Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
—Matthew 8:1-3 NLT
Jesus, no doubt exhausted and spent, comes down from the mountain after preaching “the sermon on the mount” over the past few days to a crowd of people. The crowds follow Him, curious. They ponder all that He has said, and what it means.
Out of the midst of the crowd comes an unnoticed—until now—undesirable. A leper.
People are afraid of a leper, afraid of catching the disease. Lepers are repugnant with their open sores and rotting flesh. And spiritually speaking, they are considered unclean to the Jewish people and should be kept outside the city gates. Yet, here he is. I imagine the crowd parting to get away from him.
Think of the courage it has taken him. Courage to step out of the faceless crowd, to be identified as an unwanted segment of society. Mothers shielding their eyes from even looking at him, pulling their children behind them to protect. Men contorting their countenance in disgust.
Courage not only to step out of the crowd, but also to approach this prophet of God, this mysterious man.
He approaches him and kneels and addresses Him as Lord. Note the respect and reverence. Note the humility. It reminds me of Paul’s words in Philippians 2:10-11 (NLT) when Paul says “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
It takes courage to not only step out of the crowd and humbly be identified as unclean, but to further humble himself by bowing and honoring Jesus as Lord.
After demonstrating his willingness to humble Himself before Jesus, the leper ascertains Christ’s willingness to heal him. “If you are willing.”
He finds what millions after him have found: That Christ is willing to heal (although not always in the way that we expect).
Leprosy is not a disease we deal with much in first-world, 21st-century America. But there are plenty of other plagues, both literal and figurative. And there is the disease that has infected all mankind: the sin sickness of our race.
What do you need to approach the Lord with? Whatever it might be, it will take willingness, humility, and courage on your part. But Jesus is ready, willing, and able to heal.
grow up. You may remember the childhood nursery rhyme: “Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief, Doctor, Lawyer, Merchant, Chief.” We add other titles to that and begin to imagine the life as a Firefighter, Teacher, Entrepreneur, or Dentist. But as we begin school and start to grow up, there is a subtle yet significant transition from “Who do I want to be?” to “What am I going to do?” We are defined and valued in America by what we do. Unfortunately, the path to doing something often bypasses the basic questions about being something.
