HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” Mark 1:40
The leper of those far-off days in Galilee might be forgiven for wondering whether Christ would be willing to forgive him. It was probably the first time that such a suppliant had drawn near to Jesus. It was a new thing in Israel that any Rabbi should hold kindly fellowship with these miserable and unclean men. They had their home outside the camp and the congregation. By compulsion of society, they were separatists and solitaries. Yes, it might well be a question whether Christ would have anything to do with a sufferer so uninviting and so loathsome.
But as for me, I ought never to say, “If You will.” There should not be a vestige of doubt or hesitation on my part. I have the history of twenty centuries behind me. I have the experience of a great multitude which cannot be numbered, to bid me be of good courage. East or west, yesterday or today, when did Christ ever refuse a leper in his pitiful case, in his despair of all other support and salvation? For pardon, for holiness, for comfort, for grace — let me come boldly to His throne and Himself. Heaven and earth will pass away, He will contradict His nature, He will belie His name — before He deals untenderly with me. He wills; He can make me clean.
THE MYSTICAL COURT 