Celebration Lutheran Church

EARLY THOUGHTS

February 6, 2012

Mark 1: 40-45

40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean."

41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!"

42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

43 After sternly warning him he sent him away at once,

44 saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

We are told that Jesus was “moved by pity” for this man. Another word we might use there is compassion. Jesus had compassion for this man and was willing to pay the price for healing this man. I have just finished reading The Confession by John Grisham and would highly recommend it. In the story there is a cost to be paid for compassion and the people involved were willing to pay that cost.

Think about all of your relationships and the times compassion has been asked of you. Have you been willing to pay that cost because compassion or love always has a cost. What I mean is that love always costs something. We don't know why Jesus asked the man to be silent but maybe it was because he knew this would make it difficult to walk and talk and preach and heal freely. Whatever the reason, and whatever the risk, he nevertheless heals, heedless of the cost. He trades places with this man – losing his freedom that this man may find his – out of love. Love costs. Ask any parent, or grandparent, or lover, or friend. Yet that is what we find in God.