Be Clean
Written by rob12870
Posted on Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 08:22 AM.
Matthew 8:1-3- 1 When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.
Have you ever asked for something and didn't get it. Growing up I wanted a lot of things most of which I never saw. My parents weren't the wealthiest people in the world so very rarely did I get things I wanted and when I did get things they were usually a scaled down version of what I truly wanted. For instance I always wanted a Schwinn Scrambler growing up. For those who don't know what that is, it's a cool dirt bike, everyone had one but me. I never got a Schwinn Scrambler but I did get a bike. I wanted those Nike air Jordan' sneakers when they came out. I never got them either but I did get sneakers. The point is I never went without but It seemed like I never got what I totally wanted either. In this verse we have a man who had been living with the problem of leprosy. Excluded from society, forced to wear the clothes of someone in mourning, told to yell Unclean!!!, Unclean!!! so others could avoid him. He probably felt defeated, ruined, alone, like someone badly looking for a cure but never able to find it. Then along comes this Jesus. I'm sure he had heard many things about Jesus. Stories about how he healed people and other miraculous things he had done. I would be willing to bet that the crowd parted like the Red Sea when they saw this leper approaching. Because nobody wanted to be near a leper. Why? because you might get what they got. It had to take a lot of courage for this man to try and get through the crowd. Who knows how they would have responded to him. You can almost feel the nervousness and excitement this man had to be feeling as he approached and finally knelt before Jesus. Nervousness because what if He says no? Excitement because what if He says yes? You can almost sense the shaking in his voice as he asked his question "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." I wonder if there was a pause? I wonder how long it took Jesus to respond? I can remember times as a kid asking my dad questions and it seemed like it took him forever to answer and some times he never did answer. But this was Jesus, surely He wouldn't make this man wait for the answer. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Finally!! words that could bring hope and life back into a man who for some time had to feel like he had nothing to live for. Jesus said YES!!! and what happened next is just awesome Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. It didn't take weeks, it didn't take months. Jesus didn't give him a couple of pills and say call me in the morning. No, He healed this man Immediately. Jesus knows what we want and He also knows what we need and if were willing to ask, he's willing to give and yes even some of the stuff we want as long as it's in His will to do so. One of the things Jesus is always ready to give is his forgiveness. No matter how much you might think you've screwed up Jesus is right there ready to forgive. All you have to do is ask. It's the one area where if you ask he will say without a doubt "I am willing, Be clean" 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
No matter how far you might think you've fallen, always remember your just a prayer away from being right with God.
confession is good for the soul.
God Bless,
Rob
