Nobody had touched him in years.
That’s the detail I can’t get past. Not the disease. The distance. Lepers lived outside town. They had to call out “Unclean!” when anyone came near, and they watched people step off the road to keep away from them. A man could go years without a hand on his shoulder.
Then Jesus came down the mountain with a crowd behind Him, and this man did the unthinkable. He walked right up and knelt.
“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
He didn’t doubt the power. He doubted the willingness. Most of us know that feeling. We believe God can. We’re just not sure He’d want to. Not for us.
And Jesus reached out His hand and touched him.
He could have healed him with a word. He’d done it before. But He touched him first, while he was still unclean, while every rule said keep your distance.
“I am willing. Be clean.” (Matthew 8:1–4)
Grace doesn’t wait for us to get clean before it comes close. It comes close, and that’s how we get clean.
Where do you feel like you’re standing at a distance from God right now?
On Friday: the verse that tells us why He was willing.
In His grace,
Bruce
Grace. Always grace.
Bruce Mitchell is a Christ-follower, loved by grace and learning to love one another as He commanded. He studied at Biola University and Dallas Theological Seminary, spent most of his working life as an accountant, and founded Agapao Allelon Ministries to share the love of Jesus with anyone looking for grace.
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“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)