WILLING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed Him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Matthew 8:2-4

A man with leprosy came to Him and begged Him on his knees, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus was indignant. He reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!”

Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to Him from everywhere.

Mark 1:40-45

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

Yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Luke 5:12-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What are you willing to do for someone else?

It’s a question we all will be faced with at one time or another in life.

At times, the answer might be easy; at other times, we may have to wrangle and deliberate over the decision. Still in other instances, we might see that the response to the question isn’t as easy as being willing or not willing to do something. We might find ourselves in a place where we’re willing to act but within limits, typically limits we choose to impose.

While you are contemplating this matter of your willingness to respond to a need another may have, look at today’s scripture passages and the how Jesus handled the matter.

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed Him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”  Matthew 8:2-4

A man with leprosy came to Him and begged Him on his knees, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus was indignant. He reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!”

Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to Him from everywhere.  Mark 1:40-45

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

Yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  Luke 5:12-16

As we saw in yesterday’s devotion, Jesus had decided to leave Capernaum so He could expand His ministry into other towns in Galilee, bringing miraculous healing and driving out demons from the afflicted who were brought to Him. As a result, news of Jesus and what He was doing traveled far and wide across Galilee and Judea.

In today’s scripture passage, we find Jesus in the midst of His ministry tour as He continued to preach the good news of the gospel to all who came to hear Him teach with authority. The scriptures tell us that He had come down from the mountainside with large crowds following Him into town. It was there that a man who was covered in leprosy came up to Jesus, fell with His face to the ground, and begged:

“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Think about what this man was doing. A leper was considered unclean and an outcast in Jewish society. Those afflicted with the infectious, deforming skin disease would live together away from the general population, thus why you typically hear the word “colony” used with the word “leper”.

With all this, it took an incredible amount of courage for the man to do what he did. He also displayed remarkable humility in his approach with Jesus. Note where he fell down before Jesus with his face on the ground and never commanded Jesus to heal him. Instead, he queried the will of Jesus and would accept the outcome, whatever that might be.

Another thing not to miss in this account is that the leper showed amazing faith in Jesus. The man had no doubt heard about the healing power Jesus possessed and believed that his leprosy could be taken away if Jesus willed it to happen.

So how did Jesus respond to the leper’s astounding show of faith and modesty?

He responded as follows:

“I am willing. Be clean!”

And so it was for the scriptures tell us that the leprosy left the man immediately and he was cleansed of the affliction.

Imagine the impact this would have had on the man as he was rewarded for his faith. Equally imagine how the crowds would have been affected as they watched the whole scene unfold. It was yet another stunning work of power performed by a man who appeared to have no limits to what He could do.

Yet, Jesus did not want the man to go and tell everyone what happened. Rather, the man was to go to the priest and “offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Perhaps Jesus didn’t want to draw any more attention to Himself than He already had. We get a sense that He didn’t want the crowds to get too out of control. Additionally, as we saw in yesterday’s devotion, Jesus often liked to get away from the masses and go to a solitary place to pray. He wished to preserve a little privacy so He could have one-on-one time with His Father.

Well, unfortunately, the healed leper didn’t listen to Jesus. Instead, he ‘went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.” And the scriptures tell us Jesus suffered the consequences of the man’s disobedience, no longer able to “enter a town openly” because the “people came to Him from everywhere “to hear Him and be healed”.  

Jesus had been willing to heal the leper but the leper wasn’t willing to comply with Jesus’ command.

Does that sound familiar?

Perhaps it hits a little too close to home for us because so often we are no better than the healed leper.

You see, Jesus is always willing to fulfill His purposes for us in life. He makes and keeps every promise and assurance perfectly. All we need to do is maintain our faith, hope, and trust in Him, waiting for His will to be done in our lives.

He was also willing to go all the way to suffer and die for us, bearing the consequences of our sin on His bruised, broken, and bloodied body. No one coerced Jesus to do it, to save all of us. Rather, He did it out of a love we’ll never understand, an agape love that would say I care for you enough to lay my life down for you. He did it because He was willing to save all, no matter the cost.

As for us, we aren’t so willing to keep our end of the deal. Instead, we are too often like the leper, doing what we want to do, following our own will instead of the will of Jesus, the One who saved us, the One who willfully made us clean.

It’s a wonder that Jesus doesn’t remove His salvation from us altogether because of our blatant disrespect and disregard for Him. It’s equally a wonder that Jesus didn’t remove the healing from the man He aided and allowed leprosy to cover him once again as punishment for violating His command.

Indeed, in both instances, it’s a testimony to His amazing grace, mercy, and forgiveness. But it also shows us one other thing about Jesus and His ability to administer judgment on us.

It shows us that He wasn’t willing. If He was, we would all be in dire straits.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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