Context: Jesus is getting started in his ministry. In each of the synoptic gospels this incident is fairly early on in the story. He is doing Kingdom things - healing the sick, driving out the demons, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, gathering the beginnings of a community around him who are called to engage with the things he is doing. He has not long since healed Peter's Mother in law from a high fever; then he miraculously led the disciples to an amazing the catch of fish and then promised Peter, "from now on you will be catching men and women for the Kingdom of God". (But what kind of men and women?) Peter and Andrew, James and John have left their nets to follow Jesus.
The Story...
Then... a man full of leprosy comes asking for help.
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| Mycobacterium Leprae - Image US Federal Resource in Public Domain |
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| Leprosy sufferer. Image in public Domain |
Today is World Leprosy Sunday and we think and pray for those who are affected by this disease, and are supporting the Leprosy Mission. Most people are naturally immune, but today over 90% of those affected by leprosy live in developing countries where resources are scarce. Life expectancy can be reduced by up to 50%, mainly due to economic hardship.
Back in Jesus' day, the Jewish law said that people with leprosy had to wear torn clothes and let their hair hang loose; and they had to stay away from other people. If they did come near people they had to shout "unclean". (See Leviticus 13. 45f) Sometimes they were expected to ring a bell or use a wooden clapper to warn people. They could only be allowed to mix with people when one of the priests had examined them and way satisfied the leprosy had gone away. A person with leprosy could have lesions on their skin; they could look frightening. They might be lame or have lost a limb; they would definitely be begging...
The Point
So the man says to Jesus, "If you will, you can." The big question is, "What does Jesus want?"
Jesus response is immediate and unquestioning. He touches the guy (a radical step for a rabbi to touch an unclean person) and says, "I will, be clean." Jesus wants to make things better.
This matter of the will of Jesus is important. Jesus doesn't will evil or illness on people. If he did, why would there be a Leprosy Mission at all? Isn't the whole enterprise of a Leprosy Mission an act of defiance to the will of God? Well the Story of the Leprosy Mission and of Dr Stanley Browne, who was a BMS medical missionary away back in the 1930's and whose research and campaigning to eradicate leprosy earned him the nickname "Mister Leprosy" is one of defiance all right - though not against the will of God but against the status quo of an enemy who loves to destroy and diminish human lives. And the story of Jesus is a story of that same defiance - as he reached his hand out to this man filled with leprosy. Cleansing lepers was a sign of the Messianic age (Luke 7. 22)
Jesus wants sick people to be healed. Jesus wants diseases like leprosy to be eradicated. Jesus wants outcasts to become accepted. Jesus wants the stigma of a disease like leprosy to be done away with. In saying "I will" Jesus was showing us the direction in which the sovereign will of God is orientated. God wants to bring healing. Rabbis said that cleansing leprosy as just as difficult as raising the dead. But Jesus did it. The man was immediately better. Jesus wanted to and did make him better. Jesus has the power.
The Problem
But what Jesus didn't want was only to be healing people with leprosy What Jesus didn't want was to have his ministry diverted to become nothing more than just this healing work. What Jesus didn't want was to be swamped with so many people clamoring for healing that he could not deal with deeper stuff in people's lives... And what he didn't want was to simply be a rebel against the establishment. So he tells the man to go straight to the priest and let the priest certify him fit. That was part of the job of a Jewish priest. The healing ministry in the Church today is meant to work alongside the medical profession.
And it is intended to be part of a process that tackles the deeper issues in people's lives - the next person Jesus healed was a guy whose friends got him to Jesus buy the unusual expedient of breaking thought the roof and lowering him down in front of Jesus. The first thing Jesus said to this man was not, "How did you get here?" or even "What do you want me to do for you?" His first words to the guy were, "Your Sins are forgiven". Then he healed him.
A little later, Jesus called someone else - Levi the tax collector. I did my annual tax return this week. So I can sympathise with the Jewish people who hated tax-collectors. But this wasn't just working for the Revenue; this was working for the Romans and looking after "number One". Tax collectors were seen as traitors and cheats (and usually they had earned that reputation!) Jesus was criticized for hanging about with people like that. His answer: "Who needs the doctor?" Obviously it isn't the healthy people but the sick.
The Difference
So - like Simon and Andrew, James and John - who left their nets to become fishers of men - and like Levi - who left his tax-collector's stall in the market to throw a big party for Jesus, we are called to follow the Jesus who said, "I Want to, be clean." We are called to be part of his exciting, outrageous, generous, journey through the land, making things better not just on the outside but on the inside too.
What does Jesus want? He wants to make things better. He wants to bring God's Kingdom. He wants to forgive and heal. He still wants to touch our lives with his healing for the outside and the inside. And he still wants you and me to be involved in that too: through our support for ministries like Leprosy Mission, or BMS or WEC. And though our words and our touch as we share the Good news with people in our neighborhood, and pray for their healing.
© Gilmour Lilly January 2012
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