NOTES for Mat 8:1-4

Who among us can call ourselves healthy, physically and spiritually? In each of us lurks the “leprosy” of sin—in the corners of the soul that God’s light has not reached, or rather in those corners into which we have not yet let Him. But the Lord longs to fill us completely with this light. For when the leper says, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean,” He answers, “I am willing; be clean.” It is the Lord Himself who says that “the Spirit gives life” while “the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63), thereby emphasizing what matters most in our life. This means that Jesus’ words expressing His desire to cleanse the sick man can and must be applied to the healing not only of the body, but also of the soul. This means that the Lord addresses each of us with the words, “I am willing; be clean.” Only one thing still needs to be added to this: our own desire...