The Miracles of Jesus
Aristotle taught that there are three main methods of persuasion. They are ethos, pathos, and logos. Or in other words, the appeal of example, emotion, and logic.
The Savior's life and teachings contain all of these. He lived a perfect life (ethos). He taught with perfect logic and conviction (logos). Finally, his emotional appeal excelled all others (pathos); and this was never more evident than when he healed all manner of infirmities. Each healing, and each healed person, is a sermon—a living sermon—of the truthfulness of the Savior's teachings.
As part of my blog, I'll occasionally have an entry about a particular miracle of the Savior, and the emotional appeal that miracle has to all mankind. Each of these miracles helps us see that we too can find complete healing and peace at the feet of our Savior. We can be transformed through Him.
One of the first miracles recorded by the synopsists is that of a leprous man seeking cleansing.
We read that when Jesus was in a certain city, he was approached by "a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
"And [Jesus] put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him" (Luke 5:12-15).
Leprosy was a terrible disease; it made of life a living death. It caused the flesh to become rotting and corrupted. According to Levitical rules, lepers were denied touch by any other human. This leper had to abandon his wife and family.
All three synopsists specifically mention that Jesus reached forth his hand and touched this man, even though he was full of leprosy, meaning that his flesh was in the final stages of corruption and decay.
Positive and kind physical contact is one of life's great joys and is essential to relationships. This man had been deprived of this simple joy for many years. Not only so, but every person who came near to him was repulsed by his sight. However, Jesus showed none of this repulsion or fear. Quite the opposite. Despite this man being full of leprosy, Jesus "put forth his hand, and touched him." The man was instantly restored to full health.
No doubt the man rushed home to embrace his loved ones and to weep with joy in their tender embrace; something he had been unable to do for many years.
How could such actions—such an outpouring of love and kindness—not fill us with pathos for the healed man and for the Savior?
The knowledge that the Lord is mindful of us should give us gratitude beyond measure.
As to Jesus touching the leper, Farrar says: "It was a glorious violation of the letter of the Law, which attached ceremonial pollution to a leper's touch; but it was at the same time a glorious illustration of the spirit of the Law, which was that mercy is better than sacrifice. The hand of Jesus was not polluted by touching the leper's body, but the leper's whole body was cleansed by the touch of that holy hand. It was even thus that He touched our sinful nature, and yet remained without spot of sin."
Click here for my next blog post about the miracles of Jesus >>>
The Savior's life and teachings contain all of these. He lived a perfect life (ethos). He taught with perfect logic and conviction (logos). Finally, his emotional appeal excelled all others (pathos); and this was never more evident than when he healed all manner of infirmities. Each healing, and each healed person, is a sermon—a living sermon—of the truthfulness of the Savior's teachings.
As part of my blog, I'll occasionally have an entry about a particular miracle of the Savior, and the emotional appeal that miracle has to all mankind. Each of these miracles helps us see that we too can find complete healing and peace at the feet of our Savior. We can be transformed through Him.
One of the first miracles recorded by the synopsists is that of a leprous man seeking cleansing.
We read that when Jesus was in a certain city, he was approached by "a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
"And [Jesus] put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him" (Luke 5:12-15).
Leprosy was a terrible disease; it made of life a living death. It caused the flesh to become rotting and corrupted. According to Levitical rules, lepers were denied touch by any other human. This leper had to abandon his wife and family.
All three synopsists specifically mention that Jesus reached forth his hand and touched this man, even though he was full of leprosy, meaning that his flesh was in the final stages of corruption and decay.
Positive and kind physical contact is one of life's great joys and is essential to relationships. This man had been deprived of this simple joy for many years. Not only so, but every person who came near to him was repulsed by his sight. However, Jesus showed none of this repulsion or fear. Quite the opposite. Despite this man being full of leprosy, Jesus "put forth his hand, and touched him." The man was instantly restored to full health.
No doubt the man rushed home to embrace his loved ones and to weep with joy in their tender embrace; something he had been unable to do for many years.
How could such actions—such an outpouring of love and kindness—not fill us with pathos for the healed man and for the Savior?
The knowledge that the Lord is mindful of us should give us gratitude beyond measure.
As to Jesus touching the leper, Farrar says: "It was a glorious violation of the letter of the Law, which attached ceremonial pollution to a leper's touch; but it was at the same time a glorious illustration of the spirit of the Law, which was that mercy is better than sacrifice. The hand of Jesus was not polluted by touching the leper's body, but the leper's whole body was cleansed by the touch of that holy hand. It was even thus that He touched our sinful nature, and yet remained without spot of sin."
Click here for my next blog post about the miracles of Jesus >>>
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ReplyDeleteI love this entry. This witness of the Savior's healing of the leper stands out to me as such a profound manifestation of very personal nature of His love and perfect awareness of our needs. It means so much to me that the Savior went out of his way not only to heal this man, but to fill a seemingly insignificant need that must have ached and festered in this man for years. To be acknowledged without revulsion and attended to with personal touch and kindness in addition to receiving a new beginning....I don't believe I would have had the restraint to withhold the source of my joy either. Great insights.
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