Daily Devotional For Saturday, September 27, 2025
Good day. Glad you made it to the weekend. I think all of us have had those times we are waiting on some medical tests and lab results to return either for ourselves or someone we love. It is even more challenging when the doctor gives you the impression that there is something possibly terribly wrong. We wait and stress ourselves out hoping the results are positive. There are certain diseases that scare us and some that even label us. For example, cancer is a disease that scares us but AIDS is a disease that labels us.
AIDS was first officially diagnosed in June 1981 in America. It created fear and panic and social distancing. Blood screenings took on a whole new level and when it was called the “homo” or “queer” disease, people infected with it were ostracized from society. Today, medicines help people live almost normal lives with it whether they got it from tainted blood exposure or unprotected sex exposure.
What AIDS was and is in our day, leprosy was in Jesus’ day. It was highly contagious and people with it were labeled and ostracized from their community and families. You had to go live in leper colonies. And if you had to come to town, you had to shout to everyone in your path, “Unclean, unclean,” to let them know you were a leper. The official medical term is Hanson’s Disease. This disease is caused by a chronic bacterial infection from the Mycobacterium leprae. It primarily affects the skin, the nerves, eyes and nose.
It kills nerve endings and so you could cut off your finger and not know it. In Jesus’ day, people infected with leprosy were many times grossly disfigured. “Both the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament use the term lepros, which means “scaly” or “scabby” (Source: Henry George Liddell, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 1039). God had given very specific instructions on how to deal with it in His people. It was considered incurable. Because of the severity of this disease, people were isolated from the general population. Only a priest could clear you to return to the community. See Leviticus 13 and Leviticus 14.
In Matthew 8:1-4 we read this: “Large crowds followed Jesus as He came down the mountainside. (2) Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before Him. ‘Lord,’ the man said, ‘if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean.’ (3) Jesus reached out and touched Him. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be healed!’ And instantly the leprosy disappeared. (4) Then Jesus said to him, ‘Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed” (NLT).
This man took a huge risk in coming up to Jesus and His disciples. Matthew says the man “knelt” before Jesus. This is the Greek New Testament word {προσκυνέω; proskuneo]. It is often translated as “worshipped.” Meaning he threw himself on the ground prostrate before the Lord. This leprous man, in desperation and humility, believed Jesus had the power to heal him. He never doubts Jesus can heal him and if he is healed, then a priest can officially declare him “clean” and he will be restored to the community.
This man never questions Jesus’ ability or power to do this. He questions Jesus’ desire to heal him. Matthew does not tell us how, but some way this man had heard of Jesus’ ability to do miracles. This leper’s words and actions prove he had complete confidence and faith Jesus could heal him. He is a broken and ostracized man that wants to be healed, restored to his family, his community and worship in the synagogue.
This man lived a hopeless life and each day he lived, that hopelessness tightened its grip even more around him. This part of his life was out of his control. God often takes our point of need to reveal Himself to us even more. Let’s not forget Jesus here. He has been teaching thousands on a hillside and just as soon He is finished and makes His way down the hillside, He is approached by this leprous man. Once this man shouted “unclean” in his approach to Jesus, I imagine the crowds parted like the Red Sea to avoid any contact with him.
This man’s request, ‘if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean,’ shows his humility, faith, hope, respect and honor for the Lord. The leper’s act of total self-effacement revealed no hint of demanding—just confident expectation. As a leper, he held no position of power, no rights, no privileges and no place in the community of faith. Throwing himself on Jesus showed he knew he was solely at the mercy of Jesus to heal him.
Jesus healed this leprous man and in doing so revealed something about His power – He had it to heal and His character – Jesus had love, compassion, mercy and grace for a man that we are not told anything about other than he was a leper. Now do not miss something here. This disease was not only deadly, but highly contagious. Jesus knew that and look what Jesus did. Matthew 8:3 says that Jesus reached out and touched the man and healed him. You can almost hear the gasps of the crowds, see the shock in their faces and feel the recoil in their bodies. What a deplorable and risky thing to do some might have thought. Some might have walked away and never followed Jesus again, even seeing the man healed.
Assignment: What is something you would like the Lord to heal you of or from? Are you willing to humble yourself before Him and throw yourself on His mercy regardless of what He may or may not do? Who is it that you or others ostracize or isolate from the communities you are in for them being different? Are you willing to be Jesus to them? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 13:58, “Because they did not have faith, He did not perform many miracles there” (GNT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, help me to see those who are isolated and ostracized. Use me to help restore them to You and my community. Lord, open my eyes to see the pain in others. Lord, this man came up to You. Please lead me to others to share the Gospel as well as bring them the community of faith, not just to have community but to have You. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly