Unclean Leper with a Wish

Regie was one of my closest friends in high school (post-secondary). He and I spend most evenings and all weekends together. We loved music, beaches and mountains, and food. But whenever we went to buy food in a restaurant, Regie said, “Andrew, you go and buy.” We took turns paying for the food, but I always bought it. I didn’t realize why Regie said that until much later in my life. He was from a caste-less people group in India called the Untouchable (or Dalit). The caste system considers them less-than-human and forbids them from entering public places like restaurants and temples as they could “contaminate” or “make unclean” those places.

In Jesus’s times, lepers faced similar insults and humiliation. They didn’t have modern-day Hansen’s disease, where the nerves decayed, and they didn’t feel any sensations. Instead, they had various decolorization of the skin, like white patches (Vitiligo), hives, or dark patches (Acanthosis nigricans). These were considered ceremonially unclean and highly contagious. Those with them were expelled from the community to protect the masses. They lived outside the city and in loneliness.

As Jesus entered one of those Hebrew villages, a man “full of leprosy” (perhaps with Vitiligo) saw Jesus. Falling before him, he said,

“Lord (kyrie), if you wish, you can cleanse me.” (Luke 5:12)

That faith statement acknowledged his need and the Lord’s free will. That leper would like to be cleansed – ceremonially pure – and incorporated into society, provided Jesus was willing to do so. You see, only the priests determined who was ceremonially clean and unclean. It had little to do with their illness, whether they were contagious or not. Just as my friend Regie had nothing to do with being born Untouchable, many lepers didn’t have a choice in being called lepers and ostracized. (Think of us calling those with acne pimples, ingrown hair, freckles, or covid lepers! They are not ill or contagious, yet ostracized.)

“Jesus stretched out his hands and touched him, saying, ‘I wish. You are clean.’” (Luke 5:13)

That was “a show and tell.” His action of touching the leper showed that the leper was clean and non-contagious, and his words affirmed that truth. It would have perhaps surprised the leper, but most importantly, it would have comforted him to receive a touch from a holy God’s Son.

Jesus, however, wasn’t a priest, and his words didn’t matter or count to the populace. So, he instructed that leper to visit the priests, offer the ritual cleansing gifts, and have them declare that he was clean (Luke 5:14). The news of this healing went out throughout the villages. Many people came to him for healing (Luke 5:15), leaving him little time for isolation and prayer (Luke 5:16).

Every society has ways of ostracizing people. Christians are to be like Jesus – willing to reach out and touch them and bring healing and cleanliness into their lives. Sometimes, these ostracized people groups are unnamed (e.g., the immigrant communities or refugees). They suffer in silence. We ought to seek them out and show them Christ’s love.