<p>5:12 <i>And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities, that there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, saying- </i>The Greek literally means to bow or crouch. Perhaps it is being used here in that literal sense, inviting us then to imagine the Lord extending His hand to the kneeling man (:13). Or the idea could be that the man's worship was not in any external display of respect, but in the fact he believed in the Lord's ability and power to respond to his request. In this case, the man worshipped Jesus&nbsp;<i>in saying</i>&nbsp;&quot;If You will, You can...&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Begging&quot; is the Greek <i>parakleo</i>; and John's Gospel records at length the Lord's promise to be our<i> parakletos</i>, doing the work of comfort and entreaty, <i>parakleo</i>, for <i>us</i>. We see here the mutuality between a man and his Lord; both relate to each other in the same passionate way, in prayer from our side and in the Lord's gracious response from His side. The <i>parakleo</i> group of words are appropriate to both sides of the relationship.</p><p><i>Lord, if you will, you can make me clean</i>- The Lord replied that this was indeed His will (:13). This coincidence of human will with that of our Lord is what fellowship with Him and answered prayer is all about. The phrase &quot;If You will, You can...&quot; is recorded identically in all three of the synoptics (Mk. 1:40; Lk. 5:12), as if they all wished to draw attention to the man's attitude and make an example of it- accepting that the Lord has all power (&quot;can&quot; =&nbsp;<i>dunamai</i>), but that our will is not always His.</p><p>The man recognized that it was within the Lord's power to heal him, but he also recognized that the Lord's will is not always ours, as His longer term plan may require Him not to respond to our request in the immediate term. This is a great example to us. For he would have been aware that the Lord did not heal all human need which He encountered; He had just left Simon's house, apparently because He didn't want to cure all the crowds surely gathering there for healing.</p><p>Faith is inculcated by an appreciation of the height of Christ&rsquo;s exaltation. He now has all power in Heaven and in earth, and this in itself should inspire us with faith in prayer and hope in His coming salvation. On the basis of passages like Ex. 4:7; Num. 12:10-15; 2 Kings 5:7,8, &ldquo;leprosy was regarded as a &ldquo;stroke&quot; only to be removed by the Divine hand which had imposed it&quot; (L.G. Sargent,<i> The Gospel Of The Son Of God</i>, p. 28). The leper lived with this understanding, and yet he saw in Jesus nothing less than God manifest. Inspired by the height of the position which he gave Jesus in his heart, he could ask him in faith for a cure: &ldquo;If You will, You can as only God was understood to be able to make me clean&quot;.</p>