Joseph Prince - Mount of Beatitudes Where Jesus Healed The Leper
So here we are at the mount of beatitudes where the Lord said those famous beatitudes right from somewhere in this vicinity, and I believe it’s somewhere around here because the multitudes would have been where the banana plantation right now is. You can just visualize people there, and they’ve done some studies there and found it amazingly acoustic, and the Lord would reach and his voice would carry over. You can actually experiment when your group is here. Someone could stand here and just speak in a normal tone, it would carry over into the valley.
So here’s where the Bible said he sat down as he taught the people. So it must be a spot where the people could see him, where he was talking to the people. Could be one of these rocks over here. But what is interesting is that after he preached the sermon on the mount, the Bible says here right at the end of the sermon on the mount, it says, when he had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. Now, there are 2 ways for him to come down from the mountain. One is this way and the other way is down to where the people are. But if that were so, it wouldn’t say great multitudes followed him because to follow means they are behind him. He wouldn’t have gone down this way. He would have gone this way.
So let’s see why the Lord went this way. We know in the next chapter, it talks about the Lord entered Capernaum, and Capernaum happened to be right here in my line of sight where I’m pointing to. That’s where Capernaum is, and the multitudes were down there. So for them to follow him they must have seen him stand up when he finished his sermon, step down, and go this way, and they followed him below the mountain as he proceeded in this pathway. So let’s see what the Lord was after, what is he seeking after. Shall we? Follow me.
Where we left off over there when Jesus sat to speak to the people, the wonderful beatitudes, and the sermon on the mount, and right after that he proceeded this direction because the next chapter tells us when Jesus entered Capernaum. Now where is Capernaum from here? Right over there. So in other words, we can see this straight line from here to where we were just now when he preached the sermon on the mount. So he proceeded this way because the Bible says that the multitudes followed him. So in order for them to follow him, he must have walked this way, and the next chapter says he entered Capernaum, but along the way something happened. When he came down from the mountains and the multitudes followed him, and behold, a leper came to him, worship him saying Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean.
Now, some years ago I was here and I walked towards this direction, and the Lord gave me an inner vision of what happened here, and I found this rock over here where the Lord was walking through, and the leper was probably hiding because from here, this direction here, you can actually hear the Lord’s sermon that he was preaching, and when the Lord talked about look at the birds of the air, they sow not. Neither do they reap. Yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? And the leper was probably behind one of these rocks perhaps, but I had an inner vision he was behind this rock over here, and he was listening.
Now, he can’t be found among the multitudes because if a leper was found in public, he would be stoned, so he would definitely be over here. And that tells us how our Lord left the multitudes just to proceed in this direction. He could have gone down where to where they were, where the multitude were and walked with them all the way to Capernaum, but instead he came all the way here. And the multitudes would have followed him below the valley. All right. But he’ll give them some time because they are down there, and the leper was somewhere here, and when Jesus came somewhere here and the leper came out begging him, Lord! If you are willing you can make me clean. He was probably hiding away from the people. But there’s something about Jesus that caused the leper to expose himself to him. Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean.
Now, he has no doubt about Jesus' ability and power, but he has a doubt of Jesus' willingness. And Jesus assured him once and for all. First of all, look at the wonderful compassion of our Lord Jesus. Look at the beauty of our Lord Jesus. The Bible says, Jesus touched him. How long has he been without that human touch? A touch of his family members, his child running to him, abba! Abba! All this time that he’s a leper he’s been without human touch. But Jesus, the first thing Jesus did, oh, the wonderful Savior. How beautiful he is. Jesus touched him, restored to him his humanity, and then Jesus said, I’m willing. Be thou made clean.
And the Bible says, immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Now, by now the multitude that followed Jesus below the valley there would have come up somewhere here because they all know he’s going towards Capernaum. But more than that why would he take this direction towards Capernaum? He could have gone down with the multitudes to Capernaum. He came all the way here just for that leper. And that’s our Lord Jesus. That’s how compassionate he is. That’s how his heart goes out for the one person. You might say that I’m a face in a crowd. Well, he approached to the multitudes in the crowd, and yet he took time because he knew there was one here that needed him, one lost soul, one person who felt like I know he has the power, but does he nowhere I am? Does he care what I’m going through? And Jesus came all the way here just for that one person.
