The Kingdom Meets the Leper
Mark 1:32-45
Mark 1:35 is strikingly similar to the resurrection narratives in the gospels. Early in the morning, before anyone is awake, Jesus went and found a deserted place to pray. The disciples began to search for Jesus and found him in the countryside of Galilee.
Why did Jesus pray? Wasn't he simply praying to himself? Yes and no. On the one hand, Mark portrays Jesus as a vulnerable human, who from the beginning of his ministry to the end at Gethsemane, went to God in prayer. But we also catch a glimpse of the inner workings of the Trinity. For even though God is One, the Three still interact not only with but even in and through each other.
A wilderness place here should not be seen as some far-off desert, but rather a piece of land was not farmable. This could have actually been real close to the towns where Jesus was teaching and healing.
I wonder I take enough time to remove myself, just a little, from my business to communicate with the Divine? Do you? What does that look like?
The disciples catch up with him eventually. "Everyone is searching for you," they say. In other words, word is getting around about all the amazing things you can do. Let's go back and give the people what they want.
Instead Jesus tells them that it is time to move on to the neighboring towns so that he can proclaim God's kingdom there too. He teaches the disciples that he came to herald more than to heal. He traveled from town to town preaching the kingdom of God and casting out demons.
Like the disciples, I enjoy being comfortable at times. I like to retreat back into things I am good at, with people who appreciate me. What does it mean for me to keep expanding where I am to live out the kingdom? What does it mean that Christ's message is always on the move?
Following this episode, Jesus practices what he preaches. For the message of God's kingdom expands not only geographically but relationally as well. For Jesus' first engagement after this is with a leper. Leprosy in the ancient world covered a number of non-serious as well as serious skin diseases. Regardless of the severity, a person with leprosy was considered ritually unclean. In some ways she or he was cut off from their respective communities.
The leper approached Jesus and asked to be healed. While the leper's faith is not explicitly stated, it is implied. Jesus heals him. Seeing and hearing this man, Jesus is moved with "pity." Some manuscripts say that Jesus was moved not with pity but with anger. Jesus is not angry with the man but with the sinful world that leads to leprosy.
Amazingly Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man with leprosy. He could have just healed him with his words...he is capable of that in the gospels. But, not by accident, Jesus reaches out and touches the leper. In doing so Jesus is touching this man's uncleanness. But a second miracle happens. Instead of the man's uncleanness transferring to Jesus, Christ's purity, his wholeness, is given to the leper! When Christ touches our lives, we are given his righteousness! That man was given a healing that we cannot fathom. Not only was his leprosy gone, but his uncleanness was gone, the stigma of leprosy was gone, his isolation was gone. Jesus restored him not just his leprosy.
The text gets interesting in 1:43. The NRSV says "After sternly warning him he (Jesus) sent him away at once." The Greek could be translated "And Jesus stormed at him and thrust him out and said to him." This seems more harsh. However, I think mark is putting this healing in terms of spiritual warfare. Leprosy is not named a demon but often in the first century physical ailments would be considered to be manifestations of spiritual warfare. Regardless, the point that Mark is making is that we cannot make ourselves clean. It's not just a disease. It's not just a sin. Something bigger is going on in our lives and we must call upon the risen Christ to make us clean again.
What do I need to ask Christ to touch in my life? What have I been holding on to? What have been trying to work through on my own?
Mark 1:35 is strikingly similar to the resurrection narratives in the gospels. Early in the morning, before anyone is awake, Jesus went and found a deserted place to pray. The disciples began to search for Jesus and found him in the countryside of Galilee.
Why did Jesus pray? Wasn't he simply praying to himself? Yes and no. On the one hand, Mark portrays Jesus as a vulnerable human, who from the beginning of his ministry to the end at Gethsemane, went to God in prayer. But we also catch a glimpse of the inner workings of the Trinity. For even though God is One, the Three still interact not only with but even in and through each other.
A wilderness place here should not be seen as some far-off desert, but rather a piece of land was not farmable. This could have actually been real close to the towns where Jesus was teaching and healing.
I wonder I take enough time to remove myself, just a little, from my business to communicate with the Divine? Do you? What does that look like?
The disciples catch up with him eventually. "Everyone is searching for you," they say. In other words, word is getting around about all the amazing things you can do. Let's go back and give the people what they want.
Instead Jesus tells them that it is time to move on to the neighboring towns so that he can proclaim God's kingdom there too. He teaches the disciples that he came to herald more than to heal. He traveled from town to town preaching the kingdom of God and casting out demons.
Like the disciples, I enjoy being comfortable at times. I like to retreat back into things I am good at, with people who appreciate me. What does it mean for me to keep expanding where I am to live out the kingdom? What does it mean that Christ's message is always on the move?
Following this episode, Jesus practices what he preaches. For the message of God's kingdom expands not only geographically but relationally as well. For Jesus' first engagement after this is with a leper. Leprosy in the ancient world covered a number of non-serious as well as serious skin diseases. Regardless of the severity, a person with leprosy was considered ritually unclean. In some ways she or he was cut off from their respective communities.
The leper approached Jesus and asked to be healed. While the leper's faith is not explicitly stated, it is implied. Jesus heals him. Seeing and hearing this man, Jesus is moved with "pity." Some manuscripts say that Jesus was moved not with pity but with anger. Jesus is not angry with the man but with the sinful world that leads to leprosy.
Amazingly Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man with leprosy. He could have just healed him with his words...he is capable of that in the gospels. But, not by accident, Jesus reaches out and touches the leper. In doing so Jesus is touching this man's uncleanness. But a second miracle happens. Instead of the man's uncleanness transferring to Jesus, Christ's purity, his wholeness, is given to the leper! When Christ touches our lives, we are given his righteousness! That man was given a healing that we cannot fathom. Not only was his leprosy gone, but his uncleanness was gone, the stigma of leprosy was gone, his isolation was gone. Jesus restored him not just his leprosy.
The text gets interesting in 1:43. The NRSV says "After sternly warning him he (Jesus) sent him away at once." The Greek could be translated "And Jesus stormed at him and thrust him out and said to him." This seems more harsh. However, I think mark is putting this healing in terms of spiritual warfare. Leprosy is not named a demon but often in the first century physical ailments would be considered to be manifestations of spiritual warfare. Regardless, the point that Mark is making is that we cannot make ourselves clean. It's not just a disease. It's not just a sin. Something bigger is going on in our lives and we must call upon the risen Christ to make us clean again.
What do I need to ask Christ to touch in my life? What have I been holding on to? What have been trying to work through on my own?
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