“All the stories are true.”
I couldn’t get these lyrics out of my head as our pastor preached from Mark 1:40-45 Sunday morning on the story of Jesus healing the leper.
The lyrics from "Ghost” by Crowder is a favorite song of Tim and I. If you happened to walk into our house on any given afternoon, there’s a good chance it would be blaring from the boombox.
The lyrics begin:
This ghost is a fire
A holy flame burning wild
Burning through the night
Burning with a light of a billion stars
His love is like lighting
Cracking through the sky
And burning through the rage
Burning through the pain of a billion scars
Get ready, all the stories are true
Those stories you heard as a small child growing up in church…the ones that came to life with the flannel graph (Who couldn't believe those representations?) …true.
As Pastor Mark preached the truth of the miracle, I cried at this beautiful glimpse of our Savior:
“Are you willing?” the Leper asked.
“I am willing,” Jesus replied.
And just like that immediately he was healed.
Yes, the stories are true.
The older we grow, the easier it is to dismiss these stories because we lose our childlike wonder as adults. Our pragmatic brains take over and we categorize everything.
To some, the Gospels are a myth. A story about a good man who did good things, but a myth nonetheless. But, what if the myth is actually not a myth at all? What if the myth is actually fact?
We forget that He really did walk on water. The apostle’s shadow healed people. Lepers leaped for joy.
Water turned to wine.
Lions mouths closed.
Men walked inside fiery furnaces.
Staffs became snakes. Fire fell.
Lame walked. Blind saw. A Virgin conceived.
Bushes burned. Plagues tormented. Dead bones came to life.
Arms nailed out. Sky went dark. Temple veil tore.
There’s an empty tomb.
This man, Jesus, actually walked upon our earth, His blood poured out upon a splintered cross. He defeated death by rising from the grave. There’s a Ghost in the room.
The simplicity of the Gospel creates a complexity that beckons us to believe.
The writers of the Gospels could have recorded the story of a god who came to save the Jews and set up a kingdom on earth. Instead, this man, Jesus, walked among His people, healing those with sickness, preaching of a kingdom not of this world, washing the feet of his best friends. Dying on a cross. Defeating death with life.
What is so beautiful about this passage in Mark is that it reveals how Christ exchanged positions with the Leper. For years, the Leper was an outcast. Leviticus 13:45-46 shows how lepers were treated: “Unclean! Unclean!” they were required to cry out. Separated from society and loved ones, they were outcasts. As our pastor said, lepers were like dead men walking.
And yet, in a moment of compassion, Christ immediately heals the Leper realizing that from this moment forward He Himself would become the outcast: prone to wandering in the desert.
“As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. “ ~Mark 1:45
Christ took the Leper’s place.
And here we have a Person depicted like non other. God-man. The Gospel is the sum of all stories: Christ emptying Himself to become man.
All the stories are true.
The song, Ghost, celebrates the victory of this truth: What is repulsive in our lives Jesus redeems. His Ghost is alive and burning strong inside of us. His Spirit is alive.
His ghost is inside me
Holy fire burning wildly
Burning through the things
That need to be erased to liberate my soul
Get ready, there's an empty tomb
Get ready, there's a ghost in the room
Get ready, even mountains move
Get ready, all the stories are true
Oh, friend, this is the Christ Who will return to us. I’m so ready. To touch the nail-scarred hands, for His voice to say my name, to see the heavens part.
For death to be done.
We're ready like a waiting bride
We're ready for Your bread and wine
We're ready to burst to life
We're ready for You to set things right.
As Passion week nears, may we never forget the greatest story of all time is, in fact, true. All of history rests on His coming. This God-man stepped foot on earthly soil, touched lepers with his own human hands, bled drops of blood, crimson with love.
And may we anticipate, “This same Jesus, Who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
Even so…Come quickly, Lord Jesus. We’re ready.
Stunning song! I had not heard of it before but listened with tears streaming down my face. Bo, Adonai Yeshua! (Come, L-rd Jesus!) Interestingly, Leviticus 13-14 was the Torah portion for yesterday!😊 Blessed Palm Sunday to you and yours!