“If you wish…” What a beautiful deference to Jesus’ will and goodness. Not “if you really love me…” or “if you are really that powerful…”, just “if you wish…” Broken, unclean, and desiring healing, the leper comes to the feet of Jesus without any conditions or expectations, just an overriding trust in Jesus’ will.
Confidence in Jesus’ power clearly emerges in “…you can make me clean.” This leper does not doubt Jesus’ ability to heal him; it just comes down to Jesus’ perfectly good will. This statement also implicitly acknowledges brokenness. One cannot request cleansing without also admitting and accepting one’s uncleanliness.
I am really good at accepting my uncleanliness. I see and admit to my flaws clearly and quickly. Intellectually, I also acknowledge God’s power and desire to cleanse me. However, I do not do a good job of bringing those realities into one gesture. I can see and hold my brokenness in my hands, but I rarely pivot to the feet of Jesus and say, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” I prefer to wallow in my own self-pity than bring my brokenness to Jesus and let him do something about it.
Today’s healing is less the result of a request and more the result of an offering. Essentially, the leper is saying, “Lord, we both know my brokenness all too well. You do with it what you will.” Of course, Jesus came to us precisely to heal and redeem our brokenness. It is in and through this faithful, humble offering that we see the leper “cleansed immediately.”
May we bear the leper’s faith and humility, hold our brokenness, and bring it to the feet of Christ to say, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”