MARK 1:40-45 MEDITATION - Part 2
The Mercy of God in Action: the Leper and Us
Although this leper was considered an outsider by the Law and by society, Jesus has come to tell us that for God there are no outsiders except those who choose to remain outside.
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. (John 6:37)
Doesn’t this encourage us to fall down on our knees and beg, like the leper, to be made clean through the blood shed on the cross (1 John 1:7) and the waters of baptism and begin our journey in newness of life?
And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.”(Acts 22:16)
Jesus did not warn him to stay away and not approach him as the Law prescribed but welcomed him, embraced him, healed him following the will of that same Father that Jesus, the leper and we have in common.
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away (John 6:37)
‘Touching’ a leper would be the last thing anyone, at that time, would want to do; it was, in fact, forbidden. But Jesus stretches out his hand and does touch him. This human touch is striking. He could easily have healed him by word only as he did with the man with the unclean spirit. It reminds us also of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. There, too, he stretched out his hand, took hers and lifted her up. Once again we have the idea of immediacy, ‘Immediately the leprosy left him’ (v. 42). Everything in Mark happens ‘immediately’, ‘at once’, ‘as soon as’, conveying the impression of a swift succession of events drawing rapidly towards the climax of the cross and resurrection. The cross and the crown of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who came to give his life for the ransom of people like the leper, like you and I.
The leper is now clean yet Jesus, by touching the leper, has made himself ‘unclean’ according to the Law. Not only; it was the leper who was prevented from going towards other people but now it is Jesus who is restricted in his movements. To an extent the leper and Jesus seemed to have exchanged roles. Jesus has taken upon himself the lot of the leper as he did for each one of us on the cross. Let no one ever think that in disasters, both national and personal, that God is far and remote. There could be nothing further from the truth. No matter what mystery might still surround evil and suffering in the world, the presence of God is there lifting up, making clean, saving. Let us not focus on the signs but on the hidden spiritual substance of things and situations. Does this not teach us to take upon ourselves the burdens of others?
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
Jesus obeys the Law and tells the leper to do so, too. Jesus is not working in opposition to official structures and certainly not in opposition to the divinely instituted Law. He merely establishes priorities: man first, the application of the letter of the Law next.
The leper was warned not to mention this miracle but nothing could stop him. When the hand of the Lord touches us we cannot remain silent, we must speak out; the effect is too powerful; it is overwhelming. He could not help spreading the good news of his healing. The result was that Jesus’ movements were severely curtailed and was not able to enter into any town. He could not go towards the people. However, people came to him. Jesus draws, he attracts like a magnet and he continues to do so:
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32).
When we are set free from the power of sin, the spiritual form of leprosy, we too shout out with joy as we experience the new direction to life; a prisoner set free just like the leper. Both physical leprosy and the leprosy of the spirit undermine relationships. However, everyone is made clean through the cleansing of baptism by which we have union with Christ and his healing power and a new lease of life and, after baptism, through the cleansing power of the sacrament of reconciliation. We are continually in need of cleansing, constantly in need of renewing our vital union with the risen Christ. We and the leper are one. Let us, too, kneel down in humble submission and in faith express our gratitude for having been made clean time and time again.
Could the reason for Christ’s warning to be quiet and say nothing be because he did not want people to be attracted to the sign but rather to the reality of his identity and mission? He knew what was in people’s hearts. Jesus does not want fans but disciples, people prepared to follow him:
When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone. (John 2:23-25)
Every encounter with the risen Lord is in some way a life-changing experience, sometimes it is spectacular and radical as in this case; often it is more subtle and hardly perceptible but takes root deep within and grows and matures with time. Let us trust him to work the same transformation in our lives as he did in the life of the leper. Let us trust him to restore us to that same dignity for which were created and which perhaps we have lost through the deforming influence of sin.
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Mark 2:1-12 Meditation
Mark 1:40-45 Text and Questions
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