When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
The only thing more astonishing than the power of God is His willingness.
Imagine the scene. Jesus has just finished preaching the greatest sermon ever. The multitude has heard a radical philosophy that contradicts and counter-influences the lame religiosity of the time. His teaching is different, for it has authority. The Bible says that the crowd is “astonished.”
Power is ability. Willingness is character. His willingness demonstrates His love, and love is greater than power. The miscalculation was that knew the power of God without fully knowing the attribute of God that is most important — His character, His love.
Jesus loves to have us come to Him just as we are, sinful, helpless, dependent. We may come with all our weakness, our folly, our sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to encircle us in the arms of His love and to bind up our wounds, to cleanse us from all impurity.
Steps to Christ p. 54
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This devotional thought is the result of our discussion during the Preaching Module of the CAMPUS Residency. Every week the residents systematically prepare, practice preach one-point, expository sermons. On November 5 we are planning to have them preach live on the web.
