Lord, if You will, you can make me clean.

Following on from yesterday morning’s difficult passage (Matthew 7. 15-20), this morning we have heard a reading which, on the surface, appears a little easier to deal with. We hear of two men who come to Jesus seeking healing.

For the first man (vv 1-4), this healing is for himself: And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” (v2)

For the second man (vv 5-13), the healing was for someone else: “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” (v6)

Both of these men needed something. Both of these men (probably) realised that they would not find this something from anywhere else. Both of these men came to Jesus. Both of these men received the something they were looking for.

So what?

Let’s consider the words of our first man - “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (v2) - this man clearly realised that he was in the presence of someone great. Perhaps he realised that Jesus was the only person he could turn to. But he also realised he had no right to this healing. Note how he didn’t say, ‘Jesus, heal me please’. He simply recognised that Jesus was able.

Now, of course, Jesus’ response came pretty quickly: “And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (v3)

Then let’s consider the words of our second man - he too comes to Jesus, and like man number 1, he doesn’t explicitly ask Jesus to heal his servant. Instead he simply tells Him that his servant is “suffering terribly” (v6). On hearing this, Jesus immediately replies, “I will come and heal him.” (v7) Again, there is no hesitation, no umming or aahing. No weighing up the pros and cons of travelling out of His way to perform this miracle.

But this man takes things one step further. For this man is a Roman soldier. One of the Emperor’s men. He knows what it is to give an order, and he knows what it is to receive an order. He has people below him to do his bidding, but also knows a senior officer when he sees one. “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Two men, both from very different situations. One man, a leper, a social outcast, with neither place nor position in society; and the other man a centurion, a leader of 100 Roman soldiers, the occupying army, hated yet feared by all of Jerusalem. Yet these men both needed something of Jesus, and in both cases Jesus was ready to give it.

In our Psalm this morning, we turned to the words of King David (which have been set to meter, but you can find the originals in your Bibles) detailing a very similar occurence:

When I call on You to help me,
 then my foes will turn aside;
This is how I will be certain
 that my God is on my side 

For You kept my feet from stumbling,
 and from death You set me free,
So that I may walk before You
 and the light of life may see.

(Psalm 59. 9, 13)

Do we see the rub yet? Do we see where we so often slip up? For all of these three wonderful events (the two in our reading, and the third from our Psalm), the healing or deliverance came as a result of the person crying out to God or coming to Jesus. I wonder, friends, how many times we have battled with an issue or problem, often in silence, perhaps thinking that God is just not interested in our troubles. Perhaps, as the struggle has continued, we’ve even become bitter, upset, angry about it? Perhaps we have been determined not to be beaten by the problem? Perhaps we have wanted to manage on our own? Perhaps we feel that asking for help is, in some way, weak?

The truth is, friends, so much in this world is out of our hands. We have far less control over our lives than we would like to admit. We certainly have less control over our lives than the world would suggest. Sometimes there will be situations we can sort out for ourselves, or that will be within human control, but so often in our lives there will be problems where the only option is to turn to the Lord. The first man, through his simple act of recognising Jesus’ power, got his answer: “I will;”, says Jesus, “be clean”. The second man, by coming to Jesus and “appealing to Him”, got his answer, “I will come and heal him”. The third man, by calling on God to help him, found that his foes turned aside and his feet were kept from stumbling. Three men recognise that they can’t manage without Divine help.

So, whether you identify with the leper, the soldier, or the king from this morning’s readings; whether you are suffering, or someone known to you; whether you really know what you need, or you simply know you need something; I encourage you to call out to Jesus Christ. Acknowledge that He alone has the strength and power to heal, revive, overcome, and remember His gracious words to these two people who came to Him in search of help and healing:

“I will; be clean”, and, “I will come and heal him.”