And friend, he’ll do that for you. Don’t ask me how it’s done. He knows. He pays attention. He knows the number of hairs an your head as if you’re the only person in the world, and the Lord is right in front of you saying, if you ever doubt I’m willing to use my power on your behalf, doubt no more. I am willing. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the Bible says that right after that, Jesus entered Capernaum. And what happened to the leper? He was cleansed. He was cleansed so he could join the multitude and not worry about being stoned. He was as normal as anyone else, and they never could tell the difference. And the man went back to his family. He went back to his friends. He went back to his profession. He became a normal person, feeling most of all fully human, fully alive because of Jesus.
And friend, he can do that for you. If you just welcome him into your life, friend, Jesus makes the unclean clean. You see, if you were under the law, the law would condemn the leper. The leper cannot be seen in public. He would be stoned. In fact, he has to put a mask. And we’re all familiar with masks these few years. He would have put a mask across his face and say unclean! Unclean! But then when Jesus met him, now he cries, clean! Clean by the blood of Jesus! Hallelujah. You see, under the law if you touched the unclean, you touched the leper, you become unclean. But under grace, Jesus the clean touched the unclean, and the unclean became clean.
Friend, let the Lord love you. Let the Lord touch you. Let the Lord come to you because that’s what he’s doing right now. He’s coming to you even through this screen, my friend. Reach out and say Lord Jesus, I receive your love. I receive your healing. I receive your breakthrough. I thank you, Lord. You’re coming to me even right now, and in the name of the Lord Jesus, be healed of that affliction. In the of the Lord Jesus, receive the forgiveness of God and enter into new life because the Lord came all the way just to seek and to save the lost. He loves you, my friend. Isn’t he wonderful?
We are now at the mount of beatitudes where Jesus preached a sermon called the sermon on the mount. And there’s something God has for us right here on location that I believe he wants you all to hear from his word, and let’s see the part of the sermon on the mount that the Lord has for us today. Jesus said… This is a very appropriate for the times we are in, and what better place than here on the mount of beatitudes? You look behind me, you see a panoramic view of lake of Galilee, and Capernaum is just down there and beyond there and is Gederah on the other side. And here we are on the west coast of Galilee.
The sermon on the mount was preached in this vicinity, somewhere in these parts here, and here is where also Jesus right after he preached the sermon on the mount, he went down the Bible says to touch the leper and to cleanse him, and then he proceeded to go to the city of Capernaum. But the Lord says here, like I said, the word in season for us is not to worry about what we shall eat, what we shall drink nor what we shall put on. We’re in those times, aren’t we? The people are worried about where their supply is coming from, will they have enough for tomorrow for their children, for their education, and I believe that the Lord has wisdom for us that he wants us to apply to our lives, even from this sermon on the mount which is so contemporary even for today for the world we live in.
This is the word in season. Don’t worry about your supply and the supply will be there. In essence, it’s what the Lord is saying, he’s saying don’t worry about your body, don’t worry about your clothing, what you shall wear, what you shall eat, that’s your body, but more than that. Then he goes on to say the body’s more important than clothing, so I believe that’s referring to your health. Isn’t your health more important than the clothes you put on? No point putting on expensive branded clothes with a sick body. What is more important is health in priority. And some people don’t feel like God prioritizes that but he does. He says is not the body more than clothing? Is not life more important than food. Amen. You can go without food for days but when life is taken from you, that’s it. It’s gone. But Jesus gives life and life more abundantly.
So what’s the thing that he keeps on repeating in this sermon on the mount again and again? It is this word, do not worry. Do not worry because look at the birds of the air, and you can hear the birds chirping behind us. He says right in this location these are the descendants of those birds right here in this location where Jesus says look at the birds of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Look at the lilies of the field. Look at all the lilies of the field, and these again are the descendents of the lilies that were there when Jesus preached.
Obviously it was referring to these lilies that are still here today. And he says look at how they are clothed. And he says that God clothes them, and they are here today and gone tomorrow. God cares to clothe the lily of the field, and he says that these lilies of the field, he went on to say, they are better clothed than Solomon in all his glory. Now in what way the lily better clothed than Solomon in all his glory, in all his wealth, in all the lavishness that he puts on himself and around him? In what way is the humble lily better than Solomon, clothed better in one sense? Solomon had to put his clothing from outside in. The lily has its clothing from the inside out.
Again, I believe he’s referring to your shalom wellness and wholeness, peace, and health. I believe, my friend, that if you don’t worry, your health will spring forth speedily. So even if you’ve been given a bad diagnoses by the doctor, amen, don’t worry about it. Amen! There was a true story once of a man who overheard a doctor. He had a heart attack and he was in the hospital, and they thought he was unconscious. The doctor said to another doctor that this man has a wholesome gallop to his heart.
