and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed."
The example of Jesus at prayer is nestled in this power-passage for a very clear reason. We can, like our Savior, throw ourselves before our God who is the source of power and the source of change.
The leper had this theology down pat in today's Gospel passage: “If you choose, you can make me clean." What an amazing statement of simple faith recognizing limitless ability! And Jesus was affected by it; he was filled with compassion.
Jesus has life-over-death power. And he uses it with compassion to make hope and healing and restoration and redemption all hallmarks of his kingdom.
That is why we worship this Jesus. That is why we read about and listen to this Jesus. That is why we alter our entire lifestyles according to the will of this Jesus. That is why we call this Jesus our Good Shepherd, our Daily Bread, our Hope, our Savior, our Lord.
This is our Jesus. This is our theology. This is our hope. This is our prayer.
