The
Two Words All Of Us Want To Hear!
As we travel trough
life, we all encounter heartaches, troubles, and situations where we
finally give up trying to solve the problem ourselves and call upon
someone else for help. We cry out hoping that they will, not only
know of a solution to our problem, but will then help. Such was the
case of a prominent Jew in the days of Jesus. He had probably been a
success in business and was accustomed to solving all his own
problems. He had become so self-assured that he would break rules
and laws to get his needs and wants satisfied.
However, one day he
noticed a small white spot on his hand. The whiteness continued to
spread until he could no longer hide those tell-tale white spots.
When he was openly diagnosed as having leprosy he became an outcast
of society. His friends were no longer his friends. His co-workers
no longer worked with him. Even some of his relatives no longer
wanted to be associated with him in person or even by name. Even
though he tried to negate the separation that the law required for a
leper, all forsook and separated themselves from him.
His leprosy became worse
till he was nearing the point of death from the rotting tissue of his
fingers, hands, nose, and vital parts of his body. He was literally
rotting to death and losing hope, until he heard of a man named Jesus
who could heal people, and hope began to spring back with a purpose.
That hope became more singular, even as each passing day showed his
body yielding more parts to that dreaded disease. He longed and
sought for Jesus almost every moment of every day and night.
One
day as he was walking through a town in Israel, he spotted Jesus on
the other side of the street. With hope in Jesus as his only
strength, he did not yell out “Unclean, Unclean,” but rather,
“Jesus, Jesus” as he hobbled across the street. There he . . .
But wait, let the story speak for itself. This is the story as the
merged edition of One Gospel with Fulfilled Prophecies tells
it:
Cleansing
a Leper
Mt 8:2-4; Mk 1:40-45; Lk 5:12-16
During
a trip when Jesus was in a city, a man with an advanced case of
leprosy saw him. Rather than staying on the opposite side of the
street as the law required, he came right up to Jesus. First, he
knelt down in front of him. Then falling onto his face, he worshiped
Jesus. Then he begged and asked him, “Lord, if you will, you can
make me clean from this leprosy.”
Jesus
was moved with compassion for the man. He reached out and placed his
hand on him. As he touched him, Jesus said, “I will. Be made
clean!”
As
soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from the man
and his skin was cleaned.
Jesus strictly
instructed the man saying, “Do not linger around talking to people,
but go immediately to the synagogue, tell and show yourself to the
priest and then offer the gift to God that Moses commanded as a
testimony of your healing.” Jesus immediately sent him away.
Conclusion
As this man in this
Gospel story is our example of getting the attention of Jesus by
first worshiping him and then asking, we too must go directly to
Jesus and get His attention. By worshiping and then asking, we too
can hear the two words all of us want to hear from the One who has
the answer for us, . . . “I will.”
My hope is that as you
read the One Gospel with Fulfilled Prophecies, you will learn
to worship Him and then hear Jesus say, “I will.”
