"I am willing; be cleansed."
6th Sunday after the Epiphany Sermon Text: Mark 1:40-45
Let us pray: let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Healing flows from Jesus as if He can’t help doing it. Last week we heard that our Lord: healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons (Mark 1:34a). He gives no dramatic show or spectacular performance, it all happens so easily, so casually, without any fuss. These people need Him, they need healing. And the healing Jesus does is as natural for Him as breathing. We then come to today’s Gospel account. We hear that a leper comes to Jesus.
A leper – a dead man walking; for leprosy, is an incurable disease: fatal and contagious. The Law of Moses has forbidden anyone to have anything to do with a leper. It is a hard law, a socially beneficial law, a law with divine sanction. Yes, the Law puts this leper outside. He has been excluded from the community of God’s people, cast out.
Yet here he is this leper, coming to Jesus with complete confidence that Jesus can heal him. But is this Jesus willing to heal him? Perhaps the leper may think to himself: “He may care about others, but does Jesus care about me? There is nobody less worth caring about than a leper.” We don’t know if this is what may have been going through the lepers’ mind or not. What we do know is that Jesus is willing and does care, for He joins the leper and reaches out to take hold of this rotting man, this dead man walking.
Our Lord becomes unclean with the uncleanness of this leper because Jesus cares like nobody else. Jesus is there for this man in his leprosy. Jesus sets aside the Law that can identify the disease but cannot heal it. Only He who gives the Law may set it aside. This is He who takes hold of the leper who has been cast out by the Law. “If you will,” says the leper. Moved with pity, [Jesus] stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” To the eyes of the world, this man has nothing. This man is nothing. In the eyes of God, though, this man is one for whom Jesus is born to save.
What does the cleansing of this leper have to do with you and me? I don’t believe there are any lepers among us today. But here you are, covered with a far worse leprosy, the leprosy of sin for you are by nature sinful and unclean. Yes you and I, like the leper are unclean. Your disease is not simply a bacterial infection. Unlike a leper who suffers skin lesions reminiscent of the scales of a fish, your leprosy is a far more debilitating disease. Do not be fooled into thinking you are immune to this disease, for as the Evangelist writes: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). Infected with the leprosy of sin through and through, there is no way humanly possible that you or I could draw near to God. So the Lord draws near to us in His means of grace – to give forgiveness, life and salvation.
Why, if a poor leper, whose loathsome disease rendered him an outcast from all society, and who was required to warn all persons away by his cry of “Unclean!” found a sympathizing friend in Jesus, who healed him of his leprosy, we have hope that He will hear us also when, in our leprosy, we cry out to Him. And Scripture assure us that He will. Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Is. 55:6-7). And again, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (Is. 1:18b). Therefore, we need not fear that we shall be rejected; we need not fear that He will refuse our cry, who bids us come to Him. Remember the words of the apostle Paul: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief (1 Tim 1:15 NKJV). Let the chief of sinners come, and Christ will cleanse him. He will cleanse you.
For you see, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1b-2).
You may have arrived here conscience-stricken, the leprosy of guilt eating away at you. But the Lord says to you, “Your conscience declares your sickness to you; that you cannot save yourself. I am able to save you, and I am willing: be cleansed. You are forgiven.”
You may arrive burdened with a frightening illness, troubled at the deterioration you see in your own body. The Lord declares, “Look at the leper in the text. As I was able and willing to cleanse him, I am able and willing to cleanse you – in My time, according to My will. And while I may wait to heal you of this disease, you may be sure that it is My will this day to forgive your sins, to declare you pure and holy and righteous. I am willing: be cleansed.”
Jesus, friend of lepers, friend of sinners. At His baptism, Jesus was sinner with us, taking our sin on Himself, for it was a baptism for sinners. On Christ has been washed all the leprosy and uncleanness of our ways. Your worst desires, you most immoral thoughts, your most shameful deeds, your harsh words, your unfaithfulness, selfishness, miserable failures – He makes them all His. They no longer belong to you. They are His who died for you. He bears the lot for you, even to Calvary. There, they are nailed with His body to the tree of shame that they may no longer shame you. There, in the tomb, they are buried with Him that they may no longer bury you. They are wiped from you and wiped onto Him, that Christ being unclean you may be clean; He being dead, you might live; He being altogether polluted, you might be declared altogether holy.
As Jesus stretched out His hand to touch and cleanse the leper, so He stretches out His hand to touch and cleanse you. He stretches out His hand and says, “Take, eat; this is my body. Take, drink; this is my blood… given and shed for you, given to cleanse you.”
Healing flows from Jesus, because that was why He was sent. God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him (1 John 4:9b). You, like the leper have been healed. Like the leper, He has had compassion on you. He does not repay you evil for evil, but good for all the evil you’ve done. He does not let evil overcome you, but overcomes evil with good. God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), is willing and able to cleanse you. And so Jesus says to you today, “I am willing; be cleansed.” He cleanses you from the leprosy of sin for He has forgiven you all of your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.