Based on Luke 17:11-19

MEMORY TEXT:  “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11).

One day Jesus and His disciples were passing through Samaria and Galilee.  As He came to a village, ten lepers came out to meet Him, but they kept their distance.

Leprosy was the most feared disease of its time.  The closest emotional equivalent today would be AIDS.  Leprosy was a painful disease, but the physical pain was not the only result of the terrible disorder.  A person who had been diagnosed with the disease had to face isolation.  They were shut off from their family.  They were shut off from their friends.  They were even shut off from God, in the sense that they could no longer enter the temple to worship.  Lepers were sent to isolated colonies and required to cry out in humiliation, “Unclean, Unclean” (Leviticus 13:45-46)!

Having leprosy meant humiliation.  Can you imagine having children point their finger at you and either laugh or run in fear?  Can you imagine what it was like to have everyone turn their heads in disgust when they saw you?  Can you imagine having to rely on the pity of people in order to have enough to eat?  Leprosy was an especially humiliating disease because those who had it were thought to be suffering because of their sin.  They were thought to be unclean and incapable of having a right relationship with God.

Leprosy also meant a total loss of your way of life.  You were left to die alone.  Which brings us to the final effect of a diagnosis of leprosy, you die a slow and horrible death.

Leprosy is a fitting illustration of the effects of sin.  When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.  The face-to-face relationship they had enjoyed with God was cut.  The result of sin is death.

But as the ten lepers came to Jesus for healing, so must we come to Jesus to receiving healing from our sins.  And as Jesus healed the ten lepers, just so He will heal us if we will recognize our sin.  If you feel isolated, humiliated, and without hope, today be assured that Jesus knows your need and will cleans you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).