WE have already noticed in connection with Mark 1:3535And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. (Mark 1:35), that Jesus had risen a great while before day, and had gone out to a solitary place to pray. In the verses that follow, we learn that some of the disciples followed Him; and when they found Him, they told Him that everybody was seeking Him. Then Jesus proposed that they should go into the next towns, that He might preach there also. This was what He had come for. So “He preached in their synagogues, throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.”
Then we are told of a special case of healing. “There came a leper to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying unto Him. If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.”
Now you will notice that this leper believed that Jesus could heal him, but he did not know whether He was willing. He said “If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” Is it not the same with a great many who would like to be saved, and who believe that Jesus can save them, but are not sure whether He is willing? Well, Jesus not only had the power to heal the leper, but He was willing to do so. He said, “I will; be thou clean.” And Jesus is not only able to save the sinner, but He is willing to save. He came to seek, and to save; and He said, “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” His blood has been shed for sinners, and that blood cleanses from all sin. There is no sin too great, and there is no sinner too vile. Jesus can save the worst and the vilest; and He is willing to do so. It is what He came to do, and what He delights to do.
Has He saved you, my young reader? If not, why not? You have a worse disease than the leper had. You need to be cleansed from sin. Do you not feel your need of a Saviour? Will you not come to Jesus to be cleansed, just as the leper did? He is able, and He will say to you, “I will; be thou clean.”
When Jesus cleansed the leper, He charged him not to tell any man, but to go and show himself to the priests, and offer for his cleansing. This was according to the law. If you will read Lev. 13 and 14, you will see that the priest was to be the judge whether the leper was cleansed. So if this man went to the priests, and they said that he was cleansed, it would be a testimony to them. It would be a proof that God had visited His poor suffering people, to heal them, and to forgive them. But the poor man did not think of this, and went and told everybody, so that Jesus could not show Himself openly, on account of the great. crowds. So He went into desert places. But even there people came to Him from every quarter. Old how wonderful it was. God was in Jesus, here in this world, a Healer and a Saviour. And although they rejected Jesus, and crucified Him, He is still a Saviour. Through His death He made atonement for sin, and He invites the whole world to come to Him and be saved. Blessed Saviour! Will you not come to Him, and be cleansed from all your sin?
ML 10/07/1900