Going Out of His Way
Scripture Reading — Matthew 7:28-8:4
“I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”
Matthew 8:3
By this time in his ministry, Jesus had achieved rock star status. He had taught thousands of people great insights about God and his kingdom. The people hung on his every word as if it were inside information on a sure-fire stock. He told them how to live in this world with a generous God who seeks to make something out of them. He spoke with such confidence and clarity that Matthew stated, “He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” Jesus was on a roll, and the disciples knew they had to protect their celebrity rabbi. But Jesus had other plans.
As Jesus was making his way down the mountain, people crowded around him. Mothers asked him to kiss their babies, and rabbis asked about his sermon. Then he met a man in desperate need. The man had leprosy, which meant he was untouchable in the eyes of everyone in the crowd. But he fought his way through the masses because he had a request: “Make me clean.”
When we are desperate, we will find our way to Jesus. Why? Like the leprous man, we need a touch from God. This man took a chance that for his sake, God would be willing to go out of his way. “I am willing” was the greatest response the man could hear from Jesus.
The Master has always gone out of his way for his children. He always has time for you and me.
Jesus, correct any notion we might have that you have no time for us. Increase our faith in your wonder-working power. Strengthen our trust that you can make us whole. Amen.
About the author — Reginald Smith
Dr. Reginald Smith is senior pastor at Roosevelt Park Community Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he has served for seventeen years. He has also served as a pastor in Paterson, New Jersey. He and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters, Janelle, Katrina, and Mariah.
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