How Willing is Jesus?
” And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on [his] face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”(Luke 5:12 – AKJV)
Are there times in your life and mine when we doubt Jesus is willing to cleanse us, perhaps of a habit, a sin, or an addiction?
I am sure we do not doubt Jesus can cleanse us, but will He when we have sunk into the depths and failed Him multiple times?
The man in our text was full of leprosy. In other words, he was in an incurable state and had given up any hope the leprosy would pass away naturally. He had however, a glimmer of hope. He had faith Jesus could cleanse him from his leprosy. The only question was, would He? Was Jesus willing to cleanse him? So his approach to Jesus was tentative, but hopeful: “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”
I do not believe this incident is included in Scripture for lepers alone. I believe He wanted to give you and me a pattern to follow when somehow we have sunk so low cleansing appears as an impossible dream. We have failed Jesus so often, and we have been a slave to our passions for so long we doubt His willingness to cleanse us and set us free. Surely He has grown tired of our constant failures and will withdraw Himself from us? How could he not? We cannot forgive ourselves, how could He not feel the same?
I believe the leper’s experience was included in Scripture as an object lesson. Jesus wants us to follow the leper’s example and approach Him with sincerity and truth. He wants us to come to Him with the leper’s plea: ”Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”
And you know what? I believe His answer to you and me will be the same as the answer he gave to the leper: “I will: be thou clean… “
(c) 1992 – by Christopher Shennan))
” And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on [his] face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”(Luke 5:12 – AKJV)
If you are willing, Lord,
You can make me more clean,
In fact or in theory,
Than I have ever been.
Much more, indeed,
Than man conceives;
But wholly in line
With what he believes.
I have no doubt, Lord,
You can set free,
But I doubt you will
Have mercy on me.
For I seem so small
In the scheme of things;
And my guilt so real
That hope takes wings.
So I come to you, Lord,
With a plaintive cry;
Though I’m not worthy
Don’t pass me by.
I know you can cleanse
The filthiest kind:
In spirit and body,
As well as in mind.
You are willing, Lord,
You can make me whole;
In thinking, in attitude,
As well as in soul.
With no great effort
In word or deed,
You are able and willing
To meet my need.
“Healing of the Leper” by Niels Larsen Stevns. 1913. This image is in the public domain.
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Gems of Discovery - Nuggets of Truth 