Make Me Clean

“If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 

Mark 1:40

When my mouth was full of sores several years ago, and I was so thin because I could not eat, I was always begging Jesus for relief. I would confess healing verses from the Bible because as it says in Proverbs 4:20-22: “...attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” In Hebrew, the Word “health”, is actually the word for “medicine”. And so I would “take” my medicine every day, reciting it or listening to YouTube videos of healing verses. What an amazing relief when God healed me of my Pemphigus Vulgaris! 

We can certainly understand the leper who came to Jesus, beseeching Him and kneeling down before Him, begging for relief, healing and restoration. “If You are willing, You can make me clean!” Jesus took pity on this wretched man, stretched out his hand and touched him, “I am willing. Be cleansed.”

Of course Jesus is willing. That’s why He came in the first place, came as a vulnerable baby, dependent on His mother for His first food, drink and caring. Of course He is willing. That’s why He trudged on to Calvary, knowing what was in store for Him who knew no sin. He was and is, the eternal, the willing sacrifice who took the place of you and me. We are as wretched as that man, full of sores, and oozing wounds, and Jesus is willing to set us free of our wretchedness. We need only come to Him like the leper and He will touch us, touch our lives, and make us whole. If we just let Him touch us, we will fittingly start on a journey to rediscover God’s eternal love for each one of us.