Make Me Clean

“If you are willing, you can make me clean...” Mark 1:40

If I was full of scabs and sores, surely I would be on my knees, begging for relief, healing, and restoration. The leper in the 1st chapter of Mark, pleaded with Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean!” And 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 man 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, in 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. During Lent, starting on the day we set aside to celebrate love, we will fittingly start on a journey to rediscover God’s eternal love for each one of us.