“And a man with leprosy came to Jesus, imploring Him and kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.”

Have you ever thought about clever or witty ways to say “yes”? As I was preparing this meditation, I decided I would ask AI to give me a list of playful yes statements. Here are my personal favorites it shared with me:  

• Say less.
• One hundred percenta-roo.
• Affirmative, captain.
• You bet your bottom biscuit.
• By royal decree it shall be.
• This is the way.
• This prophecy has been foretold.
• Consider it notarized.
• Saddle up and lets ride.
• Yessirree, Bob.
• The algorithm approves.
• Engaging enthusiastic agreement thrusters.
• I’m game.
• Beam me up.
• That’s a double shot with no foam.

While these are fun yeses. Have you ever really thought about when God says yes?  I hear all the time about God saying no – of Him shutting the doors. Usually when I hear this or even experience a no for myself, I hear something like, “when God closes a door, he opens a window.”  Why would I want to climb through a window?  Well then, how does the Master Wordsmith himself give us the affirmative?  In the opening chapter of the gospel of Mark, we find this short story, you can completely miss it if you’re not paying attention, but in it, we find God saying an incredibly loud and big yes.

In this tiny little story, God’s character to respond is shown in three distinct ways:

• Jesus’s shows compassion.

     The first thing we encounter about God in this passage is his heart. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”  Jesus was moved to compassion for the man with leprosy.  God’s yes started with a deeply personal and emotional empathy.  Jesus saw this man – I mean, He truly saw him and His heart broke.  Jesus’ heart yearned to come near him.  This is the character of our God, that in His holiness, He doesn’t remain far off, instead He draws near.  Arms open wide. God invades the personal space of those who are sick, broken, sinful, and dirty.  He loves the undesirable.  This wasn’t an obligation.  God’s compassion upon us flows from His love. 

•  Jesus reached out his hands and touched him.

     Leprosy is a disease that affects the skin and can often cause disfigurement.  In biblical times it was often considered contagious, unclean, and a sign of divine judgement.  If you had leprosy, your life was over and you would live out your days as a social outcast. Untouchable.  Yet here we see Christ reaching out toward the undesirable and touching him.  Christ had no fear of becoming unclean.  He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty by the man’s mess.  His sin would not keep Christ away.  Rather, it is sin and sickness that tugs on Christ’s heart.  It is our fallen estate that initiates His actions to reach and touch us.  Christ desired to make this man clean.  And so, Jesus placed His holiness upon the uncleanness man.  Christ’s purity overpowered the man’s impurity.

• Jesus said, “I am willing…”

     And here we have it, God’s declaration of yes.  This wasn’t a half-hearted response on Jesus’ part.  It wasn’t a “I guess, if I have too” – or “fine, I’ll do it” – or a “if I do it will you leave me alone” – or a “let me see if I can fit it into my schedule”.  

     Jesus’ “I am willing” is an excited, profound, and deeply meaningful statement.  When Jesus says yes, He says it with conviction, it’s not the kind of yes that sounds like it needs a permission slip.  This yes, was showing off God’s incredible love for the sinner.  God’s willingness was an act of His heart’s desire – of His wanting.  We know this because of two things: Christ’s actions of compassion leading to the Yes, and His actions following the yes.  Jesus said, “be clean” and the man was sick no more.   

     God’s yes started with his heart posture toward us, then it was confirmed through his action regarding us. “I am Willing.”

What does this mean for you and me?

• First, we must yield.

     In our story, we have focused solely on Christ, His character and His actions, but let’s not forget about the man with leprosy.  You see, in this story the man with leprosy represents you. That’s right, we all have hurts, habits, hangups. We have trauma, pain, and sickness. Here is something important to acknowledge, Christ’s yes came only after the sick man had said yes.  What did he say yes to? The man said yes to wanting to be healed. To wanting God’s help.  We don’t know anything about this man, other than he had leprosy and that he wanted to be made clean.  Maybe, this man had heard about Jesus’ and in his pride or insanity, refused to come and ask for help – that is until he finally hit rock bottom. Perhaps, he had heard Jesus’ teachings, and something resonated deep inside of him, and he just knew that his life depended on him coming to see Jesus. Possibly, he had tried everything else, and nothing worked, so what’s the worst that could happen if he asked Jesus for healing.  Have you found yourself in similar situations?  Have you, in your hurting and insanity, ever refused to ask for help?

     To be yielded to God, means you have to say to yourself, “I am willing.”  I am willing to ask God for help. I am willing to kneel before him, in all my shame, brokenness, and sin –– and yield.  Surrender.  James 5:14-15 says, “Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.  Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven…” 

• We must show by example what is important.  

    There is a second action to being yielded, and that is to be an example.  It is a saying “I am willing” to, like Christ, have compassion on the unclean, the sick, the undesirable, the sinful, and addicted person seeking help.  Just as Christ reached out his hand to touch the man with leprosy, we too are to reach out our hands and touch those who are struggling.  We are to do this, because that is the example Christ gave us.  This act of love was the whole point of the gospel, and it is the whole point of our Christian life.  As we have been made whole by the touch of Christ, we are to be the touch of Christ to another.  When you do this, you are not only modeling Christ, but you are sharing your life, your hardships, joys, and your victories with someone else.  You are allowing the Holiness of Christ in you to spill out onto another.

• We must serve others in the same way Jesus did.  

     Some of us don’t like to say yes, we say “sure.”  That’s not agreement, that’s emotional beige.  You can’t commit with a “maybe.”  You can’t serve with a complacent attitude. There is no room for the “oh, fine, I’ll do it!”  Just like the man with leprosy asked Jesus, “if you are willing…?”  Jesus now asks us the same: “If you are willing… you can help Me make My people clean.”   Are you willing?

     If the answer is yes, then the first place to start is your heart posture.  Is it flowing with love, kindness, and generosity? Or are you still only thinking about yourself? Does your heart break when you see someone struggling?  We must model Christ’s heart of compassion and serve others.  Are you ready to reach out and touch a life?