This morning, when I opened my Bible, it opened right where I was last reading, no surprise, its an e-Bible. I was once again drawn to the story I had last read, where Jesus heals the leprous man in Mark 1:40-42 NASB:
[40] "And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."
[41] Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." [42] Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed."
I had a dream recently where I was assigned the ministry of touch and in my dream this is the story that came to mind. In America we have very little concept of the disease of leprosy, but even in somewhat modern days, part of the island of Molokai in Hawaii was designated a leper colony (1866 is when it was established), and anyone from Hawaii who had leprosy was effectively banned to that island. They were social outcasts, and that is my understanding of what it was like for someone with leprosy in Jesus' time.
The Law (see Leviticus 5, 7, 11, 13 and 15 for a full understanding of the rules and requirements) had much to say about how to treat those who were unclean, and people were not to touch anything unclean or it would cause the clean person to be unclean. They were required to keep their distance from all healthy people, warn them of their disease and even forced to live outside of town. Couple that with the prevailing idea that sickness was caused by sin, and you can understand just some of how others looked at lepers. They were considered at best, God forsaken.
This story is about so much more than just physical healing, for in touching the man, Jesus cut right through all the law stipulations about uncleanliness and in doing so accepted him and his "sinfulness". We are told that Jesus was moved with compassion, and that Greek word essentially means that Jesus responded in such a way that it seemed He was "moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity) (Thayer's Greek Dictionary). In other words, it was obvious, from observing Jesus that he was deeply moved by this man's request.
I am adding my take here, I don't think Jesus just reached out His hand and touched the leprous man, I think He touched his hand and they drew him into a welcoming embrace! I just can't see Jesus doing anything but hugging the man! We are told that the leprosy immediately left him, and that is a healing miracle in and of itself, but I think the greater miracle was the repairing of the man's inner thoughts of himself, and how God viewed him. Many a person who has experienced significant sickness thinks they are broken irreparably, walking wounded if you will, and I believe this man walked away completely cleansed and restored, fully restored in every way possible. This is the ministry of Jesus, restoration, redemption, salvation and healing!
Oh Lord that we all would encounter Your touch! Oh Lord, that we would receive Your acceptance, see You moved with compassion on our behalf! Oh Lord, that we would experience Your warm and welcoming embrace! Oh Lord, touch Your sons and daughters and let them know Your love! Let them be affected by Your touch, even as this man was affected, cleansed, restored and loved!
Amen and Amen!
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