Wednesday, September 17, 2025 PM

Mark 1: The Compassion of Jesus Toward the Unclean Leper

Mark chapter 1. We'll begin in verse 40 and read to the end of the chapter. Mark chapter 1, beginning in verse 40. And a leper came to Jesus, pleading with him and falling on his knees before him, and saying, If you are willing, you can make me clean.

And moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, I am willing, be cleansed. And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And he sternly warned him, and immediately sent him away.

And he said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded as a testimony to them. But he went out and began to reclaim it freely, and to spread the news around to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in desolate areas.

And they were coming to him from everywhere. This is God's word. Praise be to God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for tonight. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the example of our good Savior, Jesus Christ.

And as we behold his glories, we ask, Lord, that your spirit would give us ears to hear, and help us, Lord, to become more like our Christ. We thank you, Lord, for all the goodness and all the blessings that we receive in him.

And it's in his name we pray. Amen. Our text tonight has one major theme, and that is the compassion of Jesus Christ. As Jesus goes throughout his ministry preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, telling sinners everywhere, repent and believe in the gospel.

He goes around preaching, and also doing signs and wonders, healing of various diseases, and casting out many demons. For he is the Son of God. He has authority over every demon, and they cannot even speak unless he gives them the ability.

He has that much power. Over the physical illness, he has authority. He can cleanse every illness and every sickness with just but a touch, just a word, and the sickness is removed immediately. And now, as he's going about preaching and healing, we see a leper come to the Lord.

This was a man who was forsaken by men. He was an outcast. He was isolated, and he was marked by rotting flesh. He was outside the camp of the covenant people of God. And what was he known for? He was known for being unclean.

This was his identity. In Leviticus chapter 13, it says of the leper, as for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and call out, unclean, unclean.

He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His place of habitation shall be outside the camp. Thus says the law of the Lord. And so this leper was.

But there was hope for an unclean outcast. He had faith that Jesus Christ can help. This man comes with a faith that is desperate, that is submissive, and one that is personal. He is desperate for he knows that only Christ can help.

Jesus is his only hope. Christ is not part of his hope, nor is he a step toward the hope for the leper, but Jesus himself, the person, is his hope. He's not deterred by what other people will think, a leper coming to the Lord Jesus.

He's not considering what other people will think of and how they'll respond. He simply comes. And he doesn't allow his sickness, his uncleanness, to keep him away from the Lord Jesus. He comes desperate knowing only Christ can help, for the leper has nothing else.

He comes with a faith that is submissive. He comes on his knees pleading, if you are willing, you can make me clean. The leper does not demand from Christ healing. He does not try and bargain with Christ, if you'll heal me, then I will do this.

He comes acknowledging that only Christ can heal. And he says, if you are willing. He's submissive to the Lord. He's not demanding, he's not bargaining, but it's a plea for mercy. The leper has nothing to stand on.

What he brings to Christ is only broken, rotting, and open hands, so that he might cling to Christ, and more importantly, that Christ might cling to him. He comes in submission. And he comes with a faith that is personal.

He says, you can make me clean. There is no one else in view for the leper, only himself and his Lord. He believes that Christ can cleanse him, meet his own need for cleansing. Mr. Spurgeon says of this text, I like best about this man's faith, the fact that he did not merely believe that Jesus Christ could cleanse a leper, but that he could cleanse him.

It is very easy to believe for other people. There really is no faith in such impersonal proxy confidence. The true faith believes for itself first, and then for others, says Mr. Spurgeon. May we all have this faith that believes for ourselves first, that Jesus Christ can cleanse me.

And may we take that hope, that cleansing, that radical change that only he can bring to our unclean hearts. And may we with clean hearts bring that message to other sinners, and say, he has made me clean, he can make you clean as well.

May every parent, believing parent, teach their children the message of Jesus Christ, but may they believe for themselves first as they teach. May every Sunday school teacher that brings the word of God to students, whether old or young, believe for himself, herself first, and then bring that message to others.

May the minister of the gospel believe for himself first, before he brings that gospel to others. Oh, that we might all be granted true faith. May we come to Christ desperate, submissive, with personal faith, knowing he can cleanse me.

And how does Jesus respond to the leper? He doesn't draw away, he doesn't recoil in disgust, he does not dismiss the leper harshly, Jesus does not quarantine himself from the leper. But he is moved with compassion, and he touches the leper, and says, I am willing, be cleansed.

We see that Christ is moved with compassion, and this indicates to us that he is moved in the inner person. He's internally affected, and by that he is moved to mercy by the brokenness of the man's body, and more importantly, by the brokenness of the man's heart.

Christ does not have a hard heart, but a tender one, one that acts in mercy. We see all throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ that he was one who was filled with compassion. In Mark chapter 6, it says in verse 34,.

And when Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Right before the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus comes ashore, and he sees this large crowd of people, parents, children, young, old, and what does he see?

He sees their need. He sees their heart. He sees them as sheep without a shepherd. And Christ moved to mercy with a compassionate and tender heart, provides for them what they need. He provides for them teaching.

Do you ever come to teaching of the word of God with a downcast heart, and having received the teaching, is your heart not uplifted, and renewed, and enlived? Because you've been taught by the word of God.

You've seen Christ in the scriptures, and your heart is inflamed. It's refreshed, and it's restored, for you've been taught by the word of God. And here is the word of God teaching others. He sees their weak and frail hearts, and he grants them wisdom, guidance, comfort, and truth.

