Recently, we have learned a lot about isolation. Being cut off from human contact is incredibly hard! However, if you had leprosy in the first century your experience would have been even worse. There was no Netflix to binge, no church to watch on a livestream, and no phone calls. You would have been isolated with other lepers, left completely alone, you would be ceremonially unclean, and anyone who touched you was at great risk of catching the disease and were considered unclean. Not only were you physically isolated, but you would have been considered dangerous. So there’s no surprise that a person with leprosy would have done anything to be clean.

In this passage today, a man with leprosy begs Jesus that if he is willing, Jesus can make him clean. He approaches Jesus knowing that all Jesus has to do is be willing. He believes that Jesus has the ability to do this! Jesus’ response was to be full of compassion (the NIV here goes with ‘indignant’ but with the footnote that ‘many manuscripts have ‘compassion’). Not only that, but he risks his own infection, he risks becoming ceremonially unclean and he reaches out his hand and touches the man! Remember, you aren’t supposed to touch or even go near a person with leprosy! However, Jesus has deep compassion, and the man was completely, fully healed.

Now why Jesus tells this man not to tell anyone we will unpack later on but for now, it goes along with his priority to preach. He doesn’t want to just be seen as a miracle worker performing tricks, but the Son of God come to teach and redeem the world. Here again, we see glimpses of the Kingdom of God, where the outcasts of society are welcomed in, the sick healed, and where grace and compassion know no boundaries. MC

Questions

Prayer

Lord God, thank you that you are a God of deep compassion and abounding in love. Give us the same mind of Jesus, that others may see our compassion for all in society and see you at work. In Jesus Name, Amen.