Lenten Reader | Day 3

February 19th, 2026

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Mark 1:29-45

If You Are Willing

To understand the impact of leprosy on a person’s life, I strongly urge you to read Leviticus 13. Particularly verses 45 and 46. Being deemed a leper was not just a minor skin condition. Not only would you suffer the physical anguish of leprosy, but you would also be an outcast. “His dwelling shall be outside the camp”.

Can you imagine? No family, no friends, you can’t go to church, you must remain isolated and pronounced unclean. If anyone came near, you would yell “UNCLEAN!” You approached no one, and no one approached you. Eventually, you would die. Alone and abandoned. Until then, you would remain alive, but simply put, you would be a walking corpse awaiting your physical death.

The leprous man mentioned in Mark 1 presumably heard from far off the stories and the shouts of joy from people being healed by Jesus. Seeing this Jesus as his only hope, he approaches the Lord. Again, approaching was something you DID NOT DO as a leper. He approaches him in humbleness saying, “If you are willing, you can make me clean,” and Jesus did so in his compassion and mercy.

Ephesians 2 speaks of how we are DEAD in our sins. Our sin problem makes us unclean like the leper. Separated from God (dwelling outside the camp). Yes, we are “alive”, but our uncleanliness makes us dead and keeps us from eternal life. Who can make us clean? Who can take away our sin? Not one of us has the power to do this.

“Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Christ the Lord willfully went to the cross and cleansed us of our sin. We were unclean. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” Ephesians 2:4-5. Praise the Lord!

Kyle White