"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
In this blog, yesterday I reflected briefly on the mystery of grace and our human will. Fascinated by our own fears, desires, preferences and whims, blinded by foolishness and a lack of information, we cannot consistently choose freedom and avoid slavery. We may glimpse the consequences of our choices but we cannot see clearly beyond the present moment. Whatever future we envision is mostly a projection of our own disordered minds.
But Grace guides us in the way of freedom. This Good News is not simply a new teaching or a brilliant insight. Grace is a power to choose wisely, an authority we cannot generate within ourselves. Grace is God's gift to his chosen beloved. As we heard recently,
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God,
In today's gospel, Jesus allowed himself to be moved by the plight of a wretched, courageous man. Perhaps he felt challenged too, as if the man's question was uncertain. That word if hung in the air between them. "If you wish, you can make me clean." The man believed in Jesus' authority but he doubted his willingness and readiness to use his authority.
He could not really comprehend what he was asking of Jesus. Did he know that Jesus would generate more enemies with every healing? Did he see at this early stage of Jesus' ministry the animosity that would erupt in a furious rage in Jerusalem? It wasn't hard to see spies on the periphery of every crowd, watching and making notes of Jesus' words and actions. But this man, like you and me, was probably possessed by his immediate concern. He suffered with humiliating leprosy that forced him to leave his family, friends and neighbors and live in the wilderness. He was sure of only one thing, "...you can make me clean."
"Moved with pity," Jesus wants what God his Father wants. He has come to heal and he wants to accomplish his mission. How can he not be moved with pity? Jesus is not the bureaucrat who determines that the applicant has filled out the necessary forms and given no sign of unworthiness. He does not grant this petition because there is no particular reason not to. Rather, Jesus wills it! He is moved deep within his heart by compassion for a fellow human being. He is, after all, human "like us in all things but sin." His compassion is not "pity for the poor schmuck," but a willingness to pay whatever costs are required to care for another human being.
We must understand that Jesus does nothing because he "has to." He will not say in any predicament, "I have no choice." or "You give me no choice." Rather, as he says to the leper, "I do will it!"
This is the act of a free man. It is the model we must ponder, contemplate, imitate and emulate.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.