Willing to Cleanse
Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Mark 1:41 NASB
Leprosy is incurable and still exists today. It is common in many countries worldwide with about 100 cases per year in the United States. Most people who come in contact with the bacteria don’t develop the disease because their immune system is able to fight it off. It can be treated, and if caught early, the development of its worst characteristics can be arrested allowing the person to live a fairly normal life.*
Unfortunately, in biblical times, there were no treatments. Leprosy meant living death. The body would slowly rot away, beginning with the extremities—fingers, toes, and nose. There was no pain because the nerve cells were destroyed, but that was the problem. The person’s body would not give warnings to withdraw from painful situations.
Because of disfigurement, the odor of rotting flesh, and the danger of contagion, lepers lived as outcasts, often in a colony
of lepers. Considered unclean, they had to yell, “Unclean, unclean!” if they saw anyone approaching them.
Nevertheless, a leper dared to come and fall on his knees before Jesus, begging, “If You are willing, You can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him. Jesus was not contaminated, for the man was cleansed immediately (v. 42).
Jesus told him to show himself to the priests and offer for his cleansing what Moses commanded (v. 44). The priests probably had to look up the regulations for someone cleansed of leprosy because it hadn’t happened before, even though the Law included provision for it (Leviticus 13-14).
Although Jesus asked him not to say anything, the man was so excited he couldn’t be silent. He broadcast the news of his cleansing so thoroughly that people came from everywhere to see Jesus. As a result, Jesus couldn’t go into the cities openly anymore.
Are you in an impossible situation with an incurable disease or an irreconcilable relationship? Maybe you’ve committed sins and feel so unclean that you don’t think you’ll be forgiven. God has made provision for you through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Come humbly before Him and receive His compassionate touch.
DIG DEEPER:
Read about another person in the Bible healed of leprosy in Numbers 12:1-15. What had Miriam done and how was she healed? Who interceded for her? Have you ever murmured like she and Aaron did?
Contrast the leper in Mark 1:40-45 and the lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Are you grateful when you are healed or forgiven?
You may want to read Philip Yancey’s book Where Is God When It Hurts? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977). Yancey tells how he learned to value pain as he associated with Dr. Paul Brand, an expert on leprosy.
See also Anoint, Part One about Leviticus 14’s instructions for anointing a person cleansed of leprosy.
Nancy J. Baker
This devotion is part of a series, Unnamed Heroes.
*Source of information: article on “Leprosy” published by NIH https://www.nlm.nih.gov/