Isolation

When Christ came to cure the lepers, He was showing us the cure of sin. 

Ten Lepers (James Christensen)

I have been reflecting on the miracles that Christ performed and have been thinking particularly about the miracle of the curing of leprosy.  This condition was so debilitating to the life of the individual who experienced it that it completely destroyed the life of that person.  A person who had contracted leprosy would be unable to continue in their life in any way.  They would be unable to work or spend time with their family.  They would be unable to attend social events.  They would be unable to continue on in any way.  And one of the biggest implications would be their isolation from others.  Imagine this happening to your child (God forbid).  You would never kiss them goodbye or talk to them again.  You would not see them or spend time with them.  They would cut off from you forever – until their death.  And after their death you would not attend their funeral or talk to their friends.  It would be as though they were lost forever….

“As Jesus entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’ When he saw them he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’” (Luke 17:11-19).

God was made Man to redeem us from sin.

What is the effect of sin?  Well, the effect of sin is isolation – isolation from God.  I have often written about the isolation that a soul would experience in Hell as a result of being separated from God and experiencing a true absence of God.  And Hell is the ultimate culmination of sin.  Hell is the complete isolation from God that is so final that it results in the death of the soul.

And this means that when Christ came to cure the lepers, He was showing us the cure of sin.  You see, when He cured the leper, the leper was no longer isolated.  And when He asked the leper not to speak of the miracle it was because He did not want to become isolated by the crowds.  But because the leper spoke about what happened, then everyone sought Christ out and the only way He could have peace was to assume the isolation of the leper – going off to quiet isolated places to pray.

And there is such a terrible suffering there in thinking about how Christ assumed the penalty of our sins onto His perfect Self…  There is such a terrible suffering to think about there…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.