And Jesus said, "I am willing, be clean!" (Matthew 8:1-4, 5-13)
It is not the otherworldly "impossibility" of the miracles performed by Jesus. It is the way in which the people approach Jesus in these miraculous moments.
In verses 1-4 Jesus heals a man who has leprosy. The man came before Jesus and knelt, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
And I felt like this was some serious foreshadowing for the cross....because Jesus' reply cut me deep and made me laugh. So awesome!
He replied, "I am willing. Be clean."
Such a wonderful savior. I can't even put into words how completely and wholly overjoyed I was to read those verses.
When we come to Jesus, we must be convicted by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge our sinfulness. We must kneel before the Savior of the world and say, "Jesus, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
And He replies...
"I AM WILLING."
That is your savior.
In verses 5-13 we have another wonderful picture of faith, of approaching Jesus with trust. The centurion meets Jesus in Capernaum and tells him that he has a servant who is suffering. Jesus offers to go and heal the servant, but the Centurion says, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one "go" and he goes; and that one "come" and he comes. I say to my servant "do this" and he does it.
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith."
How do you approach Jesus? How do you walk with the Lord? Do you thank the Lord that you are not like those awful sinful people in the back of the sanctuary? Or do you come to Jesus begging..."Lord have mercy on me, a sinner."
Do not be deceived. It is terribly important that you approach Jesus as one knowing his/her place. If you do not, you run the risk of being told on that Day, "depart from me, I never knew you."
Be honest with yourself. How do you approach Jesus?
In verses 1-4 Jesus heals a man who has leprosy. The man came before Jesus and knelt, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
And I felt like this was some serious foreshadowing for the cross....because Jesus' reply cut me deep and made me laugh. So awesome!
He replied, "I am willing. Be clean."
Such a wonderful savior. I can't even put into words how completely and wholly overjoyed I was to read those verses.
When we come to Jesus, we must be convicted by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge our sinfulness. We must kneel before the Savior of the world and say, "Jesus, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
And He replies...
"I AM WILLING."
That is your savior.
In verses 5-13 we have another wonderful picture of faith, of approaching Jesus with trust. The centurion meets Jesus in Capernaum and tells him that he has a servant who is suffering. Jesus offers to go and heal the servant, but the Centurion says, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one "go" and he goes; and that one "come" and he comes. I say to my servant "do this" and he does it.
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith."
How do you approach Jesus? How do you walk with the Lord? Do you thank the Lord that you are not like those awful sinful people in the back of the sanctuary? Or do you come to Jesus begging..."Lord have mercy on me, a sinner."
Do not be deceived. It is terribly important that you approach Jesus as one knowing his/her place. If you do not, you run the risk of being told on that Day, "depart from me, I never knew you."
Be honest with yourself. How do you approach Jesus?
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