Matthew 8

I'm studying the book of Matthew this week. Today I was reading chapter 8 and below are some reflections from this chapter.

Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, "Master, if you want to, you can heal my body." Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, "Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."

“If you want to….” I don’t think there is any question that Jesus wants to heal us, to care for us, to love on us. The problem is us, is me. Do I let him do that or do I get so consumed by the notion that I can take care of ‘Bob’ that I don’t let Jesus have a chance at doing what He does best.

“I want to” Jesus said. I believe this. I believe that Jesus desperately wants to hold us close to Him. I believe that He wants the best for our lives, my life. But I often supercede this by thinking that I know the best choice to make, the and best path to follow. But it’s not. There are pitfalls in my ‘stand alone’ decisions that make the outcome far from the expectations I had intended. When I bring Jesus into my decision making process the road may not always be smooth, but I can overcome the obstacles that sway would sway the outcome in the end.

“Don’t talk about this all over town” When I first read this statement I was very confused. If Jesus healed me from leprosy, how could I not want to shout from the top of my voice what had happened! Why wouldn’t Jesus want me to be overjoyed about what he had done for me? Isn’t this version of ‘humbleness’ just a little extreme? I didn’t understand why He would want this to be kept on the down low. I thought we were suppose to show the world who Jesus was and what was possible with Him. However, as I read the next couple of sentences I understood.

“Your cleansed and greatful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.” I can’t imagine what the leper was feeling when all of his spots were gone. What must have been going through his mind....what excitement! What joy! What relief! The comparison of the emotion of winning the lottery came to my mind. When a lottery player wins big time the excitement, the joy and the relief must be overwhelming as well. The winner makes the news. Recognition comes at you from all sides.... as do long lost relatives and friends who want to share in the prosperity. However, its not long until the hoopla is over and then its "whatever became of the lottery winner?" is a mystery.

The example to be learned from this statement (“Your cleansed and greatful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done”) is not about the initial reward, but how we live our lives because of the reward. The leper could have disregarded Jesus words. He could have stormed the streets with his good news, but then fallen back into a ‘stand alone’ life that didn’t let Jesus do what he wanted to do in him. But when we follow the humbleness and graciousness that is Jesus, when we let him do what He wants to do in and for us, the impact last longer and spreads further than we can ever imagine.

Living an ongoing life that demonstrates gratefulness through humbleness extends far beyond the temporary limelight that is the result of gratefulness only for what you got out of it for that moment.