Class Lesson April 27, 2014

I’ve blown it. Is there hope for me?

We all need hope.

• We’ve made mistakes.
• We feel shame or regret over something in our present or past.
• We’ve tried to fix things in our lives and we’ve failed.

Even those among us who seem to have it all together have areas of hurt in their lives. If we’re not careful, we can be blinded by an onslaught of mistakes, shame, and regret. Face enough of that and we can lose sight of hope.


Let Hope In is a six-week study that doesn’t let us off the hook – it acknowledges that we’ve blown it and we do need hope – but it also shows us that we are never beyond hope. We can have a sure hope regardless of our past. When we let hope in, we can move beyond the regrets and shame. A hope-filled life is not a problem-free life. But we are no longer bound or hindered by the past.


For the next six weeks, we’ll consider how we can know and experience this kind of hope. We’ll also discover how this kind of hope can transform us on a daily basis.

Let Hope In
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Our second lesson in this series is entitled, "Hope Found."

When we seek Christ, we find hope.

When have you lost something important to you?

Your stomach drops. Your heart races. You realize you’ve lost something important. Whether it’s a credit card, a wallet, a phone, or a purse, we’ve all experienced that feeling and it is one of the worst in the world.

Then comes the search, as you look in all the usual spots: the car, your room, couch cushions, everywhere. You retrace your steps. You consider calling on a search party.

And then comes that rush of relief: the server held on to your credit card; you find your purse in your car; or you discover your wallet wedged between the cushions on the couch. All the fears and worst-case scenarios melt away. Your heart resumes its normal rate again.

Look long enough and most personal items can be found. But what about something abstract like hope? Can one ever truly find it? In Matthew 8 we see Jesus interact with a leper and a Roman centurion. More importantly we find an answer.

I. JESUS IS WILLING – MATTHEW 8:1-4

8 When He came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 Right away a man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his disease was healed. 4 Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them.” 




A Man Cleansed

The phrase “serious skin disease” or “leprosy” included many skin diseases. In Bible times leprosy began with specks, bumps, or patches on the skin, and gradually spread to cause sores and swelling. The disease debilitated the body, causing affected areas to ooze infectious fluids, become disfigured, and eventually slough off. Old Testament law required anyone with this serious skin disease to live in isolation from the society (Lev. 13:45-46). In an effort to keep the disease from spreading, a leper had to keep a distance of at least six feet, and with a strong wind, the required distance was 150 feet. He had to warn anyone coming near to keep away by screaming out repeatedly, “Unclean! Unclean!”




What happened when Jesus came down from the mountain? (8:1)

• Large crowds followed him
• Specifically, a man with leprosy cam asking to be healed
• Said “if you are willing, you can make me clean”

In addition to the physical effects, why was leprosy so dreaded?

• you were required to live separate from all others
• you had to warn people off from your presence
• it was a life of isolation
• 6 ft separation normally, 15 ft on a windy day!!
• this had emotional effects on both the sick and health … think about a family where mom gets leprosy and must be separated from children

How might sin in our lives make us feel like a leper?

• because of something you did, you are isolated by others
• some sins are considered to have made you socially not acceptable
• in Christian circles, some sins can get you kicked out of your church (de-casseroled in Baptist churches)
• in business, a convicted felon (even after paying your debt to society in prison) is often rejected from many jobs

What daring deed did Christ do for the man with leprosy?

• touched the man with leprosy
• declared “I am willing” to heal you
• pronounced him clean and the man was healed
• happened instantaneously 

What strange instructions did Jesus give the man whom He healed?

• Don’t tell anyone, go show yourself to the priest (according to Mosaic law).
• Make the required offering at the temple.
• Get the priest’s official declaration, certification of being clean.

What was their purpose?

• Jesus wanted the man to follow Mosaic law, this would give official status to the healing.
• He would be declared “healed” by the authorities in charge of this problem, then there wouldn’t be an argument about whether Jesus had really healed him or not.

Why would someone think Jesus is unwilling to help?

• The man would figure that they were strangers, why should he expect help.
• If Jesus had the power to heal, He also had the sovereignty or authority to decide who He would heal.
• Jesus was busy, teaching, preaching … this might be received as an interruption. In our case, we figure God is busy with big stuff like global warming, approaching meteors, international events, and planning for the second coming … why would He have time for Aunt Matilda’s gall bladder.

How does this story about Jesus encourage you?

• Jesus is willing to help people.
• He has the power to do miraculous things.
• He really cares.
• Even if my problem is repulsive to others, Jesus is not repulsed.
• Jesus can solve even the impossible problems (they knew no cure for leprosy).

There are countless parallels between leprosy and sin. It is perhaps one of the best illustrations one can present, to show not only how dangerous sin truly is, but how disgusting and off-putting it is as well. Leprosy is one of those dreaded diseases that you don’t hear much about anymore, although it still exists, but in the olden days, during the time of Moses it was a typical enough malady wherein God gave Moses the law of the leper, in the book of Leviticus and commanded him to institute it. For many centuries, leprosy was considered a curse of God, often associated with sin. Other Old Testament references to leprosy are associated with punishment or the consequences of sin. The guilt puts us at a distance from God and the shame and regret makes us think that God wouldn’t want to help us. But Jesus desires to do a work of compassion in our lives.



References to leprosy have a different emphasis in the New Testament. They stress God’s desire to heal. Jesus freely touched people with leprosy. While people with leprosy traditionally suffered banishment from family and neighbors, Jesus broke from the tradition. He treated lepers with compassion, touching and healing them.



Although we can’t know all the reasons that God allows disease into our lives, biblical leprosy is a powerful symbol reminding us of sin’s spread and its horrible consequences. Like leprosy, sin starts out small but can then spread, leading to other sins and causing great damage to our relationship with God and others.



Jesus provides hope in the most hopeless situations. Because He is Lord we defer to Him in faith believing that He will act according to His sovereign grace and by His holy power.





In addition to the physical effects, why was leprosy so dreaded?

• It was considered the disease that shuns. It was not so much the physical effects of leprosy that made a leper desperate but being shunned from community: family, synagogue, and marketplace. Isolated as he was by the disease, it was as if he did not exist. Therefore, this leper would not ignore this opportunity that could result in his being declared cured or whole. Neither would he wait to see if Jesus came near him; thus he dared approach Jesus.
• The Mosaic Law was clear that lepers were to be quarantined, forbidden to approach others, and were to cry out a warning to any who might inadvertently approach them. That this man disregarded these regulations was a testimony to how desperate he was.

What steps did Jesus take to bring about cleansing?

• Jesus reached out and touched the man spoke and he was healed. Jesus could have spoken a word and the healing would have occurred, which we will see in the next miracle. Here the touch was a deliberate act that was appropriate for the situation.
• The man appeared to have no doubt about Jesus’ ability – You can make me clean. He had heard enough about Jesus to make that declaration with assurance. He preference it with if Jesus was willing. In the man’s mind, he believed Jesus could cleanse him of his disease if only He was willing to do so. Our faith in the ability of the Lord to do mighty things must still be tempered against His sovereign will and holy purpose. We have no right to presume upon Him even as we trust His promises to provide for us and care for us. To acknowledge that God has the right to grant or refuse a request is not lack of faith; it is the ultimate act of dependence on God’s compassion and takes great trust and commitment for a desperate person.

What instructions did Jesus give the man following the cleansing?

• Jesus didn’t want the man to linger talking with others but immediately to go to the priests who would in essence validate what had just occurred. Then they would give the offering as the law prescribed (Lev. 14:3-8). The man would be a testimony to the scribes and priests that Jesus did respect Jewish law. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, he would be a proof to the people concerning Jesus and His authority.
• The hope we find in Jesus enables us to be a testimony to others of what He can do in their lives.

