Humble Hope

Scripture Reading: Matthew 8:1-3

When [Jesus] came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will, be clean.”

Decades ago, I listened to John MacArthur preach from this text. It was one of the finest gospel sermons I’ve ever heard, and it cemented this text in my mind. I can’t recall everything MacArthur said, it was more the way he said it. The message was full of compassion for the lost and hope for the sinner to be saved.

As I think about this unnamed leper, I am impressed with the mixture of hope and humility found in his profound request of Jesus. I can’t say he was doubting, but he was not presumptuous. He didn’t assume and he wasn’t making strident demands on Jesus. “If you will,” is what he said. It was a statement of humble submission to the will of God. He wanted to be clean, but he wasn’t presuming the Lord had to act and heal him.

At the same time, he was a man of hopeful faith. “You can make me clean.” That is a statement of fact. I didn’t say, “Maybe you can.” He said, “You can.” He had faith in Jesus. He was hopeful as well. We know that because he took the risk of approaching him. That wasn’t allowed. I imagine the crowds parted like the Red Sea as he came toward Jesus. Not because they wanted him to come, but because they didn’t want to become unclean themselves. Jesus doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t rebuke the man. He lets him come. His hope likely grew with every step he took toward the Lord.

May we all have this kind of hopeful, humble faith.