40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
I was just reading about this text in a Greek Grammar of all places. The idea of performative word acts. Jesus says, "I will; be clean." Jesus does not just speak these words but he also performs the act of making the Leper clean. It is God who continues to work through performative word acts.
At a Wedding someone stands up and pronounces the couple Man and Wife. In this pronouncement , the act actual takes place. When someone confesses their sins, it is through their words the actual act of confession takes place. Likewise, the confession of your faith is an act that takes place in your speaking. But these acts are not quite the same as pronouncing a couple Man and Wife or cleansing a leper.
When the Pastor pronounces the forgiveness of sins, It is in the speaking of the priest that your sins are actually removed from you and nailed to the cross. It is in the speaking of the Word of God that the Word of God actually does its work. Likewise, in Baptism the Baptizer says, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." These spoken words perform the act of Baptism.
Here we remember that it is the Word of God, which makes the Sacraments valid. It is Christ's own words, which pronounce you cleansed of all unrighteousness.
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