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While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, \u201cLord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.\u201d Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. \u201cI am willing,\u201d he said. \u201cBe clean!\u201d And immediately the leprosy left him (Luke 5:12-13).

This miracle story captured my imagination and heart in my early years of ministry. Because we are working our way slowly through the gospel of Luke, I realize that it\u2019s a pivot in the story about Jesus. A new question about Jesus is being introduced. Let me explain.

Here was a man who lived on the garbage dump: sewage & manure from the city streets, butcher scraps, blood from the offerings in the temple & rotting stuff. That was the garbage dump. By this point the man was covered with leprosy which usually began small, a little patch of white skin, a running sore; something we\u2019d cover with a band aid.

There was no cure, and since it was highly contagious, afflicted people were banished from society. They lived in a community near the garbage dump, living off scraps of food people flung at them from far off. This man had probably lived there for several years, since his conditioned was well advanced. Likely, he had already lost several fingers and toes to the disease. It had disfigured his face so that even his parents would not recognize him.

In Israel\u2019s early days, leprosy was simply a disease, but over the years, it became more and more connected with sinfulness. You got leprosy because you or maybe your parents had committed some terrible sin. Leprous people were not just banished from society, they were also forbidden from entering the temple. Thus, they were abandoned by family and friends and evicted from God\u2019s presence.

But here he is looking for Jesus. And finding him, he falls with his face to the ground, saying, \u201cLord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.\u201d Do you notice the subtle shift Luke introduces? Thus far, the central question has been about who Jesus is, his identity: Is he the son of God? That is now established. Now there is a new question, \u201cWhat is his character? What is in his heart? How far is Jesus willing to go? How deep does the compassion and redemption of God reach?\u201d

\u201cIf you are willing\u2026\u201d the man says. \u201cIf you are willing, you can make me clean.\u201d It is not a question of capability but of desire.

And Jesus responds with two things that grabbed my heart all those years ago. He deliberately reached out his hand to touch the man. It had been years since this person had been touched by anyone except his fellow afflicted. Now he is touched by the Son of God. Imagine that. And then to hear the words, \u201cI am willing, be clean.\u201d As the man felt the sensation of a healthy hand on his body, he experienced the warm sensation of the power of God spread through him as the leprosy fled before the touch of the Son of God.

In one precious, compassionate moment Jesus breaks through all the social and spiritual barriers that had barred this man from human and divine contact. With that touch, this man was restored to his family and friends and neighbourhood and welcomed back into the temple.

\u201cI am willing,\u201d said Jesus, \u201cBe clean.\u201d

To all of us, who may feel like this leper, banished from society and from God, with a deep sense of being dirty inside and out, Jesus says, \u201cI am willing, be clean.\u201d To all of us, who are burdened by sin, weighed down by the belief that God doesn\u2019t want us, Jesus reaches out and says, \u201cI am willing, be clean.\u201d

Jesus is willing and able to heal; to heal anything that stands between you and God and others. In his compassion Jesus touches us where we hurt. He touches us in those places where we feel the effects of sin. Whether those are deep hurts because of what others have done or scars because of sins we have committed. Jesus reaches out with his hand to heal our hurts and says, \u201cI am willing, be clean.\u201d