He ministers to their hearts, for he is the great shepherd of the soul. In Mark chapter 8, Jesus says himself, I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have remained with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.

Mark's gospel records that many times in his ministry, there were large crowds coming to Christ. He has fed 5 ,000 through miracles, and now he's about to feed 4 ,000 through miracles as well. And he's moved with compassion for the crowd, and he sees their physical need.

He sees that their bodies are growing weak and tired by following him three days, and now they have no food. What does Christ do? He graciously provides for them. He sees their need, and in mercy he moves to meet that need, for he is filled with compassion.

In Luke chapter 7, Jesus feels compassion for the widow whose only son had died. And with a tender heart, Jesus Christ moves in close and raises that dead son to life. In Luke 10, Jesus illustrates what true compassion is like with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

True compassion is coming alongside someone who is in need of help, and being moved with a tender heart, being moved to mercy, one stoops down and helps to provide healing and restoration. Now turn over to Mark chapter 10 for a moment.

The Rich Young Ruler and the Compassion That Exposes the Heart

Mark chapter 10 beginning in verse 17. We'll see one more instance of the compassion of Jesus Christ. Mark chapter 10 beginning in verse 17. And as he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to him and knelt before him, and began asking him, good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud.

Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up. And looking at him, Jesus loved him, and said to him, one thing you lack, go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

And come, follow me. But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. Though this text does not mention the compassion of Christ, we see it in action.

One comes to Jesus Christ, and he thinks he is in good standing to receive eternal life. And Jesus Christ loving the man, seeing his folly, seeing the error of his thinking, seeing that he has an unclean heart that stands on pride, that stands on a false faith, what does the compassion of Christ do?

He challenges the man. He brings out the idol of the heart into the light of Christ. Christ challenges the man. Does following Christ come first before all else? Which is more important, which is more valuable, which is more precious to the soul?

The riches of knowing Jesus, the son of God, or earthly wealth? And we see that the man fails the test, for he had no true faith. The compassion of Christ not only moves in to meet needs, to provide for people's physical needs as well as their spiritual needs, but it also does not allow sin to remain in the shadows, or to linger on.

The compassion of Christ does not abandon truth, but it calls sin out, and it reveals false idols of the heart, and brings it out to the light. Christ's compassion speaks truth and love, and it brings hearts into his light to either soften or harden.

The Compassion of Christ as a Divine and Human Virtue

So seeing the text of scripture, seeing the compassion of Jesus Christ, how do we understand it? We can define the compassion of Jesus Christ in this way, his tenderness of heart that moves him to love, mercy, and help.

His tenderness of heart that moves him to mercy. The compassion of Christ is an aspect both of his humanity and of his deity. As the perfect man, as the image of the invisible God, Jesus is one who is compassionate, and this is not a weakness.

In our world today, in a world of hard hearts, many would see compassion, acts of mercy as weakness, as those that are low qualities for people, especially for men. But Jesus Christ, the perfect man, is one who is full of compassion.

This is not a weakness, but it's a strength, a glorious virtue and grace. We know from the scriptures that a hard heart, one that is not moved to mercy, this is a sinful thing. But Jesus Christ has a tender heart, and that is a virtue.

The compassion of Christ is an aspect of his deity. For the Lord God, the Holy One, is compassionate. All throughout the Old Testament, we see the people of God in the covenant that he made with them cry out to the Lord for help and for mercy.

And God moved in tenderness, moves to mercy to help his people. And as his people cried out to deliver them from Egyptian bondage, God does just that. And in Exodus 34, the Lord reveals himself in this way.

The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth. Exodus 34. In Psalm 116, it says gracious is Yahweh and righteous, and our God is compassionate.

And near the end of the Old Testament, in Micah chapter 7, it says this, Who is a God like you, who forgives iniquities and passes over the transgression, because he delights in loving kindness? He does not hold fast to his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.

He will again have compassion on us. He will subdue our iniquities, and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. The Old Testament reveals that God is a compassionate God, with a tender heart that is moved to mercy.

And we know also from the Old Testament that God is holy and just, the judge of all the earth. He is angry with the wicked every day, and he brings down judgment on unrepentant sinners. Bringing judgment demonstrates his righteousness and his goodness, and bringing judgment glorifies his name.

This is our God, but he is also a God who is full of compassion and grace, granting mercy to sinners like you and like me. And Jesus Christ is rich in compassion. He is moved to mercy to help sinners, for he is the Son of God.

Drawing Near to the Throne of Grace

Let's turn to one more text tonight, Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. We'll begin in verse 14. Hebrews 4 verse 14. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

May this text be our application. Jesus Christ is compassionate, so that how then should we live? We should live coming boldly to him, seeking grace, seeking help, for he is not hard-hearted toward us, but his heart is tender.

It is ready to help us and to grant us mercy upon mercy, grace upon grace. Abandon all your doubts and your fears, that he will not hear you. Jesus Christ will hear you. Even when your prayers are weak, he will hear you.

He will help you in your deepest need, in your darkest hour. He will intercede perfectly for you, and he will never leave you nor forsake you, for he is the Christ rich in compassion. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for tonight, and we thank you for allowing us to see the compassion of Jesus Christ.

We are undeserving, but you have made us clean in our compassionate high priest. May we go out and live so, fellowshipping with our great high priest with you, Father, by your spirit and by your word.

Lord, we pray for the upcoming music night, that you would bless it, that your people would bring up to you praises. For you have done wonders in our life, many wonders, and we thank you for the blessings and the wonders you will do still.

And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.