Mark 1:40-45 [NLTse]
35 Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. 36 Later Simon and the others went out to find Him. 37 When they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You.”
38 But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” 39 So He traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.
40 A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean,” he said.
41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” He said. “Be healed!” 42 Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. 43 Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: 44 “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”
45 But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and He couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to Him.
Sermon
The leper knelt before Jesus, close enough that the Lord only had to “reach out” to touch him. Now, the Old Testament Law declared leper’s unclean, which meant that if you had leprosy you were not allowed to be near or live near other Jews, nor were you allowed to attend synagogue or worship at the Temple. When lepers did come into town or need to be near other Jews they were required to stay at a distance from the clean Jews around them shouting, “Unclean!” as a warning, and so that others wouldn’t be contaminated by them and be declared unclean, too. And yet we have this leper brazenly march right up to within arm’s reach of Jesus! (And, of course, getting so close to Jesus meant getting that close to Jesus’ disciples and to all the crowds that so often flocked around Him, too.)
I can picture in my minds’ eye the disciples and crowds around Jesus gasping, shrieking, drawing back, and clawing and climbing overtop of each other in order to get away from the leper, his uncleanness, the possibility that they might be declared unclean on account of contact with him, and worse still, perhaps become infected by him with the dreaded leprosy themselves!.
And yet Jesus doesn’t seem to have moved.
And so, there, kneeling at Jesus’ feet, the leper said to Him, “If You are willing You can heal me.” Do you hear the complete faith in Jesus’ power that is in that statement? What’s at question is not Jesus’ power and authority. The leper is questioning Jesus’ heart. “I know You can heal me, Jesus. I just don’t if You’re want to.”
Of course, Jesus’ response to the leper is both a healing and a miracle: Every trace of the man’s leprosy disappears, and it happens instantly! (I speak of this as a healing and a miracle because there is another record we have of Jesus healing lepers where the healing came about more naturally – little bit by little bit as systems were restored and functions were regained. So it seems to be a miracle, as well, when the restoration occurs instantly, like it does here.)
So, what about us?
With the leper in mind, how boldly do you come to Jesus? We can come to Him in prayer; we can come to Him by asking the elders to pray for us; we can come to Him by constantly sharing our needs with those around us, asking for prayer in our groups or Bible studies, asking to be kept on the Prayer List, coming forward for prayer at the end of Worship week after week… But do we? Is our faith enough that we’re willing to cause a stir, willing to make a commotion, willing to shock those around us, and, perhaps, even willing to offend those around us in order to seek Jesus for our needs? Because Jesus shows us this morning that even if everyone else is offended by our boldness, He is not!
And when we do come, do we trust that Jesus can heal us? I guess when I think of the many Christian people I’ve interacted with over time I think that most Christian people do think that God can heal them. So maybe a better question for you would be: Do you trust that Jesus wants to heal you? Do I trust that Jesus wants to heal me? …
[Go to the Table and unwrap the bread and uncover the trays…]
Now let’s put ourselves in the place of Jesus’ disciples and those crowds. When we hear about someone with a great need, or when someone with a great need comes to us – perhaps, even, a scary need – do we gasp and shriek, or draw back and turn away (even if that turning away is only in our hearts)? Do such needs make us feel afraid or inadequate or powerless or guilty or perhaps some other such feeling that closes us down inside and gets us wanting nothing more than for our interaction with the needy person to end? … That’s how it seems the disciples and the crowds responded. But Jesus stuck.
Do we trust Him in such circumstances? Do we follow Jesus and do what we know He would do? That is, do we stay near to listen with a willing heart, willing to be used by God as He leads and provides?
I saw both of these played out during the Men’s Saturday Morning Bible Study yesterday. As we were getting ready to pray for each other at the very end of our time, one of the guys shared this Herculean need – a monstrous, impossible, overwhelming need! He laid it out there humbly, and in every aching detail. And we were all moved. The guy was crying and several of the rest of us got crying, too… And we prayed, and then we prayed some more. And as our prayer ended one of the guys stepped out of the room with the fella who had shared the need… and he helped him. Now, to the best of my knowledge his help didn’t completely meet the guy’s need, but it was huge, God-inspired help.
The man boldly shared his predicament with us all, and humbled himself, and took responsibility for this and that that were a part of it. And he demonstrated, as he shared with us, that he knew God could handle his troubles if God wanted to! And the Lord showed the guy that He could help and that He did, indeed, want to. We didn’t recognize it, but that guy had arrived at the Study a leper, but according to His faith, and because the One He put his faith in wants to help, he walked away cleansed and healed!
How bold are you to ask for what you believe you need from God? How persistent in your prayers are you and in asking for prayer are you?
On the other hand, how trusting are you to believe that He-Who’s-in-you is greater than he-who-is-in-the-world? That is, do you trust God even when confronted with overwhelming needs or monstrous, herculean situations?
Are you willing to keep seeking God’s promises – your Christian-inheritance – as aggressively as you need to until your Abba satisfies you?
Are you willing to offer yourself to be the answers to others’ needs and prayers: Listening, praying, and responding as God’s Spirit leads?
Where have you been falling short in asking?
Where have you been falling short in giving?
Father, we want to be like Jesus. Make it so…