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NotWorthy
Guest
What’s your favorite story of the bible and why. Mine is the story of the Leper and Jesus. Read on and you’ll see why: (I borrowed liberally from Tim Gray’s Mission of the Messiah on this passage)
One of my favorite incidents is the one between Jesus and the leper. Leprosy was in Jesus’ day what AIDS is today for it included a life of suffering and abandonment. In ancient Israel, anyone with leprosy was exiled, by law, from his family and community, left to “dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp” (Lev. 13:46). Lepers were declared “unclean” which led to their being barred from the Temple and any participation in its liturgy. Lepers thus found themselves exiled from family, society, and even the Temple where the Lord dwelt in the midst of Israel.
While Jesus was visiting one of the many villages in Galilee, a leper throws himself down on his face before Him. According to the Torah, lepers were not to enter the village; they were quarantined from social contact. The leper must have heard about Jesus, so he decided to act. He must have hidden under a cloak, and made his way through the crowd that gathered around Jesus to hear the Word of God. In a desperate gamble, the leper threw off his cloak, and cast himself at the mercy of this prophet from Nazareth. Luke tells us that the man was full of leprosy; so his face and body would have been disfigured and he would be filled with oozing sores and pus. Imagine the reaction of the crowd when this contagious man walked right through their midst to confront Jesus. All stepped back in fear; all except Jesus. The leper speaks his case plainly, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (Lk. 5:12). This is one of the most profound declarations of faith I have ever seen in the bible. What does the leper say? He doesn’t say, “Heal me.” He says, “Make me clean”. Not only does the leper demonstrate faith in Jesus but also he shows a purity of intention that is as astonishing as his healing. By making him clean, the leper will be restored to the Temple and its liturgy. More than the end of his social and physical exile, more than the end of his illness, the leper desires to end his liturgical exile and once again enter the house of the Lord to worship Yahweh and participate in Israel’s liturgy.
The astonished crowd looks on to see what the Nazarene will do. What Jesus does, shocks the crowd. He reaches out, touches the leper, and says, “I will; be clean” (Lk. 5:13). Anyone who was ritually unclean could not touch someone who was clean. If this happened, the clean would become unclean, preventing someone from worshipping in the temple. It would take several sacrifices, ritual washings, and other purifications in order to be cleansed. You can imagine how stunned the crowd was when Jesus willingly touches the leper. But instead of Jesus’ becoming unclean upon contact with the leper, the opposite happens. Jesus has brought a new power of purity that has not been seen in all of the Old Covenant. Jesus has proved that He is more powerful than the sin, death, and defilement that leprosy signifies. The leper experiences the return from exile, the new exodus that comes from encountering Christ.
Thanks for reading:
Notworthy
One of my favorite incidents is the one between Jesus and the leper. Leprosy was in Jesus’ day what AIDS is today for it included a life of suffering and abandonment. In ancient Israel, anyone with leprosy was exiled, by law, from his family and community, left to “dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp” (Lev. 13:46). Lepers were declared “unclean” which led to their being barred from the Temple and any participation in its liturgy. Lepers thus found themselves exiled from family, society, and even the Temple where the Lord dwelt in the midst of Israel.
While Jesus was visiting one of the many villages in Galilee, a leper throws himself down on his face before Him. According to the Torah, lepers were not to enter the village; they were quarantined from social contact. The leper must have heard about Jesus, so he decided to act. He must have hidden under a cloak, and made his way through the crowd that gathered around Jesus to hear the Word of God. In a desperate gamble, the leper threw off his cloak, and cast himself at the mercy of this prophet from Nazareth. Luke tells us that the man was full of leprosy; so his face and body would have been disfigured and he would be filled with oozing sores and pus. Imagine the reaction of the crowd when this contagious man walked right through their midst to confront Jesus. All stepped back in fear; all except Jesus. The leper speaks his case plainly, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (Lk. 5:12). This is one of the most profound declarations of faith I have ever seen in the bible. What does the leper say? He doesn’t say, “Heal me.” He says, “Make me clean”. Not only does the leper demonstrate faith in Jesus but also he shows a purity of intention that is as astonishing as his healing. By making him clean, the leper will be restored to the Temple and its liturgy. More than the end of his social and physical exile, more than the end of his illness, the leper desires to end his liturgical exile and once again enter the house of the Lord to worship Yahweh and participate in Israel’s liturgy.
The astonished crowd looks on to see what the Nazarene will do. What Jesus does, shocks the crowd. He reaches out, touches the leper, and says, “I will; be clean” (Lk. 5:13). Anyone who was ritually unclean could not touch someone who was clean. If this happened, the clean would become unclean, preventing someone from worshipping in the temple. It would take several sacrifices, ritual washings, and other purifications in order to be cleansed. You can imagine how stunned the crowd was when Jesus willingly touches the leper. But instead of Jesus’ becoming unclean upon contact with the leper, the opposite happens. Jesus has brought a new power of purity that has not been seen in all of the Old Covenant. Jesus has proved that He is more powerful than the sin, death, and defilement that leprosy signifies. The leper experiences the return from exile, the new exodus that comes from encountering Christ.
Thanks for reading:
Notworthy
Ruth is much better - she was submissive, to Naomi & Boaz. Much more my kind of woman that head choppers like Judith 
