Touching the Untouchable
Mark 1: 40-45, Psalm 30
I don’t like snakes. I know God created them and they are important to eco-systems, but I don’t like them. It is only with the greatest willpower that I tolerate green snakes and black snakes. I’m not by myself. I’m thinking of the Indiana Ark
In the first century, disease was a great fear for most people. No one was immune because the practice of medicine and scientific knowledge were nowhere near the level of advancement that we enjoy today. A common cold could turn into pneumonia. There were few cures for disease. Probably the most dreaded disease of that time was leprosy. Modern day antibiotics can treat and cure leprosy, but in Jesus’ day, there was no cure. In those days, leprosy was a death sentence and in more ways than one. It would indeed kill its victims over 9-30 years, depending on the strain of the disease. It was progressive death where one must live with a body rotting from the inside out. Disfigurement was inevitable. Fingers and toes, even hands and feet, would literally fall off from the rot.
Perhaps of more importance is the way that leprosy cut off its victims from the rest of the world. Leprosy was a skin disease, but the word at that time was used to cover all skin diseases, whether they were run of the mill psoriasis or ringworm or leprosy proper. The judgment was the same for all. Skin disease left one unclean, and to be unclean was to be cut off from ordinary society. Lepers were quite literally dead men walking. They were required to wear black garments for all to recognize them. They had to live outside normal town life either alone or in a leper colony. They could not come to church. They were allowed to peer through the “squint” holes cut in the church walls. Lepers in first century Palestine
Mark’s story about this leper is very short…only a few verses and yet, there are some valuable and lasting lessons that may be gleaned from it. On the surface, it is one of the first miracles performed by Jesus. We all see it as a kind and compassionate act for a man in great need who appealed in faith to Jesus’ healing power. But there are some other lessons here as well. Like so many stories in the gospel narratives, there are stories and lessons within the story if we just dig a little deeper.
First, there is the leper’s behavior. There were rules for lepers in those days, and this leper was breaking them all. Leviticus 13 (45, 46) set out the rules for those with skin diseases. They were to wear torn clothes. They were to let their hair be unkempt. They were to cover the lower part of their face and cry out “Unclean, Unclean” as long as they had the infection. Lastly they were to live outside the camp, away from the clean folks lest they be exposed. The leper of Mark 1 has lost his rulebook. He comes right to Jesus and drops to his knees. There is no cry of “Unclean” from him, although I suspect that the crowd of people following Jesus had parted like the waters of the Red Sea when he came into their midst. They probably were calling out “Unclean.” Nevertheless this rogue leper has made his way all the way to Jesus where he is on his knees asking for the healing that is impossible outside of a miracle. So he asks, or rather begs, saying: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” This is not acceptable behavior. Where are the Pharisees when you need them? This guy is over the line. There are rules for this sort of thing, and the leper has ignored them all. When he finally reaches Jesus, his faith in Jesus’ power and authority is obvious. Not so obvious is whether this man thinks that Jesus’ mercy is as available to a poor leper as it might be to someone higher up the social food chain. He will not have long to wait for his answer.
Second, there is Jesus’ behavior toward Satan. Look at Mark 1: 41. Most translations say that Jesus was “filled with compassion,” but that thought draws heavily on what follows. We will get to that in a moment, but first, let’s look at this phrase about compassion. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary points out that the phrase is more accurately translated “being angered.” This is the reading that is found in older, more reliable manuscripts. So why would Jesus be angry? Well, here he was being confronted with yet another troubled soul with disease in his body. Perhaps Jesus recognized the disease as the devil’s doing, like so many other plagues in the world both then and now. If so, Jesus’ anger was not for the man or even the disease, but for Satan, whose work Jesus came to destroy. So Jesus is angered, perhaps filled with anger. Repeatedly in the gospels we see Jesus doing battle with Satan and cautioning the disciples that the “ruler of this world,” meaning Satan, must be reckoned with.
Third, there is Jesus’ physical action toward the leper. He reaches out his hand and touches the leper. Then he says; “I am willing. Be clean.” The leper was cured then and there. The leper now has his answer. Jesus’ mercy extends to all who believe. Don’t miss the significance of this act. Jesus’ act of touching the leper made Jesus himself unclean under the law. He certainly knew this. Yet he reached out his hand and touched the leper anyway. This is one of those times when we must remember that Jesus was not only the Son of God; he also was the Son of Man. As the son of Mary, he was subject to all the diseases to which everyone else was subject. Now the leper had nothing to lose. For all practical purposes, he had nothing to live for except more pain, more suffering, more humiliation. But Jesus! Jesus was on the front end of his ministry. And here he was reaching out to a man clearly riddled with the most deadly disease in the land. He touched the untouchable! It is a further explanation, demonstration if you will, of who Jesus was. In taking on the flesh of man, Jesus became one of us. In taking on the burdens of the flesh, he walked with us and shared our pain. In reaching out to the leper, Jesus lived out his decision to take our flesh upon himself that he might cleanse our sin (Expositors Bible Commentary). And Jesus made it clear then, as he makes clear this very moment, that he will not stand on ceremony! If the ceremonial law gets in the way of compassion and love, it will not be observed by this radical Savior of ours.
Jesus takes the law and turns it inside out. He takes our regulations and turns them on their heads. Jesus is concerned with purity, but it is the purity of the heart with which he is concerned. Jesus is concerned with obedience of the law, but it is the law of love which he observes. As surely as the diseased person among us, like the leper of old, can part a sea of humanity to get to his goal, so can our Savior reach out his hand and touch that which is impure, that which is unclean, that which repulses… and make it pure as the driven snow.
Yes, the leper of Mark 1 is the recipient of Jesus’ healing hand by the leper’s own act of faith or maybe desperation, and that makes for a good lesson. But the stories within the story are of equal or greater value. The leper will not be denied his chance at salvation and healing. He will break all the rules for the one true prize. He will break line and get on his knees and, drawn by his faith, he will seek God’s grace. That grace is found in the man called Jesus.
Our Savior is not just the meek and mild Sermoneer of the Mountain giving out beatitudes. He is equally the radical, the revolutionary, and he has a temper. Yes, he walks softly, but where he walks, one must tremble at his authority. We may understand clearly once again from this story that our Jesus is no Clark Kent. He is Superman. Finally, we see again our own salvation in the love and compassion that will ignore the convention to get to the person. Jesus is personal. Jesus is relational. He reaches out for you and me this day to cure our ills and make straight our paths and he says to us: “I am willing. Be clean!” Like the leper of Mark 1, may we go out and speak freely, spreading the good news to all who would listen. And may we also, in his name, touch the untouchable!
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