus wasn’t limited. So they were desperate to get their friend to Him.

When they finally succeeded, though, they got much more than they bargained for. Jesus saw their faith. Their faith was shown in their action of bringing the man to Him. No doubt every eye in the house was on Jesus. Here was a man who healed a leper, something they believed only God could do. What would He do in this situation?

Back in that day the common Jewish thinking held that every major disease or crippling accident was a result of sin. You sinned so God punished you by making you sick. The Bible does teach us that sometimes God does use sickness to chastise or train His children. But it also warns us not to fall into the trap of believing every sickness or malady is a punishment for sin. Much of what we suffer is simply the result of living in a fallen world where sickness is just a reality of life.

But for the Jews it was believed that it was almost always tied to sin. And for some reason paralysis was at the top of the list. If you were paralyzed, whether from an accident or disease, that was proof positive that you were low down good for nothing dirty rotten sinner. And now here was this man lying before Jesus and in front of the Scribes and Pharisees.

Do these people wonder who Jesus is? Well He would let them know. He turned to the man and said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” Now Jesus wasn’t saying he was paralyzed because he was a sinner. He was simply recognizing that every man is a sinner and that taking care of our sin problem is far more important than even being healed of paralysis.

Of course, this set of a chain reaction amongst the Pharisees. Who does this guy think he is? Only God can forgive sins. And of course, they are right about that. Since, in the final analysis all sin is against God and His holy law then only God has the right and ability to forgive those sins. If this man was claiming the ability to forgive sins then he was claiming that he was God.

Jesus perceived that the religious leaders were reasoning this way in their hearts so He challenged them:

Obviously it is easier to say that your sins are forgiven because that is a hidden matter of the heart. No one can tell whether it happened or not. But to say ‘rise and walk,’ well now that would be something. That would be clear to all. He was either healed or he wasn’t. Jesus didn’t want to leave any doubt about who He was.

These two miracles brought the people to a fork in the road as far as Jesus was concerned. Jesus boxed them in and left them no choice. Either they had to accept that He did in fact have the authority to forgive sins, which meant he was the long awaited Messiah and Savior, or they had to believe that Jesus was a charlatan or a self deceived man.