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"A Willing Jesus" If Jesus were to walk into your life today would you allow Him to
be Jesus? Or would you assign Him to play the Jesus of your preconceived ideas
and notions, conforming Him to traditions and customs of modern day pharisicalism?
If He began work in your life would you tell Him God doesn't work that way
today. Would you make Him fit the portraits you have painted in your mind of
who Jesus is and what Jesus does? If Jesus were to walk into your life today would you allow Him to
be the Jesus of the Scriptures? Throwing away the traditions of man, along with
the self-painted portraits of Jesus and let Him be Jesus? Letting Him work in a
willing fashion to heal, restore, comfort, and guide all those who entered into
His life. Today in our texts we find we find both those who are willing and
unwilling to let Jesus be Jesus. More importantly we find Jesus willing to be
the Jesus of the scriptures. A WILLING JESUS ... A LEPER HEALED Leprosy was looked upon, among the Jews, as a particular mark of
God's displeasure. It is the age old reasoning that if you are sick it is a
sign of unconfessed sin in your life. Jesus came to dispel fables by living the
truth. The truth is found in this leper coming to Jesus ... you can always come
to Jesus and He is willing to receive you. This leper is characterized by his actions. - His Coming to Jesus Matthew shows his surprise at the lepers actions by saying
"Behold a leper." It was not the custom of lepers to approach those
who were considered clean In fact it was forbidden by ceremonial religious law.
However he came to Jesus. James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. - His
Worship of Jesus As the leper approached Jesus he could do nothing else but humble
himself by falling to the ground as an act of profound reverence. No matter the thought or intent of our hearts, when we approach
the living Lord we will find ourselves wanting nothing more than to humble
ourselves. - His Belief in Jesus His belief in who and what Jesus could do allowed him to break
custom with the ceremonial law of the day. Coming to Jesus was his only
hope. His belief in Jesus allowed him to ask for healing from Jesus.
"Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." This man saw Jesus as One who had the sovereign power over the
life of disease he had been living in. He came to the Master of life
believing. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who
comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him. James 1:6-7 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is
like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man
suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; The traps of tradition should never stop
us from coming to Jesus for a fresh touch of the Savior. If we must break with
what is normally and traditionally expected of us, in order to come to Jesus,
let us do just that. For it is in coming to Jesus (not our preconceived
pictures of Jesus) that we find He is a willing participant to make us whole. Healing Words ... "I Am Willing" Jesus responds to the lepers faith believing request with words of
healing, "I Am willing, be cleansed." - Jesus Reaches Out (vs.3a) Jesus was moved to reach out to this man in his plight of life. - Jesus Touches the leper (vs.3b) Jesus sometimes healed with the spoken word, but here this man
needed to be touched. Jesus demonstrates "Hands On Evangelism" by
becoming a vital part of the man's life. The word implies a relationship. - Jesus Speaks & Heals (vs.3c) "I Am willing" speaks to the resolve and desire to help this man. Christ as the
Great Physician demonstrates His willingness to give mercy and grace to all who
come to Him. "I Am willing" I want you to hear those words and believe those words of Jesus.
He desires for each of us with our sin stained lives to come to Him as this
leper in faith believing. A WILLING JESUS ... UNWILLING PEOPLE Jesus is willing, but too many times people are not willing. It is
sad to think that those who need Jesus' touch of healing refuse to come to Him. · Jesus moves into the
region of the Gentiles.
· Jesus is confronted by demon
possessed men. · Demons recognize who
Jesus is. · Jesus heals the men by
casting the demons into the s wines. · S wines run violently
into the sea. · Those tending the swines
go and tell. · The town people are
confronted with the once D.P. men who are now healed. · They ask Jesus to depart
from them. The point of the story is not to
emphasize demon possession, as many would like to think. Rather the emphasis is
upon Jesus healing two men, and a town unwilling to let Jesus continue His work. Why did the people ask Jesus to leave? · Fears of His
supernatural power. · Upset as losing a herd
of swine. Perhaps there reasons are our reasons for
not letting Jesus be Jesus. · Are property &
programs more important to us than people? · Possessions and
investments get in the way. · Supernatural power of
Jesus causes fear. · Unbelief leads to
unwillingness. Would you rather have Jesus leave you
than finish His work in you? Are we unwilling to come to the One who holds the
power of life and healing? Bottom line is, are we going to let Jesus be Jesus in our lives? If Jesus walked into your life today ... would you turn Him away?
You need to know Jesus comes willingly to you again and again, even after
turning Him away.
He is here today can't you feel Him? Feel His power and come to
Him worshipping and believing He is the One who can touch you and heal you from
whatever troubles you. Here His words, "I Am willing." |
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