If You Will, You Can

IF YOU WILL

A leper came to Jesus on his knees and begging "If you will, You are able to make me clean."

If you will, you can.

The leper did not question Jesus's ability, only submitted to His will.

Jesus is moved with pity and sympathy, he reaches out his hand to touch him.

I can imagine the sudden shock and gasp of those around him as it dawns on them what Jesus is about to do.

No one touches a leper!

But Jesus does, and simply says

"I will, be made clean." and all at once the leprosy is gone!

Mark 1:40-41

IF YOU CAN

"If you can do anything," says the father of a child, possessed by such an awful demon that it would throw the boy into convulsions and cause him to foam at the mouth.

"If you can do anything," he says, "have pity on us".

Jesus replies, "If?, you say to me, "if"?

I'm indignant for Jesus, that is, until I recognize my own tendency to doubt.

"All things are possible to him who believes", He says.

The father lets out a piercing cry and shrieks the words that describe my own teetering faith, but give me hope as well.

"Lord I believe! Help my unbelief!"

Mark 9:22-24

I believe, but yet I don't.

Lord, I need your help to believe.

Lord, I need You in order to believe!

The leper believes in Jesus's power, but appeals to His will.

Jesus is moved with compassion.

The father doubts Jesus's power, but appeals to His compassion.

In the end, the father can only declare his helplessness to believe.

What does my faith declare? Does it declare belief in God's power, submission to His will, total abandonment on His mercy?

Training Ground

So many lessons of faith were taught the disciples on or around the Sea of Galilee. This was their training ground, where they got to know Jesus as the Son of God.

Mark tells us about one of those times. It's evening and Jesus tells all the disciples to get in a boat and go to the other side of the sea. I wonder what the fishermen in this group were thinking at this point? Was it a good idea to be on the sea at night? Not likely. This area was prone to frequent wind storms that came up at a moment's notice. Remember too, that not all these disciples were fishermen. How comfortable were they in a boat?

So with this mixed boat of seaworthy and not so seaworthy men, a doozy of a storm blows in so hard that the boat is filling with water. And Jesus is asleep getting some much needed rest! The disciples aren't so thrilled about that, though. Hey, we're dying here, show a little concern!

He wakes up, "hush, be still!" and perfect calm follows.

"Why are you so afraid?"

"Where is your faith?"

I love that Mark chooses to tell us that now the disciples are really afraid, even terrified.

"Who is this?!", they say. They don't really know Him yet. They haven't fully understood that God is in the boat with them.

All of this makes me think of the verse,

"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

Oooh, the ever illusive "stillness". Could it be that Jesus wasn't just speaking to the waves? He wants me to be still, but I don't seem to know how. Maybe it involves a transfer of fear to where it really belongs? No, I'll rephrase that. I think it MUST involve a transfer of fear.