Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Mark 1:40-44
What do you see in the passage above? Does it reveal to you anything about our Lord Jesus Christ? What about the leprous man?
First, the man with the leprosy broke all of the morays and customs when he came to Jesus. A leper was never to come close to anyone but was to warn everyone that they were lepers by calling out, “unclean, unclean!” Second, the man obviously was not concerned with customs but had faith to believe that Jesus could free him from the bondage of leprosy. Third, he was not demanding anything of Jesus but said, “If you are willing you can make me clean.” We can never demand anything of God.
Notice what the Word of God says about Jesus: “He was moved with compassion.” Does this not speak to the heart of our Savior? Does is not tell us that He cares deeply when we hurt? The Scripture tells us in Hebrews 4:15,
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
I like to put this Scripture in the positive and say, “We do have a High Priest who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities—Jesus Christ the Lord.” Also in 1 Peter 5:7,
“Casting all your care upon him; for He cares for you.”
Jesus then broke all the customs of the Jews by touching the leprous man for then Jesus would have been ceremonially unclean. But, since He removed all evidence that the man was a leper—well, as Paul Harvey used to say, the “rest of the story,” you know.
The heart of the passage above is the compassion of Jesus for the condition of the leprous man but if it ended there it would just be a nice story but it does not end there. We know that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” His compassion did not end there but He lives forever and He continues to intercede for you and me—right now, right where we are and that we must believe. So friend, cast your cares (needs) on Him for He cares for you. Amen!