Now in medical terms, that’s not good. A wholesome gallop is actually something not good for someone suffering a heart attack, but in his mind, in the layman’s terms, he thought that he has a heart of a horse. From that day on he recovered. And sometime back, he came back for the review, the same doctor, he says hey doc, I’m so glad you said that I have a heart of a wholesome gallop. And the doctor says you heard that? That’s not a good term actually. I thought I got a heart of a horse.
See, when you believe right, you receive right, amen. Start believing that God wants you to be healthy, whole and strong, clothed from within out. That’s your health. And Jesus says the lily of the field God cares for them. They are here today and gone tomorrow. How much more will God clothe you better than the lilies that are better clothed than Solomon in all his wealth, in all his glory. The only thing he asks of you is this, do not worry. Do not worry and the health will spring forth speedily. Do not worry and the supply that you see the birds, they don’t have to look for food, God supplies them food. They don’t have to have a bank to go to to draw food from. Are you not much better than the birds of the air? Are you not better than the lilies of the field? Then he goes on to say, to repeat that same word of wisdom to us.
How many of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you’re not able to do that which is least, why worry for the rest. Now you say Pastor Prince, it’s very easy for you to say. No, it’s not me. It’s the Lord who says it. You’re saying if I don’t worry, the supply will be there: if I don’t worry, my health will spring forth speedily? Exactly. That’s what the Lord said. Again and again and again he says don’t worry. And don’t worry about tomorrow. He ends up saying don’t worry about tomorrow. Why? Tomorrow will have it’s own trouble. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. Each day has its own trouble and God gives supply one day at a time.
That’s the wisdom of God. Because if everything is just put there, the supply is there for your entire month, you may not even go back to the Lord the next day, but you need to go to him, amen. Let him love you. Have a relationship with the Lord Jesus where you allow him to love you, you allow him to provide for you. See the lilies of the field? Jesus said look at how they grow, notice what he said. How they grow. They toil not neither do they spin. In other words, they don’t put in effort to grow. How they grow. He’s telling us this, the way you grow spiritually, the way you grow in every area of your life is not to toil, not to put in fleshly effort but to rest and you will grow beautiful and beautiful in his time. Hallelujah! He ends up by saying don’t worry about tomorrow.
Friend, manna in the Old Testament, manna came one day at a time. Jesus did not say pray this prayer, give us this day our yearly bread or monthly bread. Give us this day our daily bread. You cannot keep the manna today for tomorrow. Like the children of Israel, some of them did that and it stank. Manna is for one day at a time. When tomorrow comes, there will be fresh supply. Amen! Grace is all about supply. Law is all about demand. Be grace conscious. Be supply conscious, even in the world that we live in right now, in the midst of financial famine, in financial downturn where people are worrying about where their resources are gonna come from, will they have enough. You can just relax and not worry. Why? Are you being irresponsible? No. Your greatest responsibility is not to worry, and that’s what the Lord says. When you don’t worry, the supply will be there.
You say if I don’t worry, nothing will happen. It’s exactly the opposite. For the child of God, when you don’t worry, the supply will be there, the health will be there, the provisions will be there. So in other words, what is hindering all these things from manifesting? Our worry, our fretfulness and our anxiety. So friend, don’t worry. One thing is needful. Sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary did and listen to his word. Listen to his word every day, and that’s how he ended by saying seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Now don’t mistranslate that. Don’t think I must be righteous. No. It is his righteousness not your righteousness. His righteousness today is a gift through Christ. Amen. What is the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And he underlined that first word, righteousness. Seek especially his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. In other words, my priority every day is to make sure I’m in righteousness consciousness, not sin consciousness: that is to be under the law, but to be righteousness conscious thanking the Lord that he is my righteousness and all the blessings of the righteous are mine. And David says I’ve been young and now I’m old, I’ve never seen the righteous begging for bread. Amen.
The righteous are always provided for. And now you are that righteous man, you are that righteous woman, not through your own self righteousness but because you have received his righteousness. Where you seek first the Kingdom of God every day, and his righteousness to make sure you are established in that, all these things… And what are the things? Don’t spiritualize it. Jesus talked about material supply. He talks about health from within. He talks about God resourcing us. All these things will be added to you when you seek first God’s kingdom and especially his righteousness. I hope this has blessed you right here from the mount of beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee.