Mark 1: 40-45 (MSG)
A leper came to him, begging on his knees, "If you want to, you can cleanse me." Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: "Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people." But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.
Have you ever been desperate? I’m not speaking of things you want. Or things you even need. I’m talking about desperate. Ravaged by your sin nature and the human condition. Marked by disfiguring emotional scars. Infected by marriage threatening parasites. Hammered by the blows of depression and suicidal tendencies. Hungry and thirsty for hope from Jesus. Desperate!
The leper who came to Jesus was desperate. Leprosy was a horrible disease which chewed up the body and raped the mind and snatched away your “clean” family and friends. What strikes us here is the leper is a man of faith. Much like we tend to be. There was no doubt in him that Jesus could heal him. He was only asking Jesus if he would heal him. It was this faith, along with the man’s desperation and condition, which moved Jesus to compassion.
What is your “disease”? Your “leprosy”? Are you hurting bad enough, are you desperate enough to fall on your knees before Jesus and tell him that you know He can heal you, if only He is willing? Then stand in the promise that He will do it. He may heal you instantly. It may take a grueling journey permeated by pain. May even take until He wraps His arms around you in heaven. But the healing will come.
I Am Willing.
