ACE #297: Are You Too Proud to Beg?

In Mark 1 verse 40, Jesus encounters a man with leprosy.  Leprosy is a skin disease that signified outwardly that the person was unclean - both physically and spiritually.  Individuals who had it, were shunned and often lived in isolation.

The Word says that the man came to Jesus and "begged him on his knees."  This signifies that the man was desperate to be healed.  As the story proceeds, it says that the man told Jesus that if He was willing, He could make the man clean.  It says that Jesus got indignant.  In other words, Jesus was offended by the man questioning whether he, himself, was willing to heal him.  Jesus proclaimed to the man with His mouth and through His actions that He was willing by reaching out, touching him and stating, "I am willing. Be clean!" (There's a shout in the "I am" part too).  Can you imagine how the man must have felt when Jesus touched him?  Had the man ever experienced anyone's touch in His life?  Certainly, this touch was unlike any other.

The lesson: Jesus is ALWAYS willing to meet our needs, to provide our healing, and to bless us. But are we too proud to beg, or even just ask, for the things that we need? 

We must endeavor to approach the Savior with humility and with a submissive spirit, but also without doubt of Christ's willingness and ability to work on our behalf.

Are you too proud to beg?

 

 

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

⁴⁰ A man with leprosy^[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹ Jesus was indignant.^[i] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

⁴³ Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ⁴⁴ “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.