“I am willing; be cleansed.”

Mark 1:29-2:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. ³¹ And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.

³² When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. ³³ And the whole city had gathered at the door. ³⁴ And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

³⁵ In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. ³⁶ Simon and his companions searched for Him; ³⁷ they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” ³⁹ And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.

⁴⁰ And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, ⁴⁴ and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

2 When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. ⁴ Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵ And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” ¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

Today’s text says:  In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.  And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.  The leper said: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”   When we have a need, do we question God’s ability? The leper was confident that Jesus could heal him. He was uncertain whether He would heal him. If we truly believe who God is, then we too should never doubt whether He can do something or anything for us. God spoke and the heavens and earth were created. By the power of His word everything we see and even what is unseen, were formed and came into being. Surely then God can speak to our situations and circumstances and do whatever needs to be done for us. Do we then, like the leper, question whether He is willing to do for us what we need or ask? If it is His will or His willingness that we question, then we need to recognize that the question really isn’t about God, but rather about ourselves. Seeing and hearing all that God is doing and has done, the question is, do we believe He will do it for us? Do we believe that we are worthy of what we ask? There are two answers to that question. The first is: No, we are not worthy; we don’t deserve God’s blessings. We don’t deserve to be healed by Him. Psalm 53:3 and Romans 3:12 say:  THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME CORRUPT; THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.  The second answer though is: Yes, we are worthy, not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of who He is and what He has done.  Isaiah 53:4-6 says:  Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.  It is not a question of whether He will do it for us, because it is already done. In John 19:30, on the cross, Jesus said: “It is finished!”  All that we need has already been fully accomplished in the cross. God not only can and will, He already did it. It is Christ’s worthiness not our own that provides all that we need.

Why then do we sometimes have difficulty receiving and walking in the finished work of the cross?   The text says:  Many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,  “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,  “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”  It is no easier for Jesus to forgive our sins than it is for Him to heal our diseases. Both are already fully accomplished in the finished work of the cross. Why then is it easier for us to receive forgiveness than healing? Again, it is not about God, but rather it is about ourselves. Perhaps the real answer is that we walk in our healing in much the same way that we walk in forgiveness. We believe that we are forgiven, but we still know who we are. We know the things we think, the things we say and do. We know that even though we believe and receive the forgiveness of the cross, we still don’t fully walk in the righteousness of Christ. In the same way then, although we believe that we are healed by His sacrifice, we are unable to walk in it because we believe we are still who we were. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:  If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.   We are both redeemed from sin and restored to God’s will for us through the finished work of the cross.  In Genesis 1:26 God spoke saying:  Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness.  Today, because of the finished work of the cross, God says, we are made, restored to the image and likeness of God. We are both holy and whole in Christ, redeemed and restored by His worthiness.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I believe that You not only can and will, but that You have already fully accomplished all that I need. Thank You for the finished work of the cross. By Your Spirit, may I walk in all that You have done, are doing and will do in my life.  Amen.