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ life we see Jesus interact with people in surprising ways. The first encounter of chapter 8 is with a man with a serious disease known as leprosy. In Bible times, the term leprosy was used for a variety of skin disorders from psoriasis to leprosy. Today leprosy is commonly called Hansen’s disease. In this disease, slow growing bacteria damage the nerves. It takes away the ability to sense pain. This loss of feeling can allow people to harm themselves without realizing it.

Leprosy is contagious; but you can only catch it if you come into close and repeated contact with moisture from the infected person’s nose and mouth. Because of its contagious nature, people with leprosy were banished from their homes and cast beyond the protection of the city walls. Lepers lived isolated lives; they had to shout “unclean” anytime someone healthy came near. And lepers certainly were not allowed to approach anyone – especially not rabbis.

II. JESUS IS ABLE – MATTHEW 8:5-9

5 When He entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony!” 7 “I will come and heal him,” He told him. 8 “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant will be cured. 9 For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”




A Centurion’s Faith: This is the second man Jesus met and how he responded to Jesus.

Jesus encountered another man in chapter 8. This man was quite different from the leper; he was a centurion with the Roman military. A typical centurion had about one hundred men under his command. So this centurion knew how to be in charge. He knew how to lead others. He knew how to get things done. But when his servant became sick, the centurion could do nothing about it. We don’t know what the centurion tried on his own. Whatever the details, coming to Jesus would have been a hard step: not only would this centurion have been considered an unclean Gentile, but he was despised all the more because his job was a reminder to the Jewish people they had been conquered. Having been stationed in the area, the centurion had surely experienced the disdain of the Jews. Orthodox Jews hated the Romans. Would this one Jewish Rabbi exhibit the same attitude? The centurion swallowed any pride and acknowledged his unworthiness in the eyes of the Rabbi. He submissively called Jesus “Lord.” The unspoken question underneath the centurion’s request for healing reflected the words of the leper: would Jesus be willing?





Why was the fact that the centurion approached Jesus noteworthy?

• He was a gentile, an important gentile - he was a Roman soldier, an officer.
• As a Roman, some would consider him an enemy of all Israelites.

Why might this be a curious request from a Roman soldier?

• Servants were property, you don’t worry too much if one of your pieces of property suffers. It’s like your car … if it suffers too much, you put it out of its misery and junk it.
• The centurion’s attitude was the exception to how most people treated their slaves.

What was Jesus offer?

• I will come and heal him.
• Note: some commentators suggest this was a question, that Jesus was asking do you want me to come and heal him.
• This because of the significance of the man being a gentile, knowing that Jesus (as a Jew) would not want to defile Himself in a gentile’s house.

What was the centurion’s response? How did his response focus attention on Jesus’ authority?

• You don’t actually have to come to my house, I know about exercising authority.
• Just say the word and it will happen … like when I give orders to my soldiers and take orders from my superior.

What hinders believers today from turning to Jesus for help with their problems? Why is it so difficult to give a problem over to Jesus instead of finding some other source?

• We feel that we are “unclean” or undeserving we can approach Jesus.
• We are impatient … don’t want to wait.
• God is less tangible than a doctor or a person we talk to.
• We are not convinced that God understands or that God has the power to intervene.

How can we become more convinced of the authority and lordship of Jesus as we turn to Him during crises?

• We must have input into our minds of these truths … you have to be reading and applying God’s Word.
• Learn to trust God on daily basis.
• Make a practice of seeing God at work, attributing to Him the solutions to your problems.

Since Jesus’ authority is our only hope, why do we look for hope in other things or people?


What Hope Looks Like



Hope in Christ is like the Coast Guard because ____________, but hope in Christ is different from the Coast Guard because ___________.



Hope in Christ is like a lawyer defending the accused because ____________, but hope in Christ is different from a lawyer defending the accused because _____________.



Hope in Christ is like an adult nurturing a child because _________, but hope in Christ is different from an adult nurturing a child because ______________.


Ever tried to contest a phone bill? If you ask for a refund, credit, or discount, you might hear something like, “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to do that.” Try asking the person taking your ticket at the game to stop the rain. Or ask the drivers next to you on the highway to make the traffic go away.



