By Dr Edward Tamale-Sali
Matthew 8:1-4 reports about a leper who was healed from leprosy:
“When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshipped 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; to be cleansed. Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them”.
Who was a leper?
The reference of leprosy (including leper, lepers, leprosy, leprous) occurs 68 times in the Bible—55 times in the Old Testament (Hebrew = tsara’ath) and 13 times in the New Testament (Greek = lepros, lepra).
In the Old Testament, the instances of leprosy most likely meant a variety of infectious skin diseases.
Scientifically, leprosy disease is a chronic infectious sickness caused by a rod-shaped acid-fast bacillus, mycobacterium leprae.
In the Bible, lepers were not only discriminated for health reasons but also for spiritual sanity. To be a leper meant not only being sick but the victim was a sinner before God as well.
That is what Judaism taught throughout the Old Testament and in the days of Jesus.
The leper worshipped
When this leper and sinner met Jesus, the first thing he did was worship. Worship, like faith, is a matter of the heart (Matthew 15:8-9).
This leper, according to his Jewish culture and religion, was not eligible to worship God or even stand in public.
His physical circumstances could have made him bitter and hate God more than anyone else, given that his religion taught that his ailment was a punishment from God.
The state of this man’s heart had no reason to be better, but bitter.
However, what we see in this event is: this man worshipped before he even asked for healing. While the body of this man was damaged, his heart was in a proper state.
This man suffering from chronic and debilitating disease received his healing through worship.
He did not pay money. He did not cry, or climb a tree, but in his heart, he knew the man who was passing by was God Himself and he bowed to worship.
Notice that this man was not asking for healing initially, but worshipping. As he was doing so, he told the Lord: “Lord, if you are willing you can heal me”.
Look at the worship of this man, it is premised on the will of God, not this man’s will.
Immediately, God saw the worship of this man, and Jesus raised His hand and touched him. Instantly, a miracle took place; he was healed.
Providence in worship
Psalm 22:3 says He lives and dwells in our praises. This is the mystery and the miracle of the breakthrough power, and presence of God when we worship.
When we worship, we affirm the truth of God’s Word, and it is rooted deep in our hearts. It is through worship that God manifests on behalf of His people.
Victors in worship
Throughout the Bible, there were people who got breakthroughs out of tough situations by the act of worship.
The first was Abraham who was willing to go beyond limits in his worship of God.
In Genesis 22:12-14, Abraham exhibits total obedience to the Lord and this gesture of worship saves his son.
In obedience, we will reach new heights in our worship experiences.
The next victor through worship is King Jehoshaphat whose kingdom was attacked by a powerful enemy troop and all the King did was worship.
“Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell in worship before the Lord.
Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice” (2 Chronicles 20:18-21).
Worship was the weapon, and the result of this battle was a victory for the worshippers of God against the fighters of the enemy troops.
Finally, it was Paul and Silas who worshipped their way out of prison (Acts 16:24-26). These two men who were beaten, bruised and in shackles worshipped with pure and honest hearts.
This song caught Heaven’s attention and when God started tapping His foot to the music, amazing things happened.
When we are faced with trials and hardships, let us remember that Satan may buffet our bodies, but he cannot imprison our praise.
The author is the director, Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Centre, Bukoto, Kampala.
