Jesus does miraculous things - the disciples catch a boatload (see what I did there?) of fish after a night of fruitless (meatless?) fishing, a man with leprosy is healed, a paralyzed man able to walk, and sins forgiven. The big question of the passage, though, is, "are you willing?" It's not a question of can Jesus heal, it's a question of if He will. I think this is an approach of humility. It's easy to demand things of Jesus, but really we should just be presenting our requests, knowing He is powerful enough to do anything (He is all-powerful, after all), and then trust that He will do what is best. Ask Him if He is willing, not tell Him what He has to do.
-In what ways do you struggle with feeling or believing that God is for you and not against you?
I guess just when things don't go "right," or "according to plan." When circumstances aren't going my way, when I feel like life sucks, it's so easy to fall into a pit of destructive thoughts that God doesn't care. It's easy to look at all the sin and brokenness in my life, realize how unworthy I am, and instead of marveling in the beauty of the cross, crawl into a pit of despair at the hopelessness of sin and tell myself I'm not good enough for God to ever care. But that's not true. Those are the lies of Satan, piled high and repeatedly, saying, "you don't deserve love, you are nothing, how could God ever want anything good for you? How can you be so prideful as to think He could possibly ever be for you? You are nothing." But that is the ugliest twist of truth into a hideous lie. Yes, we're nothing, yes, we're unworthy, but that's the beginning of the story, not the end.
-There was no shortage of people coming to Jesus looking for healing, yet this man was successful in getting an audience. Why?
I'm really not exactly sure, but I think it was because his heart was different. I would guess there were lots of people jumping on the bandwagon and asking for healing because everyone was, because it couldn't hurt to ask, right? But not really believing it. Or they thought they deserved healing, deserved attention from Jesus. Whatever the reasons, I think the leper was different. He didn't questions Jesus' authority as so many around him were doing. He didn't make any demands. He made a request, "if you are willing." He put it all in Jesus' hands and trusted Him completely.
-The opposite of coming to God in humility is coming with a demanding sense of selfish entitlement. Where does this come from and how would you cultivate humility in your prayer life?
Sometimes I wonder if the root of all evil is pride. I know in my own life I can trace just about everything back to pride in some manner. I think a selfish sense of entitlement comes from pride, which comes from a sinful nature, and is cultivated by continual sin, those around us, and Satan's fight against us. I know for me, I've been praying for humility and just for God to really help me overcome pride. I also think it is important to be willing ourselves, willing for God to do what He wants to do, according to His perfect plan, and trust that He knows best. No matter what, He knows best.
-Why do you think Jesus says "be clean" rather than "be well?"
Because being physically well doesn't have as much eternal significance as being forgiven. It's Jesus' love that saves us, saves our souls, not our bodies. In this world we'll have trouble, pain, sorrow, etc, but it's okay because Jesus has overcome this world with His love. I think He's showing that He cares about eternal, not earthly, things.
-If you could have Jesus make one thing "clean" in your life, what would it be?
My pride and self-centeredness.
-What does this passage communicate to you about Jesus?
That He is epicly loving and willing. That He cares about us more than we could ever imagine and has our best interests at heart because He loves us.
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