Before You Ask, He Is Willing
Society shunned and even feared the leper, but he still put himself in Jesus’ path. What did he see in Jesus that caused him to risk being stoned?
In Matthew 8:1–4, Jesus encounters a leper,
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately, he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded as a testimony to them.”
This short but powerful story speaks volumes of the leper’s actions and Jesus’ response.
The leper had likely hid himself as he listened to Jesus preach the Sermon On The Mount. Romans 10:17 teaches,
… faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Hearing Jesus’ words gave the leper faith that Jesus could heal and was willing to heal him. His faith was manifested as the belief that Jesus was different from the religious elite of Jesus’ time, which compelled the leper to come to Jesus publicly.
