Some time ago, I began blogging on our Sunday sermons to help myself review; today, I’m continuing that by covering our Nov. 29 sermon, on Matthew 8:1-4, by Pastor Mark Lim. You can stream the recording of this service here.

Our text said this:

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Here, one of my main take-aways was Pastor Mark’s point that the leper, though his problem was obvious, asked Jesus to deal with it. He pointed out how sometimes, we don’t want to ask for what we need. Relationships, such as marriage, can sour if we’re unwilling to ask for what we need because we don’t want to seem needy. But this leper asked, though his need was obvious. That’s what I need to do – see the magnitude of my need on an ongoing basis and place myself at Christ’s mercy.

Also, there was a reminder to see that Christ is willing – to turn to him, and him alone, for help. I needed this reminder, too, as it’s easy to focus at least in part on my own efforts. But this was a timely reminder that my problems are too big for me to solve, so I need his help.