Leprosy- A skin condition that makes others stay far away. In biblical times laws were written to maintain distance between those affected and those not affected. 50 paces minimum distance, no temples because one person with leprosy could contaminate everything they go near. Prayer wouldn’t help those people, nothing could make the leprosy go away.
Nothing except Jesus. He touched this man by choice, choosing to make this ‘unclean’ man clean, taking away all of his sins at the same process. Jesus chose to inherit every sin we have ever committed by dying on the cross for us.
A few days ago I was listening to a podcast on Mark 1:40, The Man with Leprosy. The podcast was about the danger of losing yourself. We can become consumed by our issues eventually losing ourselves and identity in those issues. The man from the passage was not at fault for having leprosy, we now know that it is actually not that contagious. It can only be spread through close and repeated contact with the nose and mouth droplets with someone who has untreated leprosy. It isn’t spread by the air or being within 50 paces of another person. Not to say it can’t be spread, because it is still common throughout the world but we have more information now. With leprosy today those affected are not treated as dirty individuals, they receive treatment and go on with life. It was believed that individuals with leprosy were of no value to society and had not hope to thrive again.
In verse 40, this man comes to Jesus begging on his hands and knees to be made clean. Jesus who was filled with compassion reached out and touched the man, displaying his disregard for the laws of leprosy, instead choosing to see this man as a human worthy of his gift. God knows exactly what we need and if we are willing to ask for it then he will always provide. Grace is contagious! Jesus showed grace to this man choosing to love him, and in doing so made his healing power contagious to the leprosy. Jesus didn’t just heal the mans skin, he took all his sins away fully cleaning him.
After the podcast ended, during breakfast a pigeon was hit by a car right in front of me. It was ugly, it had warts on its face, it looked like it was blind, and it had trouble walking and was missing feathers showing red raw skin. As I was sitting at the bar top table at our cafe and hostel enjoying my breakfast a Thai man ran across the street to get the bird out of the gutter. He scooped him up, choosing to hold him close to his heart before safely placing the bird in a flowerpot at my feet. He never said anything, never looked at me; he stood up and kept walking presumably to work. But in that time of silence I heard a voice saying, this is leprosy. Will you touch him? Will you help him? This ugly, dirty pigeon is far less than perfect; in fact it is hard to look at. He is unwanted. He is sick.
In that moment when the voice said this is leprosy, I knew I had to touch him. I knew I had to help him in any way that I could. I wasn’t afraid of catching the ‘disease’, I wasn’t afraid of being bitten. I was afraid the bird would be hit again, killing him this time. I ripped off a piece of my waffle to offer to the bird, pushed me seat back, scraping it against the concrete floor, and stood up. I ran around the fence of the cafe to the sidewalk and the bird slowly making its way closer to the street. When my hands went near him he calmly stepped into my hand, he allowed me to hold him close, to look at him in all his imperfect beauty. In that moment I felt so protective over this pigeon, nothing was going to happen to him now that he was safe in my arms. As I stood up, unsure of what to do next I pulled the pigeon in close to my chest and I could feel him relax. He trusted me; he sat in my hand fully content with his current situation.
The best option I could do for him was find him a safe place because our hostel wouldn’t like a pigeon in the cafe. I took him across the street to put him behind a row of planters far away from the street. But he wouldn’t let go of my hand; he clung on and looked at me. I looked back. His eyes weren’t there, he was covered in warts, his eyes swollen shut, but he saw me. And I saw him.
The people around me were shocked, grossed out that I would touch a dirty bird, but this is my leprosy. These are my sins being cared for and taken by Jesus. Cleansing me to enter into the Church and to stand in his presence. Who am I to ignore leprosy when Jesus had time for the man. I have time for the pigeon, time to show grace and love I have learned from my heavenly father.
Jesus wants the unclean.
Grace is contagious!
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