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You see, Jesus touched him.

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You see, this is Jesus's whole ministry.

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He touches the untouchables.

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He has compassion for the shameful.

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He loves the despised.

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He welcomes the outcast and he touches the leper.

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Hey, welcome back to our Bible devotional

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in the book of Matthew.

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Whether you're starting your day with us or winding down,

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join us as we dive into Matthew chapter eight, part one.

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For this video, we're gonna be breaking down

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verses one through four in a well-known story

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about Jesus healing a leper.

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So starting in verse one, it says this.

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When he came down from the mountain,

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great crowds followed him.

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And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him

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saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.

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And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying,

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I will be clean.

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And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

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And Jesus said to him, see that you say nothing to anyone,

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but go show yourself to the priest

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and offer the gift that Moses commanded for proof to them.

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And we're gonna stop reading right there.

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All right, so what's happening here?

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You see, Jesus just finished preaching

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the Sermon on the Mount

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and he's come down from the mountain

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with the crowd still following him.

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And then this man with leprosy did something

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that would be considered against the rules at that time.

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You see, this man with leprosy came into the crowd

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to get close to Jesus.

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You see, he risked his life and any compassion

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that these people in this crowd would have had for him

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to get near to this man who was going from city to city,

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healing all kinds of people

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from all different kinds of sicknesses and ailments.

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Why is this a bad thing?

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Well, because this man had leprosy.

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You see, leprosy was one of the most feared diseases

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in the ancient world.

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Leprosy was a skin and flesh disorder

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that brought about a literal decay of a person's body

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while they were still living.

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It was an ailment and it was a sickness

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that caused the person's fingers to fall off

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because of the decay.

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It would cause their toes to fall off.

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It would cause even pieces of their nose to fall off.

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And then they were constantly itchy.

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And what they would use is they would use sticks,

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pieces of metal, pieces of broken pottery

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and rub against the sores that were causing itches,

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hoping to find some relief.

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But not only that, you see,

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leprosy also affected a person socially,

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not just physically.

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You see, the leper also suffered anguish.

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Leprosy was highly contagious

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and it had no known cure.

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Lepers were considered unclean

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and they were outcast from society.

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When they would walk down the street,

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they were to yell, unclean, unclean,

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or they were to wear bells around them to let others know,

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hey, I'm sick.

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Hey, I'm disgusting.

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I am unclean.

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Watch out, get out of the way.

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Otherwise, my disgustingness will touch you.

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And in addition to the physical torment

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and the social isolation,

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the leper also had to carry a heavy amount of shame.

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You see, lepers were often thought

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to have contracted the disease

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as punishment from God for their sins.

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And so they had to carry the shame

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and they had to carry this doubt in their mind

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that there was something messed up with them,

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that they must've done something wrong

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for God to punish them in this way,

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to give them this terrible disease.

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And the amount of shame that they had

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because they were ripped away from their families,

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they were ripped away from their friends

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and they were outcasted from society

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only made matters worse.

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You see, they were ripped away from their families

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and looked at as some type of rabid animal

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that people would go out of their way

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to avoid and to harass.

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And so this man who came to Jesus was risking everything

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because this man had leprosy.

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He was willing to risk judgment.

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He was willing to risk his shame.

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And he was even willing to risk his very life

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because it was actually against the law

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that Moses gave to the people,

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that if you had leprosy,

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you actually had to be excommunicated

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and not talking to people.

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And you actually wouldn't even let it be around your family

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because leprosy made people unclean.

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But his faith is what kept him going one step closer

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to this healer he heard about,

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to this one that he more than likely heard stories

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about going city to city, healing those who needed it.

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You see, his faith outweighed his fear and shame.

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You see, there was a chance that this man,

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this Jesus could heal him

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and he had to at least ask and take that chance.

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By asking to be made clean,

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the leper was not just asking to be cured

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from any physical affliction of his disorder.

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What he was actually asking was to be restored

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to his community amongst his family and friends.

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What he was actually asking was for healing

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from this shame and from this doubt.

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You see, the healing of the disease

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was the means to the end.

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And here's the thing, Jesus understood the leper

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and he was moved by this request.

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And so the Bible says that he stretched out his hand

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and he touched him saying, I am willing, be clean.

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Notice how Jesus chooses to heal this man.

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The Bible says that Jesus touched him.

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You see, this man who people were afraid of,

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this man who people were.

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afraid to even be near of this sickness that people wanted nothing to do with

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and they actually isolated these people, Jesus said, no, no, no, I'm gonna heal you

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and I'm going to touch you. Something that you probably haven't felt in a long

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time, you probably haven't felt someone be able to look at you, look at you in

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your eyes and touch you to let you know that that something's not wrong with you.

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You see, Jesus touched him. You see, this is Jesus's whole ministry. He touches the

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untouchables. He has compassion for the shameful. He loves the despised. He

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welcomes the outcast and he touches the leper. Listen, whatever your situation,

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whatever your shame, whatever your leprosy, if you will, that you think you

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carry, come to Jesus. Come to the one who can heal you. Come to the one who will

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reach out his hand and touch the shameful areas of your heart. The one who

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touches the lepers. The one who gives compassion to the outcast. The one who

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welcomes those who are sick with open arms and doesn't shut them away. Bring

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whatever it is to Jesus. Well, that's it for this video. I pray it encourages you.

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The Lord bless you and we will see you next time.