Luke 5:12-15 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and sought him… This man apparently had no doubt of our Lord's ability to heal him. It was about Christ's willingness that he was in doubt. As a rule, men do not naturally associate love and power; they believe in the existence of power far more readily than in that of love. Power seems to create distrust in love. 1. Perhaps because the world is so used to seeing power used arbitrarily and selfishly. 2. Because of the consciousness of sin. It was when Peter saw the Divine power of Christ displayed in the draught of fishes that he said, "Depart from me," &c. And in the light of this fact, the incident of our text has a peculiar force; for — I. THE DISEASE FROM WHICH THIS MAN WAS SUFFERING WAS REPRESENTATIVE OF SIN. It was a decomposition of the vital juices, putrefaction in a living body; hence an image of death. The leper was treated throughout as a sinner. "He was a dreadful parable of death." The case of this leper, therefore — II. GAVE OUR LORD AN OPPORTUNITY, NOT ONLY TO DO A WORK OF MERCY AND LOVE UPON A DISEASED MAN, BUT ALSO TO GIVE A SYMBOLIC TESTIMONY OF HIS WILLINGNESS TO DEAL LOVINGLY AND FORGIVINGLY WITH A SINFUL MAN. Let US see how Christ's willingness comes out in this incident. 1. It is not repelled by an imperfect faith. 2. It was shown in Christ's express declaration. How striking is the way in which He meets that timid "If Thou wilt" with "I will." (M. R. Vincent, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. |
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