Jesus reached out and touched him. 

"I am willing," he said. 

"Be healed!" 

And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Matthew 8:3 NLT

At one level we see Jesus heart for this man, and for all of us. 

"I am willing"

This is what Matthew records before these words of Jesus:

"Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. "Lord," the man said, "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean."

Matthew 8:1-2 NLT

It must've taken tremendous bravery and desperation for this man who was "unclean", an "other" to be anywhere near the crowd, but he was. 

And he approached in faith. 

Jesus healing was limited by his humanity. He walked around a small area of the globe and did heal a lot of people, but not everyone who was in need everywhere. Because that's what we want right?

For those we love and care about not to suffer, not to struggle, but to be healed. 

That suffering would end. 

Everywhere.

For everyone.

And one day, that will be the reality. Jesus is willing.

There's another aspect to this story in that touching a person with leprosy made you unclean (Leviticus 22), yet Jesus wasn't. 

This miracle was a sign that Jesus is who he said he is, who can heal, and fully absorbs all that is broken and hurt, and just as this was one person healed out of all the people on the mountain that day, it's a pointer, a sign, of what is to come, when all will be made new. 

#wordsofJesus

#redletterBible

#onedayallwillbemadenew