Who Needs a Healer?
Have you ever felt like your sin has left a mark that can’t be removed?
Like there’s a stain on your soul that won’t come out?
In 1865, Elvina Hall penned the words to a song that has been sung countless times in countless churches around the world entitled, “Jesus Paid It All.” The second verse of that song goes like this…
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power, and Thine alone
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.
The Leper’s Spots
Elvina Hall calls to mind this image of the power of Jesus to change or heal a leper’s spots.
In the ancient world, leprosy was a death sentence. It was an incurable disease. If you had leprosy, you had to live outside the city and if anyone came near you had to shout, “Unclean, unclean!”
For a lot of us, that describes how we sometimes feel when we come to terms with the reality and gravity of our sin.
When we think about all the ways we’ve hurt others, hurt ourselves, and hurt God. When we consider the things we should have done that we didn’t do, and all the things we have done that we know we shouldn’t have done.
Sometimes we think about sin as a problem that needs to be fixed, but the problem with sin is that it is so much more than that.
I think Elvina Hall got it right when she compared our sin to leprosy. Our sin is a spiritual disease that needs to be healed.
Here’s the good news, Jesus is a Healer.
Ten Lepers Meet Jesus
In Luke 17 there’s a story about Jesus. He’s on his way toward Jerusalem when he encounters ten lepers.
Normally these lepers would be shouting, “Unclean,” so that anyone approaching would know to stay away. But somehow they knew that it was Jesus who was walking their way so instead they shouted, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
They knew that Jesus was a Healer.
And Jesus did what Jesus does, He healed them.
Jesus told them to go into the city, a place they had not been in a very long time, and show themselves to the priest so the priest could verify they had been healed so they could then return to their families and to their community.
So they did.
But one of the men, after realizing he had been completely and totally healed, came back to Jesus to thank him.
The leprosy that had kept him separated from family and friends was completely undone. His skin which had been so marred by disease that he was almost unrecognizable had been restored.
He was overwhelmed with gratitude and went back to Jesus to tell him just how incredibly thankful he was!
He came before Jesus and fell to the ground thanking Jesus for healing him. And I want you to hear what Jesus said in response. Jesus told him…
“Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
SOZO
What’s interesting is that the word “healed” is the word “sozo” in the original language which also means “saved.”
You see, your sin isn’t just a problem that needs to be solved, it’s a spiritual disease that needs to be healed.
Here’s the good news, Jesus is a Healer. And in His healing is your salvation.
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