There are some things in life we have no power or authority over. The reality is that there are some things only God can do. There are some things only God can forgive, some grace only God can extend, some acceptance only God can provide, and some problems only God can fix. Yet often times we try to do it ourselves.



Even when we realize Jesus is our only hope, it can be hard to ask for help. What does it look like to ask for help from Jesus?









III. ACTIVATED BY FAITH – MATTHEW 8:10-13

10 Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following Him, “I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith! 11 I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was cured that very moment.

Search the verses above for insights into why and how to ask for help from Jesus. Here is a sampling:

• Jesus doesn’t simply want us to trust in Him or to find our hope in Him for certain things. He wants us to find hope in Him for all things. He wants us to trust in Him for everything.
• Asking for help can be the hardest thing to do.
• “Jesus, help me” is one of the most honorable things to say. The person who has what he thinks he needs doesn’t ask for help. The spiritually destitute person has nothing to offer … and that is exactly what God required of us.
• Trusting Jesus is allowing Him to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. When we learn to lean on Christ, we open the door to let hope in. We are not exempt from trouble. We are exempt from hurt and brokenness, but we can have a confidence that Jesus has overcome the world and our past. There is hope in surrendering to Him.
• Jesus praised the centurion’s faith. Jesus pronounced the servant would be cured. The servant was cured at that very moment. When the centurion got home, he found his servant healthy, healed, and alive.
• Faith is trust. Jesus praised the centurion for his faith. He showed faith through his willingness to trust Jesus. He trusted that Jesus could heal his servant right on the spot without ever venturing into the servant’s presence.

 


At what did Jesus marvel, and why?

• Most folks thought that if there was a miracle worker, you had to be in his very presence.
• He was “astonished” that the centurion applied his understanding of authority correctly.
• The centurion believed Jesus could heal at a distance.
• He believed in Jesus authority over illness.

What kinds of thoughts do you think the apostles were having as they heard this interchange … the centurion noting Jesus authority, then Jesus declaring his astonishment?

• Puzzlement, confusion.
• Realization of what the centurion was saying.
• Shame?
• An increasing awareness of just what kind of power and authority Jesus really had.

What kinds of things keep us from having that kind of faith … totally convinced of Jesus’ authority?

• Humanistic thinking, unwillingness to believe in someone supernatural.
• Scientific thinking … doctors can do amazing things today.
• Lack of knowledge, understanding of God’s attributes … omnipotence, omniscience, love, wisdom, righteousness/justice, etc.

What is the relationship to living in hope and having faith?

• Living in hope is more than just “I hope it rains soon” or “I hope our team wins.”
• If you “have hope” then you know that you’re trusting in something or someone that will make it happen.
• This is faith … the trusting in God, in what He says, in His power and authority and love to make it happen in His time and His way.

In your daily life, what is the evidence that you have hope in Christ?






Remember that “great faith” is not something that we generate from within ourselves. Great faith is faith in a Great God - faith is only as effective as the object of our faith - Jesus!



 

We can begin, or begin again, to show Jesus we trust Him as our source of hope.

Live it Out

So how do you find hope? Information alone can’t do it. Let Jesus, the source of hope, transform you.

1. Identify a circumstance that leaves you feeling powerless. As you enter the circumstance pray, “Jesus, please show me what to say and do.”
2. Recognize Jesus’ trustworthiness. Identify several things in which you place your trust. Consider how Jesus is more trustworthy than each of those.
3. Find someone who needs hope. Show Jesus’ love through a kind gesture. Identify Jesus as the one who taught you how to be kind.

Can we ever truly find hope? Yes. Not only can we find it but we can experience it every day. Call off the search party. We’ve found our true hope in Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Commitment



Dear Lord, I declare that “my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus,” for He alone is willing, able, and sufficient for all I need – and more. Amen.

We are back into our series on "Let Hope In" and we learn in this lesson that when we seek Christ, we find the hope we are looking for.

See you on Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan