DIG for Friday the 1st of January…..a picture of our salvation…..Mark 1 v 41

In the DIG yesterday we looked at the account of Jesus, moved with compassion, healing the leper and making him clean (Mark 1 v 41).

As well as being a literal healing, this account is a wonderful picture of what Jesus has done for each and every one of us.

Mankind had made a real mess of things and needed to have sin dealt with in order that relationship could be restored with God.

Jesus came to clear up our mess!

He was born to fulfil the law and deal with sin so that we could be reconciled to God.

He came to ”clean us up” and He came with compassion.

In the same way that He reached out to the leper, He reached out to mankind and offered Himself up for us, achieving reconciliation between man and God.

If we accept His compassion and finished work we benefit from this reconciliation and are made righteous, justified by faith.

Once in faith (once we believe upon Jesus and His finished work) our spirit is born again, and it is born clean, perfect, pure and holy (Ephesians 4 v 24).

In the eyes of God we are ”clean” and righteous, no longer polluted and made dirty by sin.

Sin has been dealt with and we are able to come into relationship with God through Jesus.

What a wonderful picture we have of the compassion of Jesus to the leper, a picture of the compassion he has for all of us, for you.

I pray that you are benefiting from that compassion today.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the compassion of Jesus, thank you that this compassion has been showered upon me”.

Mark 1 v 41…..And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean

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DIG for Thursday the 31st of December…..He touched him and said, I will…..Mark 1 v 41

This account at the start of the book of Mark is one of my favourite accounts where Jesus heals a person.

This leper had no hope, so threw himself at Jesus and pleaded to be made clean (Mark 1 v 40).

I tried to imagine, or see, what happened next; and I saw Jesus, with tears in His eyes, bend down to the level of the leper, reach out with His hands and touch him.

I remember the power of a news story once when footage was shown of Princess Diana touching a victim of leprosy; it showed the care and compassion of the woman.

This account in the Word shows us love, mercy and compassion flowing from Jesus.

I think that His show of compassion by simply touching the leper is more powerful than the actual healing.

Lepers were outcasts of society; they were ignored and feared, shut away in colonies hidden from the rest of the people.

Jesus was not only healing this leper, but He was going against all the “rules” of the day; He was showing that this leper was a person and not only a disease.

He showed the person love and compassion and then healed him.

This must have been an amazing experience for the leper, as I don’t imagine he had felt the touch of a fellow human being for a long time.

Never underestimate the power of a touch to or from a fellow human being.

But the person that touched this leper was not only human but God, and He was also the ultimate Healer.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the love and compassion of Jesus, and thank you that nothing I am suffering from today is outwith His healing power”.

Mark 1 v 41…..And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean