You Can Make Me Clean

This little story is remarkable in the anonymity of its detail. It takes place at an unknown time, in “one of the towns”; the “leper” is unnamed. “Leprosy” in the New Testament is not leprosy as we know it; the term covered a range of skin diseases, any of which made you a social outcast. Can you imagine what it must feel like when people are forbidden to touch you, you are forbidden to touch others and you are labeled “unclean”? So much is communicated by touch that words cannot express. So for a leper to approach Jesus for healing took great courage. At the same time, we see Jesus’ courage. He actually touches him, just as he had touched the crowds in Capernaum. You would think that Jesus ran the risk of contracting leprosy, but the influence works in the other direction. Imagine how the man must have felt now. The skin disease is instantly gone. With a visit to the priest he is restored to his community.

This is a typical story, so familiar in outline that, as one commentator observes, we have a déjà vu experience as we read it. It is easy to see ourselves in this picture. We have hurts and failures in our lives which, for good reasons, we cannot share with other people, but we can bring them to Jesus. His touch has power.

Despite Jesus’ command to the man not to tell anyone, the story gets out. Word reached Jerusalem, with serious consequences (see Luke 5:17,21). Jesus, meanwhile, sought out privacy to pray. This was part of the rhythm of his life, noted especially by Luke. Jesus consistently refuses the adulation of the crowds. Instead, he seeks out time alone with his Father, drawing on him for strength and guidance.

When, like the leper, have you felt shunned by others? How did Jesus “touch” you? Who are the “lepers” in your life, and how can you touch them for Christ?