Mark 1:40-45

The Willing

Devotional 8 of 50 · Mark chapter 1

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After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.” So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran

Mark 1:40-45 · BSB

⁴⁰Then a leper came to Jesus, begging on his knees: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” ⁴²And immediately the leprosy left him, and the man was cleansed. ⁴³Jesus promptly sent him away with a stern warning: ⁴⁴“See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵But the man went out and openly began to proclaim and spread the news. Consequently, Jesus could no longer enter a town in plain view, but He stayed out in solitary places. Yet people came to Him from every quarter.

Jesus

Imagine going years without the embrace of a hug or even a simple handshake. Leprosy, in the Bible, encompasses several nasty skin diseases and many of them disfigure the body and lead to an early death. And to prevent the spread of leprous diseases, people were outcast from society and often left to die alone. In the very act of this unclean man approaching Jesus, it put Jesus at risk, and broke social constructs and even Old Testament instruction. Every other person would run away whenever a leprous person approached and shout out "unclean, unclean." Yet Jesus does not shrink back and eventually does the unthinkable—He touches this man. Jesus is not afraid of our filth. And it's not that He won't become unclean by our filth, but that He came to get close to us and risk His own life by being in proximity with us. He came to take our sin that He might heal and forgive us. He did not come to preserve His life, but to lay it down.

Verse 41 says He was moved with compassion. Jesus is driven by compassion for those reaching out to Him, those who are seeking Him out. Although He has every reason to distance Himself from us, instead, He draws near to us. He is motivated by a deep compassion, welling-up inside Him, for you and me.

Jesus is seen as approachable by the unclean, able to heal, and willing to heal. He has the power over this physical world and He is also wanting and willing to bring restoration to our lives.

His Desires

Jesus desires a faith that seeks Him out and believes He is able to heal. Jesus also appears to be pleased by the submission of the leper's words "if you're willing." This shows a heart of submission and a deep trust, not out of a place of entitlement as if Jesus owed him healing, but a humble submission to the Lordship of Jesus and to Jesus' will and not his own.

Why did Jesus ask this man not to tell others about this healing? Jesus desired that this man not tell the masses, but to fulfill the law and reveal this work to the priests. And we see in verse 45 that, as this news got out, Jesus was unable to enter other towns freely and people sought Him out, even in solitary places.

Follow Through

Come to Jesus as you are, even if you're a mess.
Submit your will beneath His will.
Pray to be able to follow His instructions and not disregard them as the healed leper had.

Testimonies

This is where people will share how they actually obeyed this passage — and read what happened to everyone else who obeyed the same words.

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Comments

Coming soon. This is where readers will share how they obeyed this passage.