Have you ever thought that God was reluctant to forgive you?
Consider the thoughts you have when you know you have sinned, and sinned in a particular way again. You know it must be confessed, it must be acknowledged and laid before the Lord, but you fear He is too displeased to be approached, that He does not desire to see your face anymore. Intellectually, you know He can and does forgive—you are a Christian after all—but you’re not sure He’s actually interested in forgiving you, especially again.
In the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, there is a story of a man sick with leprosy who knelt before Jesus, and implored Him, “If you are willing, You can make me clean” (Mk. 1:40). Notice that in his words, the leper has faith in Christ’s ability to heal him, but not necessarily His willingness. “If you are willing, You can make me clean.” He believed that Jesus had the power to heal him of his affliction, but he did not yet know what Christ’s disposition would be toward him.
How did our Lord respond to this suffering man? Mark writes, “Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed” (Mk. 1:41). The words here translated as “moved with compassion” refer literally to Jesus being deeply moved inwardly. This isn’t momentary pity, but a visceral and overwhelming sympathy for the man in front of him.
In this brief story of Christ’s healing compassion, you must learn to see yourself. Like leprosy, sin is a disease that has no earthly cure. But unlike leprosy, it has infected all mankind. In your sin, all of you—every person in this room—are like this leper before Christ. But you must not only be like him in sickness and affliction, but also as a recipient of Christ’s grace. You must come to your Lord today and every day, believing that He is willing and loves to forgive.
You know your sin, you know your need, and you need to never forget that your Lord is compassionate and truly desires to cleanse you from all unrighteousness—forever (1 Jn. 1:9)
This exhortation was given on August 24, AD 2025, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.