March 1 – Leprosy

Matthew 8:1-4

“When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed….”

This demonstrated Jesus’ power over defilement. People with leprosy, a form of skin disease, were considered ceremonially unclean, had to live outside of the city, and had to shout “unclean” when other people came near. It was used as an illustration of sin. They were considered about the lowest of all people---lower than low.

This leper bowed down and called Jesus “Lord”---acknowledging Jesus’ power and authority. Then he said, “…if are willing….”  So for Jesus to heal this leper meant that He had to touch the leper, thus making Himself “unclean” in Jewish custom. He would have to gone through a cleaning ritual before He could have gone to the Temple again. Jesus knew that healing this leper was more important to the Kingdom of God than whether He Himself would be considered “unclean” too. The power of Jesus love and mercy was instantaneous---immediately the leper was healed. No waiting around to see if some medication worked---Jesus words healed the leper immediately. We could only wish for such a quick fix to any problem that we, our family or friends, might encounter. Cleanliness is so important---whether it is our bodies, our mind, or our food.

Thank you, Jesus, for the immediate healing of this leper. May your healing grace be upon us, our friends and family now.

© 2011 by Mickey M. Hunacek.  All rights reserved.