Jesus Came Down

After Jesus concludes His sermon to the crowd, we see in the passage today an encounter between Jesus and a man. It is one my favorite healings. Simple, authentic, and beautiful.

When I read the familiar passage again recently it came alive in a new way. Previously, I told myself the man with leprosy made the first move. The man approached Jesus. The leper took the initiative to ask for healing. Both are incorrect. Matthew writes in verse 1, “When Jesus came down from the mountain” to show Jesus is the one who makes the first move. Jesus makes Himself available. Jesus comes down from the mountain. Did Jesus know the leper was in proximity and in need of healing?

As a leper, we know the man contracted a skin disease and society outcast him for the rest of his life. We are not sure how many years the man has lived in solitude with leprosy away from family and friends. However, lepers usually were pushed outside of the city to remove chances of crossing paths with “clean” people without the disgusting skin disease. I wonder if the leper heard the full sermon from Jesus on the top of the mountain. Either way, Jesus comes down from the mountain and makes Himself available. One of the biggest lies is that we will not experience Jesus until we make ourselves clean and find the strength to climb to the top of the mountain.  

Jesus moves toward the leper, but also responds in verse 3 saying, “I will; be clean.” The leper confidently tells Jesus that he believes in the power Jesus holds to make him clean. He does not ask Jesus to heal him. I feel like the leper’s statement at the end of verse 2 is kind of like a confession of faith. He believes Jesus is the Messiah. He believes Jesus is more than a good teacher or entertaining magician. The leper kneels before Jesus unclean but stands up clean. In this passage the transformation is almost instant. Praise the Lord! But it does not always happen this way. We know this from experience. You may be in a rut where you feel like you are pleading with the Lord to make you clean, make life better, but there is no change. Problems are still there. Temptations are still there. Life is hard, but remember Jesus comes down and makes Himself available to you in the same way He does for the man with leprosy. Jesus has made the first move; how will you respond? The leper responds by kneeling before Jesus, confessing his faith in Jesus, and then waits for Jesus to respond. The experience changes the man forever. He walks away with so much more than clean skin. The same transformation is waiting for you too. Jesus makes Himself available to you each day. How will you respond?

Q: What is it you want Jesus to cleanse you of? Are you frustrated in the waiting? Because Jesus is near, confess your faith in Him on this side of waiting and ask Him to respond.