Verse of the Day 3/8

Matthew 8:2-3 (ESV)  And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." ³ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

 

I had another verse in mind for this morning, but a facebook post of a prayer request (along with the knowledge of other friends and family members battling chronic ailments), and reading this verse and a passage from Mark 4 changed my mind.

 

You can look at this in several ways, naturally it deals with physical healing.  But chronic ailments, as well as chronic guilt from sin, or chronic despair or  pain  from other areas of our lives can rob us of peace.  The request here first addressed Jesus as Lord, as Master, the one in control and with the power to change things.  The second aspect of it is that it is a matter of His will.  If the request is in line with His will, with His sovereign plan it will be answered.

 

The act of Jesus in reaching out and touching the leper must have astonished those around him.  He broke through the barriers of standard cultural practice and then spoke the words, I will, it is my will, be cleaned.  One thing for sure, spiritually, if we go to Him in this way in relation to our sin and guilt we can be assured that we will be cleansed which may result in a great calm. 

 

I read another passage in Mark 4 this morning in which Jesus calmed the storm by saying peace, be still.  The ESV in verse 39 says, "and there was a great calm".  The picture is of a supernatural calm, a calm of wonder.  That same kind of calm is available to us, firsts in knowing that our sins are forgiven, second, that He also has the power to calm our fears whether we are outward circumstances have changed or not.  Third He does have the power to heal, to the astonishment of those around us.

 

The challenge for us is to approach Him as Lord, and keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking at the door (Matt. 7:7) as we wait upon Him for His will to be done in our lives, to God be the glory.

 

Blessings,
Mike
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Matthew 8  The Message (MSG)  He Carried Our Diseases

 ^1-2 Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, "Master, if you want to, you can heal my body."

 ^3-4Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, "Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."