Opening: read Leviticus 13:1-46;14:1-20. It’s uncomfortable, but really imagine your skin and the skin of others as we read this. How does this make you feel? God cares about the skin he created. He cares about the dirty details. This passage gives us a sense of what this man in the Gospel story was going through and what Jesus was taking on in interacting with him in the way he did.
Luke 5:12-16
So, we’re moving beyond various reactions of wonder and pondering, and even beyond one-off attempts at belief and obedience, into the call to discipleship. The first step is like Peter’s: Jesus meets us right where we’re at in what we’re doing and shows himself to be Lord of that area so profoundly that we fall at his feet confessing we’re sinners who are unworthy of his presence. He graciously allays our fears and raises us up and shocks us with the news that we’re going to follow him and learn to do his work, to participate in his salvation-plan for the world.
Now Luke will narrate two more episodes focused on the theme of sinners in need of a Saviour before rounding out this section with the call of another disciple that also rounds out the theme of Jesus as friend and healer to sinners who know they’re sinners.
The Need for Cleansing
Out of all the many healings taking place in Jesus’ ministry, Luke (and other Gospel writers) single out this one. This is partly to give that individual touch to the narrative and partly because this particular scene of the Lord choosing freely and generously to touch and cleanse the lowest of outcasts is so emblematic to the imagination of the Evangelists, especially Luke with his emphasis on the marginalized: this is one of those key pictures of Jesus; the image of him graciously reaching out to this leper with healing is one that should inform our imaginations, one that we should carry around with us as part our portrait of Jesus.
5:12—cf. 5:8 ke his touch may have nothing to do with the healing here. It simply accompanies his commanty and unworthiness. Yet his misery drives him to venture, to risk seeking the Lord’s healing and cleansing. (There are as many varieties to stories of faith, of encounter with Jesus, as there are people in the world. And yet any and all of these stories can be embodied by any and all of us.)
Note the leper’s half-faith, his incomplete and unsure searching. Jesus gladly takes us on such terms.
The Lord’s Willingness
‘The leper knows Jesus’ capability, but he is uncertain of the extent of his compassion. The extent of Jesus’ compassion is revealed here. In the modern world it is perhaps the exact reverse. Today’s person on the street does not doubt Jesus’ compassion but does question his capability. Accounts like this demonstrate that Jesus opened himself to all.’ (Bock, 102)
The leper has obviously heard of Jesus’ healing power, but at this point he has no idea just how far Jesus’ ministry extends – even to the lowest of the low like him? It’s outrageous the desperate hope and wonder the person and work of Jesus can draw out of hurting humans.
Leper: ‘if you want’; Jesus: ‘I want to’ (Wright, 56).
Jesus shows us the heart of his Father that is willing to compassionately cleanse humanity from its ‘sin disease’ (Wesley). There is no one outside the scope of his attention and compassion. God wants to cleanse you and make you whole, beginning with your heart and ending with your body, mind, and soul in glory.
The Lord’s Touch
‘The physical communication of charity meant suffering ceremonial uncleanness that could affect his involvement in corporate worship. Given that Jesus’ other miracles have occurred through the mere speaking of his word, it’s clear that the act of touching is conscious. The healing is immediate; the compassion is demonstrable. Jesus is able and willing.’ (Bock, 102)
Jesus did not have to touch – he could simply verbally command healing. In fact, it looks like his touch may have nothing toe and Jesus’ deeds that Israelites will come to saving faithd to ‘be clean’.
Imagine how long this suffering man has lived without human touch and what that has done to him emotionally and psychologically.
A ‘ hug, a handshake, an embrace, a kiss, a light touch on the arm. A good deal of human communication takes place, not in words, but in gestures like that. To be cut off from all such contact is therefore almost as serious as losing one’s sight or hearing. So much sheer love is conveyed by touch. Nobody had touched this man, we may suppose, for years. His body was now riddled with the disease; it had clearly been, quite literally, eating away at him for a long time. And now Jesus reached out and touched him. We can only imagine the sense of awe and joy that this brought to the leper.’ (Wright, 57)
The Miracle of Cleansing
Then, the miraculous cleansing occurs (note that the disease ‘left him’, like demons leave someone).
‘In theory, this action should have made Jesus both ceremonially unclean and liable to contract the actual disease. But, as with so many of his healings, it worked the other way round. His cleanness, his healing power, “infected” the man, just as the love and grace of his touch must have gone though his whole personality like a hot drink on a cold day.’ (Wright, 57-58)
This is an amazing epidemic of inclusive, healing holiness. Instead of Jesus’ purity blasting the impure away, it blasts their impurities away and leaves them cleansed, renewed, whole, and reintegrated to themselves, their community, and God.
If we will get near him with even half-faith, he will infect us with his grace, mercy, love, purity, and holiness. It will spread from him to us.
The Proof
Jesus wants to convince people through this miracle but he doesn’t want ‘popularity’, which will actually be counterproductive at this time to the kind of Messiah he must show himself to be.
Note that he links himself again to the O.T.: he is the fulfilment of what Moses preached and prophesied.
Showing himself to the priests in accordance with Leviticus 13-14 would also make it possible for the man to be ‘officially’ declared clean so that society and family could accept him on normal terms again.
The Report
Gossiping the gospel again. The crowds want to both hear as well as be healed. They hunger for both the word and the wonders of Jesus.
The Withdrawal
Jesus shows again his consistent, disciplined habit of spending renewing time alone with God in devotion (prayer and meditation on God’s word). This is the only way he could have the power and wisdom to do battle with evil, sin, and unbelief in his world through his ministry. This priority, at times trumping the clamouring but real needs of the many who sought him, is what enabled him to reach so many so effectively. Without it, he would have burned out and not reached as many as effectively. He is showing us how we too must depend on God by practically setting aside this time with him.
‘If the call of the disciples shows Jesus reaching out to sinners, his healing of the leper shows that Jesus is also concerned for the total outcast… Jesus said he came to minister to those in need, and Luke 5:12-16 shows how that ministry extends to the very bottom rungs of the social ladder. No one is beyond the potential touch of Jesus’ love.’ (Bock, 101-02)
In the context of the call to discipleship, Jesus here shows us how graciously he comes to us—no matter our depth of uncleanness and marginalization—and kindly touches and cleanses us. That is how a disciple should feel before Jesus as he calls them to follow him. Also, as he is calling us to be an ‘apprentice’ of him, learning to do what he does, he is thus showing us how we are to relate in his love to our fellow sinners. We are to be the compassionately healing touch of God in their lives, no matter how severe their status of outcast.
Works Cited:
Darrell Bock, Luke
Joel Green, The Gospel of Luke
Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone
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