January 4: I am willing!

After he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And a leper approached, and bowed low before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  (Matthew 8:1-3 — New English Translation)

It’s common to hear people pray, “Lord, if it’s your will, heal so-and-so of his disease.” I would agree that we don’t always know what God’s plan is, but in general we should assume that healing is from God and sickness from the devil, long life from God and premature death from the devil, freedom from God and oppression from the devil. When it comes to certain requests we don’t need to wonder whether or not they are God’s will — He has already answered that question for many things in life. When we say, “I know God can heal, but I don't know if it’s His will to heal this person,” we are not speaking by faith. We can’t imagine Jesus saying that, and neither should we.

This passage mentions that the leper bowed low before Jesus. He did not just bow, he bowed low. He came to Jesus is humility, acknowledging his weakness and Jesus’ superior strength. This is an attitude that we need to develop. It’s so easy for us to be proud, and to make God feel unimportant. So many people, including Christians, daily insult Jesus by excluding Him from their lives, and by treating church attendance, financial giving, and the sacrifice of their own will as distasteful and unnecessary annoyances. This man was healed because he honored God… truly honored Him. When is the last time you did that?

A shocking thing that Jesus did was stretch out His hand to touch this man. The word for leprosy in the original Greek includes a number of skin diseases — not just leprosy. And yet anyone with a skin disease was considered unclean, was banned from the city, and forbidden from touching anyone. Leprosy itself was very contagious, and would infect with a simple touch. Jesus’ touch, according to the Law of Moses, would have made Him unclean, but His desire to help this man and respond to his humility and faith overrode everything else. But isn’t it the same with us? We are all unclean (if you don’t think so you’re in real trouble) and unworthy of Jesus’ touch, but He ignores that and reaches out to us when we come to Him in humility and faith.

Some or all of us need to learn from this outcast. He received what he needed from Jesus. Though he smelled bad and was deformed (characteristics of leprosy), and had virtually nothing to offer Jesus, he received healing that day. You may appear much better than him on the outside, but if you are not receiving what you need from God, that leper knows something that you don’t.

Let’s learn from him.