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.” – Matt.8:1-4 (NIV)
Such a horrible disease this leprosy was. So horrible, in fact, that people often believed that those afflicted were guilty of some sort of horrible sin. For those suffering with severe cases, it was completely incapacitating. Some would lose limbs, as their flesh rotted away. Many would lose their teeth. And in some instances it even led to facial disfigurement.
And as if that wasn’t enough, it was highly contagious and there was no cure. So those who had the disease literally had their lives upended. They were forced to leave their families and communities they lived in, and required to go live in leper colonies situation on the outskirts of town. Some would spend several years in these quarantined colonies, waiting for the disease to naturally heal before they could go back home to their families.
When the 2020 pandemic occurred, many of us received just a small sampling of the total isolation that these lepers faced. Many of us with children and grandchildren lamented that we wouldn’t be able to spend time with them in our homes. All of the normal life events that we ordinarily celebrated together had been postponed. Still, we could at least FaceTime or Zoom with them. And those of us who lived together were never forbidden from touching and hugging one another.
Have we ever given thought to our basic need to experience the touch of another human being? A handshake? A warm embrace? A pat on the back? A peck on the cheek? A shoulder to cry on? Could there be anything more depressing in life than to feel isolated? Even abandoned?
This poor man who came to Jesus that day, he likely experienced all the above. Can we possibly sense the level of desperation he felt that day, as he approached this Man that he’d heard so much about, that he had come to believe was the only true Physician who could heal him? Can we imagine how painful it must’ve been for him to kneel before Him?
“Lord…” Yes. He knew that this man was His Lord. He immediately identified Him as the Messiah.
“If you are willing…” Words of a man stricken with such anguish that his only recourse is to beg for mercy; the very words that would be spoken with such great anguish in a garden in Gethsemane in the not-so-distant future…
“You can make me clean.” If only the father with the demon-possessed son had been there to witness this man’s faith that day… there would’ve been no “If you can, take pity on us.”
“I am willing,” Jesus said. How sweet those words must’ve been to this poor man. Yes, I will heal you. I will cleanse you. I will change your life, forever. And I will even give my life for you. Can you imagine what was going through this healed man’s mind as he departed Jesus that day? Can you imagine the love that he felt in his heart?
Let us all be like that man today. Let our faith resonate with a joyous and thankful heart, in the spirit of the One Who Can.
Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!
Psalm 66:16-20
Former Blackout Artist 