The
Radical Encounter
In Mark 1:40-42, we read, “A
man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are
willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out
his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be
clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.”
Our Lord Jesus is the suffering servant who identifies with the suffering of the
leper enough to heal the man. It is the COMPASSION that Jesus came to this earth
to model! The healing touch of God reminds us
that no matter how ugly our lives have become, or how devastating the diseases
that haunt us are, God has the power to wash us clean and offer a fresh start.
We must also understand that God’s ways are not always our ways,
especially when we are faced with the real devastation of physical, emotional,
or spiritual illnesses and loss in our lives. Jesus surprises the leper by
agreeing to heal him. The surprise is that Jesus risks becoming ritually unclean
himself as he reaches across societal boundaries and Jewish biblical taboos to
offer healing to a man who was a total outcast in ancient society.
God’s provision; of physical, emotional, or spiritual healing involves
surprises of grace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation. How does Jesus respond to
the man who is literally being eaten alive in front of him? The expectation
of Jesus, by those around Him, would be for Jesus to abide by Mosaic Law and
shun the leper, because, in Hebrew law, it was forbidden for anyone to even touch
a leper! Jesus understands the lepers’ anguish over the fact that he is
the living dead. In
a radical encounter between Jesus and
the leper, Jesus hears his anguish over a life turned to ashes, and is filled
with compassion! Let’s trade places with the leper. We don't have leprosy, but
we do have other forms of disease and suffering; other forms of anguish, hurt,
and loss that we bring to the feet of Jesus. Maybe we were abused as a child;
maybe we have been left broken-hearted and alone; maybe you’ve suffered the
death of a loved one, and are in mourning over that terrible loss. Maybe your
whole life has become a heap of ashes. We have all been there, where only God
can fully know our suffering; where God helps, through God’s suffering with
us. God’s compassion comes to us sometimes when we least expect it. To the
leper, Jesus showed radical compassion. And
like that man, Jesus shows us His
radical compassion and mercy by suffering for
us, as He did on the cross. We who
have the radical love of Jesus in our hearts; we who have had Jesus save
us, know we are witnesses to the radical encounter that Jesus can be to
each of us.
Pastor
Jan