Purity in a Messy World

A few weeks ago, Air Force One touched down at RAF Lossiemouth. Whatever your opinion of Donald Trump, it’s not every day the U.S. President lands in Moray. It was, by any measure, an event.
But not everyone was thrilled. Roads were closed, routes blocked, and police cordons made even a quick trip across town a labyrinth. One resident told me (and I’m not sure if it’s true!) that those living near the base weren’t even allowed to walk outside—they had to get in their cars and drive straight off their property.
You couldn’t just stroll up to the runway and say hello. There were barriers—layers of exclusion. You simply can’t walk into the presence of a world leader.
That experience of exclusion gives us a glimpse into the life of the man we meet in Mark 1:40–45—a man who wasn’t just excluded from VIPs, but from everyone.

The Malady That Excludes

“A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’”— Mark 1:40
Leprosy in the first century was devastating. Painful, disfiguring, and incurable, it isolated its victims from family, community, and worship. Lepers were considered ritually unclean—cut off not only from society but from God’s temple.
This man lives in total exclusion. No one would touch him. No one would come near him. Yet he dares to approach Jesus and fall to his knees. “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Notice that word—clean. He doesn’t just want healing; aware of his ritual state of impurity, he longs to be made pure, restored, whole again.

The Mission of Jesus

By this point in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ reputation is exploding. He’s been teaching with an authority that silences other preachers. He’s driven out demons. He’s healed crowds of the sick.
Naturally, people want more miracles. But when Jesus retreats in solitude, and the disciples badger him saying “everyone is looking for you,” his reply is surprising:
“Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” — Mark 1:38
Healing wasn’t his main mission. His priority was to preach—to proclaim a message so vital that even physical miracles were secondary.
And what was that message? Just a few verses earlier, Mark summarizes it:
“The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” — Mark 1:15
In other words, Jesus came not only to heal sick bodies but to cleanse sinful hearts. The leper’s disease is a vivid picture of a deeper problem—the impurity of our sin that separates us from God.

The Mercy That Cleanses

“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.” — Mark 1:41–42
Jesus’ reaction is striking. Some translations say he was “moved with compassion,” others “filled with indignation.” Either way, it’s a deep emotional response—anger at the ravages of disease and sin, and compassion for the suffering man before him.
Then comes the miracle: Jesus touches him.
He didn’t need to—he could heal with a word. But Jesus chooses to touch the untouchable. The one who should have made Jesus “unclean” is instead made clean by him. In that moment, the man is restored.
And in this act, Jesus gives us a glimpse of his ultimate mission—to cleanse the impure, to restore the excluded, to bring sinners back into the presence of God.

The Mistake to Avoid

Jesus tells the healed man not to spread the word but to go to the priest, following the Old Testament law. Why? Because people were in danger of misunderstanding him. Crowds wanted a miracle-worker, not a Messiah; relief, not repentance.
That temptation is still with us. It’s easy to want Jesus as a healer, helper, or moral guide—but not as the one who confronts and cleanses our sin.
Yet Jesus insists: our greatest need isn’t physical or emotional wellness—it’s spiritual purity. We need forgiveness, restoration, cleansing from the inside out.

The Message for us

Later in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus explains how he came to do that:
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”— Mark 10:45
At the cross, Jesus took on himself all the impurity, guilt, and judgement we deserve. He died in our place, paying the price to set us free. And when he rose from the dead, he proved that the debt was fully paid and that new life is possible.
The leper came to Jesus with desperate need and a simple prayer: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
And Jesus’ answer still stands: “I am willing.”
Whatever your past, whatever guilt or shame you carry, Jesus is still willing. Still able. Still reaching out a hand of grace to make the unclean clean again.

“If you are willing…”
He is.

You can watch the whole sermon below, read the full text, download the service sheet (with outline).