When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:1-3)
I was watching a television program this week with the woman who won The Swan. The Swan is a reality television program based on the classic story of The Ugly Duckling. The ugly duckling was really a swan. But before his metamorphosis into a swan he was unsightly to the other ducklings. And because of the way he looked, the other ducklings despised him and rejected him. He was an outcast. And nobody wanted to play with him until he went through a radical transformation and became a swan. This story is a metaphor for the superficial, looks conscious, lust driven, competitive popular culture in which we live.
The woman who won The Swan was plain and average before she underwent four months of cosmetic surgeries. But after her transformation she was beautiful and stunning. However, she never got over the hurt and the pain of the rejection she felt when she was plain and average. Even though she went through a radical external transformation, her internal communication was still the same. "I'm ugly. Nobody wants me for me."
Consequently, she was rejecting potential relationships. She wasn't giving them a chance to get to know her and wasn't giving herself a chance to get to know them. Her internal wounds were so deep that her rejection manifested into rejecting others. Rejected people reject people. And although her body image had changed, her self-image remained the same. She may have looked like a swan on the outside, but she still felt like an ugly duckling on the inside.
Many times when we come to Christ we get saved, but we still have some deep wounds that need to be healed. Rejection is a part of life for every human being. And for most people the wounds are quite difficult to overcome. Why? Because rejection is a demon spirit that Satan releases to destroy your life and systematically breakdown your mind, will, and emotions, until you cease to effectively function in society.
And even once you get delivered from rejection, you still have to be able to handle rejection in life. Deliverance from rejection does not mean that you get so delivered that you never feel the sting of rejection again. Deliverance from rejection means that you got delivered from a demon of rejection and now you can experience and encounter rejection, but not live your life being controlled and dominated by it.
And not only must we overcome the demon of rejection, but we must learn to love rejected people.
The spirit of rejection works two ways. It causes you to feel hurt, because someone is doing something and acting a certain way that is rejecting you. Or it causes you to feel hurt, because you are doing things and acting a certain way that causes people to reject you.
Many times we're too caught up into our relationships with people and what they think of us that we don't have a healthy and balanced walk with God. You've got to have a daily prayer life, a daily Word life, and a daily worship life. You've got to be so connected to the Father that no matter what comes your way you know that He loves you. The closer you get to God the less rejection will bother you.
Jesus was the most rejected man who ever lived. Isaiah 53:3 says, "He was despised and rejected by men." Mark 8:31 says, "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Jesus knew that He would be rejected, and that He would be betrayed, and that He would be crucified. But He never came under the power of demonic control. Jesus never had a demon spirit. He was sinless. Every time He ran into rejection, He ran to His father in prayer. And it was His connection to the Father that sustained Him during times of rejection.
Jesus loved rejected people. And here in Mathew Chapter 8 Jesus is ministering to a rejected person. This man was an ostracized outcast banished from society, because he had leprosy. To be a leper in the Bible was very traumatic. This man was rejected and discarded by his community, his culture, and his religion. He was despised and to be avoided. Everyone was afraid of him and nobody wanted to be bothered with him. He was a reject. He didn't belong. He had no right to expect acceptance, love, friendship or kindness. He was to be refused and thrown away like yesterday's garbage. He was a leper. And to be a leper was the epitome of rejection. The spirit of rejection was moving against him everyday of his life. He couldn't escape it. It was apart of who he was. You can only imagine how it undermined and destroyed his self-esteem, his purpose, and his potential.
And just as Jesus finished His big message, the Sermon on the Mount, and ministering to the multitudes with the cheers of the crowd still ring in His ears and everyone jockeying for some face time with the preacher. Behold this leper, a social outcast, a religious misfit comes before Him. A man rejected by society. A man rejected by the church. A man discriminated against by his community and his culture. And he's saying to himself, "He ministered to all of them, but will he minister to me? I'm a leper. He preaches to multitudes, but will He touch me? I'm a reject."
And he drops to his knees before Jesus in an attitude of humility and in a position of desperation and brokenness to worship the Lord. He heard the sermon and now he's responding to the altar call. Desperate for deliverance and risking rejection once again, he said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." You can hear the nervousness and the timidity and the pain of rejection in his voice. "Lord, I don't know if You want to, But if You want to maybe You could heal me. Maybe You could make me clean. Maybe you could remove this stigma, this shame, this disgrace from my life. I just want to be loved and accepted and received. Lord, if You're willing, You can make me normal. I just want to be normal and regular like other people. Will You receive me? Will You love me? Will You accept me?"
And Jesus reached out to the leper and touched him and said, "I'm willing, be cleansed." The despised and rejected Savior was willing to deliver the despised and rejected leper. Jesus was willing to take the time to minister to someone who nobody else wanted to be bothered with.
Why did this man come to Jesus? Something drew him. It was the love of God that compelled him. Jesus was willing to reach out and intimately touch someone who no one would touch. Compassion (love in action) will have you reach out to the rejects and love the unlovable and touch them with the mercy and the miracles of Christ. Once we can come to the knowledge and understanding that God loves us it breaks the root of rejection and draws us to Jesus Christ.
And immediately the leper was healed. Jesus touched an untouchable and in that moment, in that instant he was delivered from leprosy. One touch of from Jesus (love manifested in the flesh) removed his stigma and his pain. He was cured. He was cleansed. And he was free. All the external and internal wounds were a distant memory.
God is no respecter of persons. He loves the unlovable. He loves the leper. He loves the reject. And He loves you. Jesus loves you enough to reach out to you, to touch you, and to set you free. The ministry of deliverance has the power to pull you out of bondage and demonic control. In one moment this man went from being a reject to being recognized and received by Christ.
If you have a wounded heart or a broken spirit, Jesus loves you. He draws near to them that have broken heart and saves as such that have a contrite spirit. And nothing can separate you from His love. He's willing to heal you and make you whole. He that cometh to Jesus, He will no wise cast out. He won't reject you. You are accepted in the Beloved. You are received and loved in Jesus Christ. Remember that you are no longer an ugly duckling. You are a beautiful swan. If you can see yourself the way that God sees you, you can overcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment