Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 - What is God saying here?

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These were the first readings at todays Mass:

"And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: The man in whose skin or flesh shalt arise a different colour or a blister, or as it were something shining, that is, the stroke of the leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any one of his sons." (Leviticus 13: 1-2)

This was Mosaic Law: anyone with leprosy had to go and be examined by the priests and if they determined that person was indeed suffering from the disease, they were to live a horrible life in a leper colony…

"Now whosoever shall be defiled with the leprosy, and is separated by the judgment of the priest, Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth covered with a cloth, and he shall cry out that he is defiled and unclean. All the time that he is a leper and unclean, he shall dwell alone without the camp." (Leviticus 13: 44-46)

**What is God telling us here? ** I know that God if merciful, loving, fair, and just. I know He doesn’t descriminate someone because they were born with a desease such as leprosy.

During the Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-45), we see how a man suffering from leprosy was cured and made “clean” after he met Jesus and asked Jesus. Jesus then told him to go to the priests (part of the Mosaic Law requirement we see in the earlier reading Leviticus 13:1-2). The man didn’t listen and instead went to tell everyone about him being cured, which Jesus told him not to do…
 
There was no cure for leprosy, and it was believed to be extremely contagious. This is an instance where God’s provision for the nation as a whole took precedence over the welfare of individuals.

(Still merciful, really, when one stops to consider that in other tribal societies, victims of severe communicable diseases were killed.)

A priest told me that because of this stricture, leprosy is still extinct in Israel, although it is endemic in other parts of the Middle East.

Shalom, ICXC NIKA
 
God was concerned with everyone else’s health, too. That reading is background for the Gospel reading. Our Lord is compassionate, and follows the Father’s will.
 
A_G said:
These were the first readings at todays Mass:
During the Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-45), we see how a man suffering from leprosy was cured and made “clean” after he met Jesus and asked Jesus. Jesus then told him to go to the priests (part of the Mosaic Law requirement we see in the earlier reading Leviticus 13:1-2). The man didn’t listen and instead went to tell everyone about him being cured, which Jesus told him not to do…
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Here the man being cured was just so happy about being “clean” that he couldn’t simply stay silent about it. Its like winning a super bowl without shouting out your triumph. Leprosy was basically incurable in those days. Your life changed dramatically if you suffered this disease. It is probable that he lived with others that also suffered from leprosy (this was actually quite common) and told them how he got cured. Since those with leper were left out of society (family, friends etc), coming back would be a miracle really. It must have been the happiest day of his life. Even though Jesus told him to not say anything about it, (except to the Jewish priests) I’m guessing he couldn’t hold himself.
 
A_G said:
These were the first readings at todays Mass:

"And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: The man in whose skin or flesh shalt arise a different colour or a blister, or as it were something shining, that is, the stroke of the leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any one of his sons." (Leviticus 13: 1-2)

This was Mosaic Law: anyone with leprosy had to go and be examined by the priests and if they determined that person was indeed suffering from the disease, they were to live a horrible life in a leper colony…

"Now whosoever shall be defiled with the leprosy, and is separated by the judgment of the priest, Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth covered with a cloth, and he shall cry out that he is defiled and unclean. All the time that he is a leper and unclean, he shall dwell alone without the camp." (Leviticus 13: 44-46)

**What is God telling us here? ** I know that God if merciful, loving, fair, and just. I know He doesn’t descriminate someone because they were born with a desease such as leprosy.

During the Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-45), we see how a man suffering from leprosy was cured and made “clean” after he met Jesus and asked Jesus. Jesus then told him to go to the priests (part of the Mosaic Law requirement we see in the earlier reading Leviticus 13:1-2). The man didn’t listen and instead went to tell everyone about him being cured, which Jesus told him not to do…
Click to expand...
This is also an allegory for those who were cast out for having sinned (being “unclean”) under the first Covenant being healed with the coming of Jesus and the new Covenant. How blessed we are to have a merciful God!
 
Leprosy was not only a personal disease but a societal disease of being forbidden to associate with the community. For the most part, they were required by law to stay outside of the city in a seperate camp. When this man came to Jesus, Jesus touched him, which was also a law violation, that is to touch a leperous person. But this shows that Jesus was above the law which was one of the ideas that irked the Jewish leadership as well as his winning ways with the people. Then Jesus tells the man to show himself to the priests. This is in keeping the law so show that the temple had god’s blessing for guiding people’s lives. Just as in making an act of perfect contrition after sinning, the catholic must show themselves to the church and have the priest’s forgiveness even tho the sin is forgive by the act of love.

It seems from reading this passage Jesus wanted the man’s silence so that he could go about his normal life, because after the man revealed his cure in the public sphere, it says that the public brought the sick to him and he had to seek out privacy.

Just a thought.
 
Leaprosy represents impurity.

A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. (Mark 1:40-42)

Jesus can make you clean. He can take away your impurity.

The people in the Old Testament had to seperate themselves from the community. Jesus however, cures the disease and allows you to rejoin join the community. The law was negative - it caused separation. Jesus’ ministry was positive - it cause people to be joined together.
 
A_G said:
These were the first readings at todays Mass:

"And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: The man in whose skin or flesh shalt arise a different colour or a blister, or as it were something shining, that is, the stroke of the leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any one of his sons." (Leviticus 13: 1-2)

This was Mosaic Law: anyone with leprosy had to go and be examined by the priests and if they determined that person was indeed suffering from the disease, they were to live a horrible life in a leper colony…

"Now whosoever shall be defiled with the leprosy, and is separated by the judgment of the priest, Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth covered with a cloth, and he shall cry out that he is defiled and unclean. All the time that he is a leper and unclean, he shall dwell alone without the camp." (Leviticus 13: 44-46)

**What is God telling us here? **I know that God if merciful, loving, fair, and just. I know He doesn’t descriminate someone because they were born with a desease such as leprosy.

During the Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-45), we see how a man suffering from leprosy was cured and made “clean” after he met Jesus and asked Jesus. Jesus then told him to go to the priests (part of the Mosaic Law requirement we see in the earlier reading Leviticus 13:1-2). The man didn’t listen and instead went to tell everyone about him being cured, which Jesus told him not to do…
Click to expand...
First, while leprosy was not, in fact, contageous, it WAS still very unclean in the sense of biohazards. A leprous person could more easily spread disease through bodily fluids, etc.

But I think that these readings go together VERY well as a prophetic sort of foreshadowing. We see that the leper is unclean and “punished” as a result (he can never live with the tribe)… and then in the Gospel we see how Jesus heals and, as an ironic result, the leper turns Jesus into the one who cannot enter the towns and “live with the tribe”… the sort of foreshadowing that shows Jesus as a healer who takes on the punishment of the disease for Himself, even though He never bore the disease… At any rate, that was my thoughts when listening… 🤷
 
A_G said:
**What is God telling us here? ** I know that God if merciful, loving, fair, and just. I know He doesn’t discriminate someone because they were born with a disease such as leprosy.

During the Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-45), we see how a man suffering from leprosy was cured and made “clean” after he met Jesus and asked Jesus. Jesus then told him to go to the priests (part of the Mosaic Law requirement we see in the earlier reading Leviticus 13:1-2). The man didn’t listen and instead went to tell everyone about him being cured, which Jesus told him not to do…
Click to expand...
Jesus touched the leper before curing him - a clear violation of the rules. I think it is important to reflect on that. Following rules for their own sake is a problem if it increases the distance between you and God.
 
Thank you all for your responses, they’ve really helped:thumbsup:

Also, in the Gospel reading:

A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. (Mark 1:40-42)

It is clear that the man suffering from this disease asked God to make him “clean,” if God wishes, or wills it. This can apply to any of us also. We can ask for God to touch us, and only by that touch can we be made “clean.” The man asked Him, and also said he will submit to God’s will. God was moved by this, and decided to touch the man and make him clean.
 
Basically from the Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-42), the man asked a favor from God, but said he will submit to God no matter what His decision. The man asked Him, and also said he will submit to God’s will, no matter if God touches him or not. God was moved by this, and decided to touch the man and make him clean. 👍
 
By virtue of being both God and man, Jesus didn’t really fit into the ritual purity laws. He chose to follow the normal provisions most of the time; but there were higher considerations, like the way you were allowed to do work on the Sabbath if it was saving somebody’s life, etc. That’s not breaking the Law; it’s keeping a higher level of the Law.

Jesus could not possibly become unclean by touching anyone, because of the nature of who He was. The Law was part of Him, because the Law is part of God’s Word; He couldn’t possibly break it. He could appeal over it to the higher part of the Law, and He had the authority to exempt others from it and institute new rules and institutions (as He did). He fulfilled the Law’s meaning, and thus did not need to discard anything of the letter of the Law.

Also, to be fair, He was giving everybody who came into contact with Him a break, by considering Himself to act as a man under the Law. Being in direct contact with God could have been both ritually and physically dangerous, after all! He wasn’t going to make everybody wash up every five minutes when they were around Him, and moan that they were going to die because they’d seen God.
 
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