What can Jesus do?
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35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Jesus was indignant.[i] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
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How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
4Your neck is like the tower of David
built with courses of stone on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of leopards.
Donald Trump’s inaugural speech, what he is going to do: ‘“My life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.” ‘Golden age of America begins now,’ “I am with you, I will fight for you, and I will win for you.” Compare it with what Jesus can do, as revealed in Mark 1:35-45 and how he sees us in Song of Songs 4:1-8.
Mark 1:35 begins; ‘In the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went to a deserted place and there he prayed.’ That was the pattern of Jesus. That should it be our pattern before we journey into a busy day, it is a spiritual necessity to find time to pray in the deserted place. From there Jesus said let’s go to nearby villages so I can preach there, Mk 1:38. A leprous man approached him….
Our reading says, ‘a man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” What were his needs?
1 Needed to be made whole
2 Needed to be accepted
3 Couldn’t be silenced
1 Needed to be made whole
The man in the story had a skin disease. Jesus had the power to heal and meet the man’s need, he also had the power to cleanse him spiritually - to make him whole. We do not hear much talk about wholeness today but it sums up what happened to this leper. Let me be blunt and say Jesus still heals today …we must still pray bold prayers in church and among our friends and family and on our hospital wards. Sometimes these p[prayers do not seem to be answered. There has been much prayer for me, seemingly unanswered (physically). Sometimes we don’t know why, have to trust that God is in control, that ‘all things work together for good,’ and that God knows best. Some prefer to pray for strength and courage in the midst of the suffering. Pastor Tim Keller who died on 19th May 2023 asked people not to pray for his healing but that he would have the strength to endure. My own view on this is these are not two mutually exclusive instructions, we can pray for healing and for strength to endure - after all we are praying to the same risen Jesus who healed this man in this story. Isaiah 53:4 sums it up well, ‘Surely he bore our sins and sickness.’ This verse points to what Jesus can do for us - healing and cleansing - wholeness.
2 Needed to be accepted
In that day, his disease meant that man was treated as an outcast – forcing him away from friends & family. He was very much alone in the world.
That is not how God sees us (Song of Songs 4:7,8a). Like a groom to a bride: ‘You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you. Come with me’ Saviour will you take this sinner to be your spouse - “I Will” he replies.
Loneliness and unworthiness is a real need in our time . What goes on here with our Thursday meals is a good community thing.
Jesus knew this man had to be restored in his family and community, so he said - Go and see the priest….get checked out.
Today Jesus accepts us as we are. Charlotte Elliott wrote that famous hymn, ‘Just as I am’ in response to her own question - ‘How do I come to Jesus?’ Her godly doctor replied, ‘Come just as you are.’ The Lord knows we are not holy, not perfect - we come just as we are – knowing he alone can cleanse us – it is there for the asking – we do this in the first instance by repenting and afterwards in confession. Jesus responds: “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”
Through Jesus we are made part of God’s family, John 1:12 says, ‘He gives us the right to become children of God.’ That is why we pray ‘our Father’(it is family). For this leper, two needs are met, one physical, one spiritual but not separate. The needs are all part of the one person and Jesus had the power to meet this one person's needs - to heal him and to accept him into God’s family. I believe the greatest need is to know Jesus and enter into a relationship with him.
3 Couldn’t be silenced
Last week we read Mark 1:34 ‘He would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was’
Jesus silenced the demons and he tried to silence the man – but how can we be kept from telling when so much has been done for us.
The Enya song ‘How can I keep from singing,’ was originally a hymn written by Pauline T in 1868
”No storm can shake my inmost calm, While to that refuge clinging. Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?”
However, friends we do keep from telling. President Trump has no reserve in telling what he can do (pointing to himself). Let us point to Jesus who meets our every need, and makes us whole by his grace – we should not be silenced.
Published in the New York Observer on 27th August 1868 - attributed to ‘Pauline T.’ (Surname was not listed)
My life flows on in endless song; Above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet, tho' far-off hymn, that hails a new creation;
Thro' all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul— How can I keep from singing?
What tho' my joys and comforts die? The Lord my Saviour liveth;
What tho' the darkness gather round? Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?
I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin; I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths, Since first I learned to love it,
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, A fountain ever springing;
All things are mine since I am his— How can I keep from singing?
