Jesus and the Leper

I'd like to share another of my favorite places in the Bible, which I was re-reading tonight. It's Luke 5:12-13:

"While he [Jesus] was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.' And Jesus stretched out his had and touched him, saying 'I will, be clean.' And immediately the leprosy left him. (ESV)

Now obviously, it's great that this man was healed of his leprosy, but that's not the reason I love these two verses so much. Allow me to share a little background on the subject of leprosy:

Leprosy referred to several different, usually incurable, skin diseases. People with leprosy were considered "unclean" and, in many cases, people actually thought the leprosy was a judgement for some grievous sin. That may seem like a far-fetched conclusion to reach, but remember that Miriam, Moses's sister, was struck with leprosy as a judgement for opposing him (which meant she was, in effect, opposing God who had chosen Moses) - you can read about this in Numbers, chapter 12. There were also other instances of leprosy being a punishment, so it wasn't that unreasonable for people to reach that conclusion about all lepers.

There were very strict guidelines for dealing with leprosy. Chapter 13 of Leviticus is about nothing but laws concerning leprosy! It was a very serious matter. According to Leviticus 13, a person with leprosy, by law, had to live a life of isolation, outside of the city walls. Leviticus 13:45-46 commands, "The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.' He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp." (ESV)

A person was not supposed to be anywhere near a leper, let alone touch one. The laws concerning clean and unclean were strict and unyielding. There was no mercy where leprosy was concerned. And certainly, leprosy was disgusting. In addition, since this leper had to live away from society, he probably didn't have the best hygiene habits. So, let's look at the situation in Luke 5 once more:

Here is the immaculate Son of God, confronted by a dirty, ceremonially unclean man with a disgusting, repulsive skin disease. In all likelihood, this man smelled horrible. Jesus could easily have healed him from a distance. Instead, he actually touched the man! And that's not even the part that moves me the most about this story. Did you notice any pause or any conditions given by Jesus? Did he say, "Sure I'll make you clean, but first give me money?" Did he tell the man to join a church? Did he insist that the man come back when he had shaved and put on the right clothes? No. A desperate man fell on his face and begged for help, and Jesus simply said yes, and helped him.

I look upon these two verses as a wonderful illustration of salvation. We come before God ragged, filthy, unclean, and completely disgusting. We have no merits, and absolutely nothing to recommend us. No social connections, no advanced education, nothing to give Him but us, as undesirable as we are. We place ourselves completely in His power, laying down our lives at His feet. Many of us literally do fall on our faces in this moment. Without eloquence, in sheer desperation, we beg the only One who can rescue us to have mercy and save us. And He, with no hesitation, says yes. He stretches out His hand, now scarred by His love, and touches us, as vile as we are. In one instant, we are made clean and whole.