Matthew 8:1-4 (Also in Mark 1:40-45, Luke 5:12-14)
(1)When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. (2)And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. (3)And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (4)And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
We find this miracle in three of the gospels and all pretty much say the same. Lets break this down into small sections, for there are great things to be learned. The passage says the leper worshipped Him, or one version says he besought Him or beseeched Him. Either or, the Leper was looking/searching for Jesus. Key thing to realize is the Bible tells us to seek God. Luke 12:31
Then the leper asks Jesus, If He will, can You make me clean. We have talked about this in earlier studies. The Leper does not have the New Testament scriptures we have readily available to us today, so the leper states what we always wonder. "IF YOU WILL”. Now we all know from past studies the Bible tells us that we are to know the will of the Lord and align ourselves up to His will. Once again, the leper does not have the knowledge we do today. So it is an valid statement on his part.
Jesus responds to the lepers with, "I will, be thou clean”, and touches the leper and he becomes clean. So if any of us would have doubt on what Jesus’s will is on healing, we pretty much have it right here. But do not miss a very important component. The leper was seeking Jesus to get things rolling. It would be downright impossible to align up with the will of God if we are not earnestly seeking Him.
Jesus then goes on to tell him to not tell anyone but show thyself to the priest and offer a gift that Moses commanded for a testimony. This is interesting for Jesus probably new the first thing the man might of done is run to his family to show he was clean being lepers were outcasts of society. But Jesus is keeping of the scriptures and proving that Moses and his law are a real thing. Even though Jesus came to fulfill the law, that won’t be done until He is on the cross. What Jesus now requesting of the once leper is to be obedient. How often do we ask God for something, receive it, then go on our own merry way again.
We want God to do intervene in so many areas of our life. We have a huge part to play when it come to our faith in Christ. Are we earnestly seeking/worshipping Him, not just when it is convenient, but truly seeking after Him? I do believe this is where we fall short on why we do not see many miracles and great things on a constant basis. We have not allowed any room for those things to take place in our life. If we are not seeking God, we will have no clue what His will is for us. I think many of us fall really short on being obedient to the Lord. We see it all through society as a whole. Disobedience results in people being miserable, every small things becomes a huge problem not knowing how to cope with it. We allow all this just by not seeking God and being obedient to Him. We are even to be obedient to those in authority over us.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
1 Peter 1:14 as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
Ephesians 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Ephesians 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is .