Imagine for a moment that you are walking in the streets of Jerusalem, golden brown buildings lined with trade goods of every color and kind, tapestries lining each side of you with their vibrant colors surrounding you with the busy normal everyday life of a 1st Century Greco Roman citizen. You make your way through the streets smelling the fresh aromas of food stands, butchers, and flower vendors and then you find your way to the Temple. You watch as the Jewish leaders say their prayers and speak with words of wisdom and authority when suddenly you see the crowds part. It is a man,trying going about his everyday business but is unable because he is "unclean." This man has Leprosy and according to Jewish law must remain 10 feet away from every individual. He is required to yell out "unclean!" as he walks so people will get out of the way.
Lets disect the mindset of this man. Imagine you were him. You are cut of from any fellowship with other humans. You are constantly seen as an infection, nothing more, than a cancer in society that needs to be cut out. And while, He draws notice because of his condition, He is otherwise forgettable. He is constrained by his limits and everyday He thinks about the family he once had, the son that he would never be able to wrestle with, the daughter he would never be able to dance with, and the wife he could not hold. The little hope that you have dwindles day after day. You have nothing to offer the world that expects nothing from you. You are constantly reminded that while you may have the power to divide the crowd, you also have the power to divide your soul from society because sometimes it just hurts to much to be faced with the realization that no one cares whether you live or die.
No wonder in Matthew 8, the man with Leprosy cries out and says, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus' reply is astounding, "I am willing."
To bring this into our day and age we must learn one thing: Everyone who makes up our so-called church has spiritual Leprosy. Many of us have struggles and doubts about God that plague the core of who we are. We struggle with questions about, Why God is doing this? or is God even real? Does God really care about me? I have a deep struggle with sin that I can not break, how do I break its hold over me? This are all questions that can keep us from giving God our all. We are all unclean. We all are as hopeless as this man. We are all destined to live a life that is living in complete contrast to what was meant to be. Similar to the man who had his soul divide from fellowship in society, likewise, our souls are divided from God. And we become to familiar with the routine and we finally lose all hope of being rescued. We feel forgettable. But like the Leper, we must ask, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." If we do that, if we ask God to forgive our struggles and our shortcomings, if we acknoledge that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the son of God, then and only then, will Jesus say, "I am Willing." And he did so when he WILLINGLY was beaten, WILLINGLY was cursed, WILLINGLY was abused, WILLINGLY was mocked, WILLINGLY was forced to carry a cross, WILLINGLY had his hands nailed to the cross, WILLINGLY had his feet tied and nailed to the cross, WILLINGLY surrendered his WILL, WILLINGLY gave himself as a ransom for many, WILLINGLY died so that you might live, WILLINGLY suffered so that you would never-ever feel like you were ever forgettable. God was saying then, and is saying now, and will be saying in the future, that you are unforgettable and He WILLINGLY died for you.
When all hope is gone, remember that God is all the hope you need. Ask the Lord, to make you clean. Acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that it is only by the grace of God that you live, then you shall be saved.
My hope is that if you do not know Christ that you would come to know His power, His Lordship, and His Grace in your life.
