(Mark 1:40-42 NIV) A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” We closed out last week with a look at the praise of a half-breed (Samaritan) leper. Let’s start off this week with a look at the healing of another leper, but this time a Jewish one. This leper, like the one we discussed last week, had an infectious and highly contagious disease that attacked his skin and central nervous system. The same laws he observed as a child – the laws he loved for making him different from the Gentiles – became laws he grew to hate as they kept him from his loved ones. Once tainted with leprosy he was no longer clean. Once branded as a leper he was no longer welcome… not even in the homes of his family members. He was a prisoner in his own dying and decaying body. As his flesh ate away at itself his heart ate away at his soul. I am sure he longed for the normalcy most loathe. He wanted so badly to be normal, to be clean, to be considered human again, to be allowed back into society. Can you picture him? Can you see him? His muscles have atrophied from the harrowing effects of the disease. His eyes have dark circles around them because he can’t remember the last time he had a good night’s sleep. All his hope is gone, most of his energy is gone, and when he heard about a miracle worker it took all he had to raise his desire for what could be his last chance for a breakthrough.
When the leper made it to Jesus he fell at his feet and begged for help. His statement exposes the fact that he had already resolved within his heart that Jesus was bigger than his problem. The leper was convinced that Jesus had the power to heal leprosy, so he did not have to ask Jesus if He could, but his inferiority complex wondered if he would. The leper had been rejected by everyone he loved and written-off by everyone he knew. His self-esteem was so low that he was not even sure if Jesus would love him enough to heal him. But the leper did not know that Jesus was motivated by love and operated in grace. Unlike the graceless religion of the man’s youth, this Jewish religious leader was operating under a different anointing and flowing in a different vein. Jesus was love personified and grace exemplified. So Jesus, filled with compassion, looked down and saw someone hurting more on the inside than the outside. This is why He reached out His hand and touched the leper before He healed him. He did what no other human had done since this disease had befallen him. He gave the man what he so eagerly longed for – a human touch. Jesus did the unthinkable and touched the untouchable. And with that Jesus said, “I am willing, Be clean!” This statement contains both His character and His power. His character said, “Yes” to the man, His power said, “Go” to the disease. In one fell swoop Jesus became both miracle worker and priest, as he pronounced the man clean enough to reenter society.
So what does this mean to you today? Two things:
1. Religion can be cold and callous. The same law that made the Pharisees feel right made this leper feel wrong. In both cases the law was in error. God loves us enough to look past the self-righteousness of people like the Pharisees and low self-esteem of people like this leper. Both need grace, both need healing, both need love and God freely provides it to all who accept it.
2. Love and grace find a way. The leper did nothing to earn his healing. The law prohibited Jesus (a Jewish man) from touching the leper. But Jesus – love personified and grace exemplified – loved the man just the way he was, but He loved him too much to leave him that way! So if you feel condemned this morning, unworthy of God’s blessing, look up towards a God who will look down at you long enough to look past your pain and meet your true need.
Closing Confession: Father, I cast my cares and concerns upon You this morning. You know what I secretly struggle with and I lay it at your feet. I ask You to look beyond my outward appearance long enough to see my true need. Reach out to me this morning, even while I am in front of this computer, and touch me. Cleanse me. Wash me. Make me whole. Not because I deserve it, because I don’t, but because You love me and You willingly offer me Your best by Your grace. I thank You for it in advance. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
