The Will of God is the Heart of God

Mark 1:40-42 - And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If you will, you can make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and said unto him, I will; be clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. 

  This account of the leper seems to be strategically high-lighted near the beginning of Jesus ministry as if to set a precedent concerning the will of God for all those who are seeking healing. The leper, no doubt, had heard of His ministry and a glimmer of hope must have sprung up in his heart. ‘I have heard of a man who is healing people. He obviously has power from God, and sickness seems to disappear at His very presence, but, I wonder if He would heal a leper, an outcast, a forsaken one like me?’ This leper had long since forgotten the warmth of human contact and the simple pleasure of friendships. He had resigned himself to a life of isolation, possibly wondering why this had happened to him. The harsh religious leaders had told him that he was a sinner being punished by God. When the leprosy showed itself so did the judgmental attitude of others. He had a lot that was against him however, this leper courageously risked even more rejection, by venturing out in public to come to Jesus.

    We can readily see the leper’s heartfelt sincerity as he humbly implores Jesus and unashamedly kneels down to Him. He didn’t for one single minute doubt Jesus’ ability to heal; there was ample confirmation of that in the testimony of others who were healed. However, he hesitated when it came to whether Jesus would be willing to heal him. ‘If you will; if you want to; if you desire to; I believe that you can make me clean. I know that you have the power to do so. I know that you have the capability. What I am not sure of is your willingness to cleanse me, a leper’. So we could say it this way; the leper did not doubt the hand of God, which is the moving of His power, he doubted the heart of God, which is the motivation of His love. He definitely did have faith in God’s power but apparently, that is only a stepping stone to a greater faith, which is faith in His love. That type of faith begins to grow when the heart of God is known.

    These few verses of Scripture clearly and forcefully remove all doubt about the heart of God toward suffering humanity; Jesus was moved with compassion. That is the heart of our Father God; He is a compassionate and merciful God. His heart is for us. His heart is described to us in the book of Chronicles as One whose eyes are scanning the Earth to show Himself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him. He wants to show Himself strong on our behalf, which reveals His desire, and His will and His heart for all.

    Isn’t it wonderful how Jesus unhesitatingly reaches out and touches this untouchable? He promptly answers the leper’s question and thereby forever establishes the will of God for all people at all times. ‘I will’. There was no examination by Jesus; there was no inquiry as to why the leper was in this condition. It almost seems as if there were no qualifications needed and Jesus meets the man where He was at, as He always does. Let this Word of Jesus ring out loudly as it echoes through the halls of time. ‘I will’. Let this Word of Jesus forever confirm how God views sickness and disease. ‘I will’. Let this Word of Jesus fix in our minds the will of God for today. ‘I will’. We never read in the New Testament an account of someone coming to Jesus for healing and Him responding by saying, ‘I won’t’. We know that God is no respecter of persons so if He did it for the leper He will do it for anyone; He will do it for you and for me.

    I once heard it said that if you want to see the perfect will of God in the Bible you can go to three places; the Garden of Eden before the fall; the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation and the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus is the perfect will of God in public demonstration, or as I heard someone say recently, ‘Jesus is perfect theology’. Jesus stated it very clearly when He said, ‘He that has seen me has seen the Father’, and, ‘I came to do the will of Him that sent me’. If you see Jesus doing it, take note of it; it is the perfect will of God. And for those who think that healing is not for today, always remember Hebrews 13:8 and write it permanently in your spirit; Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever.