The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1889-01-24
HEALING OF THE LepeR,


January 10, 1889.
Especially arranged from 8. 8. Quartefly.l
LESSON TExT-Mark 1:35-4h
GOLDEN TExT-As soon as He had spoken,
Immediately the leprosy departed from him,
and he was cleansed. Mark AZ.
CENTRAL TRUTn-Sin IL q terrible evil /;
but Jesus will love all who 60 to Him In
faith.
TIME-April to June, A. d. 2a Jesus
"Sweet hour of prayer was carly Sunday
morning, the day after His Sabbath duties
described in the last lesson. The first mis-.
sionary tour Tvs. 3S, 30) straightway fol.
lowed, and the leper was healed probably
during the latter part Of the tour: May OF
June
PLAcE-Capornaum and the region OF
Galilee.
PARALLEL AccoUNTs-Matt. 4:23-25; S:24;
Luke 4:42-44; 5:12-15. Jesus between 81
and 80 years old, about the middle Of the
second year of His ministry. John the
Baptist in prison at Castle Macherus since
March.
The FIRST MISSIONARY Tour IN GALrLEE--
Jesus now begins series Of missionary
tours. The first one with His disciples con-
tinued six or eight weeks in May and June,
A. ID. %.
INTRoDUcTIoS--Jesus, in our last lesson,
had preached and healed all day long, and
late in the evening. He slept, but rose very
Oarly the next morning for season Of
prayer alone.
HELPS OVER HARD PLAcEs-35 A great
schfis before day: this was Jesus only method
Of being alone for prayer and communion
with God. Every one needs solitary
seasons Of prayer. And there prayed:
liza IAl ~S,sAk
God. Especially as now He was about to
enter upon new plan Of work, and go forth
with His disciples on their first missionary
TOUR 30. drd Stmom. Peter, as usual, TAX
ing the lead. IS. Therefore came forth:
from Heaven and His Father. 40. A epcr:
one afflicted with the leprosy, foul, de.
forming, incurablc, hereditary, contagious,
painful disease that shut men out from the
companionship Of the pure. CTHE LEpRosY
This Is an endemic, chronic, malignant,
constitutional disease, characterized by al.
terations in the cutaneous, nerve and bone
structures, resulting in anesthesia, necrosis,
general atrophy and deformity.-ArthurV Van
Harrington, NJ. d. "The disease, like the
anthropophagous ghouls of the Arabs,
leisurely eats up its victims in one long re-
morseless meal" The hair falls from the
head and eyebrows; the nails loosen and
decay, and drop of; joint after joint Of
finger and toes shrink up and slowly fall
away; the gums are absorbed and the teeth
disappear; the nose, the eyes, the tongue
and the alate are slowly consumed; and
finally the wretched victim sinks into the
earth and disappears.-Ld aud BoOk.) 40.
" thou tpit, thou cdnSt. this was the first
time leper had asked to be healed, so far
as recorded; but the man knew that many
had been healed of terrible and deadly dis
eases by Jesus and therefore knew He
could neal him. But he feared that Jesus
would not want to help deformed, impure
outcast. al. Touched Him: to show that the
healing came from Him. 1t expressed Jesus
1t could not defile Jesus, for
the curative power was In Him. tctH: men
heal by instrumentalities Jesus by tho act
Of His will. A. Say nothing to any man: Cd
He must not touch others till he was cere-
nonially clean. (2) Jesus did not wish to
,all attention to His miracles, but to lay en-
phasis on His teaching. (3) It would draw
10 many to be healed that He would have no
lime to proach Offer for thu cleansing:
Lev IA 40. For q testimony: no must 60
o Jerusalem, and let the authorized priests
leclare the healing perfect. " testified
Ilso that Jesus obeyed the law.
CoMMENTs-There were many afflicted
,eople in Palestine, In the time Of our
saviour. But among them all none called for
so strongly as did the poor lep-
RS. For, in addition to the terrible disease
hat afflicted them, they were outcasts from
ociety. They were not allowed to come
nto the haunts Of men, and when any one
approached them they were obliged to give
he warning cry: "Unclean! unclean"
Icprosy was regarded as q special afflction,
md as type Of sin, and the poor lepsr was
N object Of the utmost adherence to all,
ven his nearest friends and relatives. It
vas man afflicted with this disease who
nc day approaches the Master, and, lifting
lp his voice, cries for mercy. So far as we
NOW, no lepcr had been healed since the
lays Of Naaman, tho lepcr, hundreds
4 years before, and what reason
his poor man had to believe that Jesus
ould heal him we do not know, excepting
hat probably he had heard that Jesus had
one many wonderful things in the way of
ealing diseases But the man seems to
ave had faith enough to come and make
lls appeal and, like all who ventured to do
hat, he received exactly what he asked
or. Instead Of driving him away, the
daster reached out His hand, and, touching
lim, said: ~ will; be thou clean" In an
Instant his leprosy left him, and he was as
VEL as any OF those who moment before
lad looked upon him with loathing. Like
eprosy, sin is loathsome spir-
tual disease. That we do not real
70 this does not prove that this
3 not true. See, is not tho drunkard, as no
taggers home, with his blear eyes and his
eering glance, a loathsom0 object2 Those
Who have had much to do with criminal
classes know what lines are written on
heir faces, showing how crime makes it.
'clf manifest in the countenance Of tho
'riminal. But whether that be so or not,
here 10 no doubt that sin makes its marks
N the soul; and II we could see the effects
hat are there produced, we should be con-
rinced at once Of the loathsome character
Il sin in every case. That we are 80 leni.
mt towards it is q sign, not that it is q
ovely thing, but that we are only too much
to it, and SO have lost that alb
lorrenoe that we ought to experience. Fa-
niliarity has bred indifference, and that
,erhaps is one Of the worst evils in the
whole matter; for II we loathed sin as we
,ught TO do, we should quickly make every
Mort to rid ourselves of its chains.-Rcv. A.
7. Sehau0ier.
PRACTICAL sUGGEsTiONs.
/. Every one needs seasons Of retirement