Take Heart, My Son

Matthew 9:1-8
[1] And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. [2] And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” [3] And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” [4] But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? [5] For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [6] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [7] And he rose and went home. [8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men

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I want to start by saying how thankful I am for the grace that God has bestowed to me. I'm not the greatest guy in the world, by any means. I make mistake after mistake, I hurt others, I shame myself and my family with some of the things I've said/done in the past, and worst of all I have moments of deliberate disobedience to my Lord. On top of these things, I am fearful of many things; by my own admitance, subconciously, I sometimes do not believe God can do things better/bigger/faster than I can. I'm not proud of it, and I do not say these things to gain attention or to gain sympathy or empathy, but to share this encouragement that Jesus shares throughout the gospels: "Take heart."

There are a lot of other things that could be said about this passage, but these words of Christ stuck out to me today. This post is not a long one (and was not intended to be), but it is a challenging/encouraging one to me, and prayerfully to others as well.

What is something that is burdening you right now? What is something that is scaring you? What is something you feel guilty for? Is there something that is holding you back from full surrender? Is your faith hurting?
 
"Take heart, my son."

Be A Leper

Matthew 8:1-2

    [1] When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. [2] And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

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Jesus performed so many miracles, we can barely keep track of who, when, and where they all occurred. Even in John 20, after a recording of so many miracles and signs and wonders, John writes in verse 30 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;"

So, the question comes, What is so special about this particular sign/miracle? Well, in a sense, absolutely nothing. Other than the fact that it is indeed a miracle, there is nothing extraordinary about this particular healing that Jesus did. My focus is not to be on Jesus' miracle, but rather the words uttered by the man that was stricken with leprosy. According to the National Institute of Health, "Leprosy is an infectious disease that has been known since biblical times. It is characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive debilitation." It's painful, in sight and in feel, and the sores can smell absolutely awful. Cases of leprosy can result in loss of the use of your hands and feet cause by the nerve damage and muscle weakness. Doesn't sound very pleasant, does it? THIS is why I love what the leper says here in the 2nd verse of Matthew 8:
 
"Lord, if you will..."

Picture Christ walking down from a mountain: He's just finished preaching the most famous sermon in history and He's being followed by an enormous amount of people. He's probably tired, physically and spiritually; who knows, He may even be annoyed by how many people are following Him so closely (I'm not assuming anything here, don't worry. Just trying to paint a picture.) and probably giving Him way more attention than He wants at this time of His day. Jesus reaches the bottom of the mountain, and leper stops Him and kneels before Him.
 
[Just as a side note, and to put this in perspective; have you ever been really wiped out, maybe not necessarily from preaching or teaching, but you're just kinda physically and spiritually drained? And then someone comes to you with a legitimate need? It's pretty difficult to want to help them and have the patience to do so. Anyway, back to the story...]

As Jesus stands there, probably tired and worn out, there kneels a leper in front of Him with a genuine need: cleansing. And this is where I want to focus--directly on what the leper says. "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Notice that there is no direct question. The leper doesn't say, "Lord, please heal me! I hate this crap!" The leper, in my opinion, sort of declares his faith to Jesus right there in that moment; he recognizes Christ as an authority ("Lord,..") and recognizes the power that Jesus possesses ("..if you will..").

How often do we just ask for stuff from God? "God, can I have this? God, can you help me achieve that? God, can you tell so-and-so this?" Is asking God for things wrong? Not at all! Especially when you ask for the right things and you ask in the proper manner. (Hint: Wisdom is a great one to ask for. Look at how God blessed Solomon with wisdom, and look at James 1:5-6. Also see how you're NOT supposed to ask for stuff in James 4:2-3). But, maybe instead of asking for junk all the time, acknowledge God's sovreignty and recognize His will for your life.
 
"...you can make me clean."

I'm sure addressing Him as Lord, the leper had Jesus' attention; the leper knew who Jesus was and recognized it. And the leper finishes his statement (not his question, his declaration): "...you can make me clean." There's the faith. Starting the statement off right by declaring Christ as Lord, recognizing Jesus' will and the exercise of that, the leper knows and states that Jesus can make Him well.

In my opinion, this can be in direct corolation with our prayer lives. See, we got the first part right, I hope, in that we recognize Christ as God and we open our prayers with that. Sometimes, hopefully more often than not, we have the next part right in recognizing God's sovreignty over our lives and that His will is greater than our own and is more purposeful and fulfilling than our own. But, I think sometimes we struggle way too much with this last part, the part that makes this leper stick out to me: Do we really believe God can take care of us? If so, do you pray as such?


Do you always simply ask God if He could, or do you recognize/believe that He can?