Key events in today’s passage:

• Mary’s Song (Luke 1:46-56)
• The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-21)
• John the Baptist and Jesus (Luke 3:1-22)
• Jesus Rejected at Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30)
• Jesus Calls Levi and Eats with Sinners (Luke 5:27-31)
• Blessings and Woes (Luke 6:17-26)
• Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman (Luke 8:40-56)
• Jesus Sends Out the Twelve (Luke 9:1-9)

Verse that stood out: Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him – Luke 5:13

Luke’s gospel spends a lot of time on people who lived on the fringes of society, like the man with leprosy in Luke 5. The word leprosy was used for a variety of skin diseases in Jesus’ day. Any one of them would have exiled this man to life outside of his community. His request to Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” hints at an isolated life. A life in which few were willing to do much of anything for or with him. The law even required him to shout out “Unclean” anytime he approached another soul.

How remarkable the words of Christ, “I am willing!” How significant the Savior’s touch! How restorative his command, “Be clean!” Not only did it bring healing to the man’s skin, it brought reconciliation to his life allowing the man to return to family and friends. He would be unclean no more.

We’ve all felt isolated, lonely, unclean before. Many of still do. Often we’re unable to find someone who is willing to enter into our exiled lives. Christ is willing. His presence can make us clean.

For tomorrow:

• Cover to Cover: Luke 9:47-19:39
• Key Passage: Luke 15:11-32
• Verse of the Day: Luke 15:23-24