True Hope Exemplified
Today, I want to talk about the love of Jesus. Jesus even loved people, like lepers, that
knew no love. They had to be separated from
other people because their disease was contagious. When the lepers cried out
for mercy... to who? To Jesus. The lepers were somehow told about Jesus
healing others.
Leprosy is a terrible disease, I’m not sure if they have treatments
or cures for it today, but I do know they had no cure for it in bible
days. They really had no hope outside of
a miracle. They saw Jesus from far off,
entering into the city. They immediately
started crying out for mercy. Jesus
could have just passed by and ignored them.
There were ten men who were lepers in this story, who were once, normal
and had families for whom they provided. They couldn’t even visit them other than
screaming from afar. There was a
distance between them and the only way to communicate was by screaming. Each one grieved the loss of their lives with
their families. One of them could have
been a lawyer, or one a doctor, or one a judge. Leprosy does not care about prominence or power. It didn’t matter who they were …they became beggars. A million dollars couldn't have bought them a way out of their
problem. There really was no help
anywhere. They most likely had no water
to bathe in or fresh clothes to wear.
My little granddaughter, who’s about to turn four, was
coloring the leper coloring page and pointed out the leper on the right side of
the page. She pointed out a problem. “What is wrong with this leper’s eye?” she asked.
I said, “Well, leprosy rots away at the flesh. It can deform an eye, a hand, a mouth, or any
part of the body. Some of them could have lost
a hand or a foot completely. That is how
terrible the disease of leprosy is. Leprosy eats away at someone until they
die. The lepers in this bible story needed to be saved from a tragic life of
suffering and death.
My eldest daughter had chickenpox when she was little. She had one or two little bumps; it wasn’t
even a serious case of chickenpox. I
put her in bed, prayed with her, and gave her a smooch good night on the
lips. Guess what, I got very sick with
chickenpox. I got it from head to
toe. It wasn’t just on my body outwardly,
in every possible place. It was in my nose,
in my ears, in my lungs, it was everywhere. I truly, could not walk without
difficulty. I was so sick.
I can honestly say,
no one has ever done anything so nice for me, other than my mother. My husband rubbed calamine lotion all over
my body. Every night he was there to take care of me. The worst of the chickenpox
was a few days. It was a disease that
lasted a very short time compared to leprosy.
There was no end to leprosy.
I heard my brother-in-law telling my husband that He once
had poison sumac from head to toe. He
was working outside and got into some poison leaves. He couldn’t get rid of it. He had to go to the doctor and get a
shot. Poison sumac breaks your skin out
and has painful inching bumps. It’s very
hard not to scratch yourself raw if you have it. It is very miserable. The same way with poison ivy, I had poison
ivy when I was a very young little girl.
I got it into my eyes, my parents were frantic and didn’t know what to
do. I was scratching at my eyes and they
were frightened that I would injure my eyes.
They made a decision to tie my hands back to keep me from scratching my
eyes out. I do not remember my hands
being tied back; I just know of it. I
have never forgotten; however, how terrible poison ivy can be. But - leprosy is
still much worse. What about COVID-19? Many people have died and it is more comparable to leprosy than chickenpox….still,
leprosy is much more dreadful. Leprosy is a very slow death. They had fewer conveniences then than we do now.
The people who had leprosy in Bible times really had no hope. They were dying in their leprosy. They discovered their only hope was Jesus. Jesus was the only one that could heal them. Jesus heard their cries from far off and told them to go to the priest to be cleansed. They immediately obeyed. It was on their way to be cleansed by the priest, that they were cleansed. All 10 lepers were cleansed by God, not by the priest. They didn’t need the priest. Maybe nine of them ran to see their families, but only one leper went back to find Jesus. He went to tell Jesus thank-you. His parents must have taught him to be a thankful person. For anyone to say thank-you, most likely, he must have been a person who practiced thankfulness to other people before he ever got sick. God thought so much of him giving thanks that He put it in his Word. God makes note of people who are thankful to him.
I once heard a story about a soldier whose life was saved by
another soldier. The soldier, that saved
the rescued soldier’s life was left with a permanent injury. The rescued soldier felt indebted to his
friend.
I believe that the leper that went back to talk to Jesus
felt indebted and grateful. Jesus told
him to go on his way. He said, “Your faith
hath made thee whole.”
Young People, God’s Word tells us we are saved by grace through faith. Grace, meaning God’s
mercy. The story of leprosy is a real
story that pictures how bad sin is. Without
Jesus, there is no hope for the lost sinner.
Without Jesus, a lost sinner has no hope of salvation. He has no hope of heaven. Jesus is the only way. Jesus himself, says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The bible says we are all
sinners. We are not saved by good works,
though when we become born again believers, we are to walk in good works.
Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Jesus died on the cross for you and arose
from the dead. He has power over life
and death. Your faith, in Christ, is
what saves you. God has offered you
salvation, it is up to you to accept by faith the gift of salvation. Do you want to be saved from your sin? Do
you think the lepers wanted to be saved from their leprosy? Something to think about huh. When you get saved you will be ready to tell
everyone what Jesus did for you. Just
like the lepers, I’m sure they never stopped talking about what Jesus did for
them. The story of the ten lepers is true
hope exemplified. Hope when there was no
hope. Jesus is the only hope of our
salvation.
Father God, There are people who are looking for hope and they are talking about hope. Hope is something that was originated by you. We know you love people and your arms are open wide to whosoever is seeking you. You've been so good to us. You didn't have to send your son, you didn't have to show us mercy. Just like the lepers, they found hope in you. What can wash away my sins? nothing but the blood of Jesus. I pray all those reading this lesson today will realize, Jesus paid the price of our sin. I pray they will have faith in what Jesus did. He came to rescue the perishing. Without Jesus, we are perishing in our sins. Just as the lepers were perishing in their leprosy.
Open the eyes of those that need to see. In Jesus name, I pray this Amen.
Susan Y Nikitenko
February 5th, 2021
Older Children - Adult Lesson
I adjusted this lesson for beginners.
This lesson is for older children.
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