Spiritual Leprosy / Two Kinds of Doubt

Luke 5:12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. [11] And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And Jesus [12] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
***
Two points here:
1. Leprosy is such a powerful analogy of sin. Essentially, it causes the skin to lose sensation, to become numb to pain and pleasure, to die, as it were. This is the effect of our spiritual disease called sin. In our sinful flesh, we lose sensation for the "real" things of God's Kingdom. We are unable to sense when our hand is on the stove. We are unable to feel the loving touch of another. Eventually there is a complete breakdown of the body (read: spirit). Leprosy is incurable. The pragmatic solution is banishment, so the death of the sensations leads to the death of relationships. Sin divides us and is the antithesis of the Greatest Commandment which is true, whole, Kingdom community.
2. The second thing I get from this passage is two kinds of doubt - doubting God's goodness and doubting His power. In this case, the leper believes that Jesus is able to heal him, but isn't sure if he is willing. In other passages of the Bible we see individuals who believe Jesus is willing but not able. All of us fall into one of these two categories when we struggle with faith in God. We either doubt he is willing or doubt he is able to do what we ask. Maturity leads us to consider the possibility, with humility, that our requests may not be good requests. If this is the case, then it is certainly possible that he isn't willing to answer the request. But in the case of the leper, it is obvious that something which was created to be a certain way - the man's body - was in a state of disarray. God, as Creator and Maintainer of His creation, is in the business of setting things right - so he is certainly willing to heal the leper (both spiritually and physically). Doubting that he is able, on the other hand, comes down to a simple misunderstanding of God. We've all done that and will continue to do it because he is beyond the limits of our understanding. Job struggled with this (not seeing resolution to his agony) and was awakened to God's power when confronted by God himself. God makes it clear that he is able to do whatever he wants, which brings us back to the first doubt again. Why would God allow Job to suffer so much, to lose his family so tragically and go through so long a trial without any clear reassurance of love? Tough questions - and I am so grateful the writers of the Bible didn't shy away from them or pretend the answers were easy. It is something to bookmark and come back to again and again.

Gethsemane & the Incarnation

Matthew 26:36-46 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch [7] with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. [8] See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

***
Jesus shows his divinity and his humanity in such profound ways in this passage. He is both strong enough to submit to his call as messiah and yet weak enough to feel all of the weight of the burden pressing down. His conversation with God the Father is strangely human and his imperative for the disciples to pray with him demonstrates supernatural standards of living. He is in the radical middle between God and man, or more accurately, He is fully God and fully man.
He is the prototype for what we aspire to become - not that we would become fully God, but we are certainly intended to be friends with God. Of all the celebrities who might ever call me on the phone and ask to be my friend, God has got to be the coolest one.