Bible Text: “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean”. Matthew 8.1-4
Leprosy was a deadly sickness during the time of Jesus Christ. The person is considered as walking dead and therefore a hopeless case. When a person carries this kind of disease, there were a lot of protocols that one has to observe. Physical distancing is not a new thing at all for lepers are strictly forbidden to mingle with people and touching them is considered a grave sin which was actually violated by Jesus in the gospel. They were even placed in isolation from the rest of his/her family to avoid contaminating them with such disease. The leper saw a ray of hope when he learned that Jesus was present in the area. He knelt down before Jesus and begged Him, Lord, if you choose, you can heal me. Jesus knew very well his sincerity of this person and immediately granted his plea.
Miracle can only happen when there is the presence of great faith. The leper took the risk of getting closer to Jesus which expresses his exceptional strong faith. We are in the same situation; history repeats itself so to speak. This pandemic strikes us three months ago. Are you tired of praying for the healing of the world? Pray fervently when you feel you don’t like praying. The more you struggle in prayer, the more you become sincere of what you are doing. Take time to come to Jesus. May I remind you that you are always welcome to pray in our church. Feel free to phone either the office or me and we are glad to open the church for you. Pray unceasingly and God rest assured us to grant what we asked for in His time. Do not only pray for the cleansing of our bodies but beg the Lord as well for the purification of our anger, selfishness, carnal desires and the likes.
This time of pandemic, we will not only pray for our needs but we will also give thanks to the Lord. Jesus has reminded the leper to offer gift to the temple as an act of thanksgiving. God knows that we have a lot of needs but it does excuse us to be grateful for the blessings we received from God. In fact, we have so much to be thankful rather than to ask for from the Lord.