Faith Can Do Miracles, It did cure the leper
By: Elias Bejjani*
February 17/13
Christ, the Son of God, is always ready and
willing to help the sinners who seek forgiveness and repentance. When we are
remorseful and ask Him for exoneration, He never gives up on us no matter what
we did or said. As a loving Father, He always comes to our rescue when we get
ourselves into trouble. He grants us all kinds of graces to safeguard us from
falling into the treacherous traps of Satan's sinful temptations.
Jesus the only Son Of God willingly endured all kinds of humiliation, pain,
torture and accepted death on the cross for our sake and salvation. Through His
crucifixion He absolved us from the original sin that our first parents Adam and
Eve committed. He showed us the righteous ways through which we can return with
Him on the Day Of Judgment to His Father's Heavenly
kingdom.
Jesus made his call to the needy, persecuted, sick
and sinners loud and clear: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and
I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) The outcast leper believed in Jesus' call
and came to Him asking for cleansing. Jesus took his hand, touched him with
love, and responded to his request.
The leper knew deep in his heart that Jesus could cure him from his devastating
and shameful leprosy if He is willing to do so. Against all odds he took the
hard and right decision to seek out at once Jesus' mercy.
With solid faith, courage and perseverance the leper approached Jesus and
begging him, kneeling down to him, and says to him, "If you want to, you can
make me clean." When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from
him and he was made clean. Jesus extended His hand and touched him with great
passion and strictly warned him, "See you say nothing to anybody, but go show
yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing
the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them." But the leper went
out, began to proclaim it much, and spread about the matter so that Jesus could
no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places: and they
came to him from everywhere. (Mark 1/40-45)
We sinners, all of us, ought to learn from the leper's great example of faith.
Like him we need to endeavour for sincere repentance
with heartfelt prayer, begging Almighty God for absolution from all our sins.
Honest pursuit of salvation and repentance requires a great deal of humility,
honesty, love, transparency and perseverance. Like the leper we must trust in
God's mercy and unwaveringly go after it.
The faithful leper sensed deep inside his conscience that Jesus could cleanse
him, but was not sure if he is worth Jesus' attention and mercy.
His faith and great trust in God made him break all the laws that prohibited a
leper from getting close to or touching anybody. He tossed himself at Jesus'
feet scared and trembling. With great love, confidence, meekness and passion he
spoke to Jesus saying “If you will, you can make me
clean.” He did not mean if you are in a good mood at present. He meant, rather,
if it is not out of line with the purpose of God, and if it is not violating
some cosmic program God is working out then you can make me clean.
Lepers in the old days were outcasts forced to live in isolation far away from
the public. They were not allowed to continue living in their own communities or
families. They were looked upon as dead people and forbidden from even entering
the synagogues to worship. They were harshly persecuted, deprived of all their
basic rights and dealt with as sinners. But in God's eyes these sick lepers were
His children whom He dearly loves and cares for. “Blessed are you when people
reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for
my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.
For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you".
Matthew(5/11-12)
The leper trusted in God's parenthood and did not have any doubts about Jesus'
divinity and power to cleanse and cure him. Without any hesitation, and with a
pure heart, he put himself with full submission into Jesus' hands and will
knowing that God our Father cannot but have mercy on His children. "Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God". (Matthew5/8)
We need to take the leper as a role model in our lives. His strong and steadfast
faith cured him and put him back into society. We are to know God can do
whatever He wants and to trust Him. If He is willing, He will. We just have to
trust in the goodness and mercy of God and keep on praying and asking, and He
surely will respond in His own way even though many times our limited minds can
not grasp His help.
Praying on regular basis as Jesus instructed us to is
an extremely comforting ritual: "Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you
pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them.
Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so
that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions.
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your
transgressions" (Mark 11/24-26)
The leper's faith teaches us that God always listens and always responds to our
requests when we approach Him with pure hearts, trust, confidence and
humbleness. Almighty God is a loving father who loves us all
, we His children and all what we have to do to get His attention is to
make our requests through praying. "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you
will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For
everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To
him who knocks it will be opened". (Matthew 7/8 -9)
*Elias
Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese
Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email
phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites
http://www.10452lccc.com
&
http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing
*Face Book/http://www.facebook.com/elias.y.bejjani