Section 7
as represented by Simon the leper (Mark 14:3). When I was young, I thought that the house there in Bethany where they were feasting with the Lord was the home of Lazarus. Eventually I learned that it was not the home of Lazarus, but the house of a leper who must have been healed by the Lord (Mark 14:3). The house of Simon, a cleansed leper, became the meeting place of the church. This is very meaningful. On the one hand, we all were dead; on the other hand, we all were lepers. Originally, the members of the church were both dead and leprous (sinful) peo ple. In a sense we, like Lazarus, were dead and have been resurrected. In another sense, we, like Simon, were contaminated lepers and have been cleansed. Hallelujah, the Lord has raised us from the dead and cleansed us from our leprosy, our sins! Now where we are becomes the meeting place of the church.
John 12 is silent about Simon's doing any thing. The feast was prepared in Simon's house, but everything was done by two sisters and one brother. In Bethany, in the house of a leper, every thing was done by Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Although the church is the place where the Lord quickens and regenerates the dead and cleanses the leper, the service in the church is not done