Mark 1:40-42 40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
A leper came in reverence and humility seeking healing but wasn’t sure if Jesus would be willing to grant such a request. After all, lepers were considered unclean and ostracized. They were treated very poorly and severely scorned. They had to make a public announcement that they were unclean as they walked the streets to warn people not to come near them. They had a contagious and uncurable skin disease that slowly cause their body to rot and deform. Everyone treated them as the walking dead and won’t dare be seen among them. Their only interaction involved those that suffered the same fate.
Needless to say, this leper had a legitimate concern when he asked Jesus if he was willing to heal him. He lived a life of rejection and pain and hoped that Jesus would be different. Hearing the news of this great Rabbi sparked a glimpse of hope as he heard of the many miracles that Jesus did.
The scripture stated that Jesus was moved with compassion and stretched out his hand and touched him. In that touch, Jesus changed his life forever. He was healed emotionally, socially, psychological and physically. He was delivered out of his mental torment and social prison in an instance.
Jesus could have just spoken the word and by faith the leper could have received his healing from a distance. But our Savior was intentional about showing not just the healing power of God but wanted to convey even stronger the Father’s loving care. The love of God reaches beyond our sickness, rejection and pain when nothing else can or when people are unwilling to.
Sometimes when we are not quite sure what the will of God is concerning our lives or people that we love we preface our prayers with a rejection proof clause: “If you are willing”. Just in case Jesus decides not to move on our request, we won’t get our hopes up. Jesus want you to change your speech and approach. When we go to God in faith, we must believe that our will is aligned with his. Just trust that his solution to your request is exactly what you need.
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