The Compassionate Christ: Find Rest and Renewal in Jesus’ LoveНамуна

UNCLEAN!

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

PSALM 103:1–6

Before you begin, read Luke 5:12–15.

Some mornings, when I first awakened, I would think it had all been a terrible dream. Then I would roll over and see not my wife and children on their mats beside me in the pale early light, but rows of other men. And then I would remember that nightmare and reality were one.

My roommates were a macabre sort. Their limbs were swollen, and their bodies were covered with craterlike sores— deep, red pits rimmed with scaly white flesh. The nodules that covered their foreheads, lips, and chins were like countless pebbles strewn across the sand. Every man was missing at least a couple of fingers and toes. A few wretched souls had almost none at all. Their skin, which sagged and draped limply over their gaunt faces, looked like leather. Eyes were shrunken and weak. Noses had collapsed. The men trembled in their sleep as dry coughs shook their skeletal frames. These were the outcasts of society, the living dead.

Just like me.

This reality was a horror from which I could never awaken. I am a leper. . .

The day that changed everything started out like any other. I rolled my mat and placed it in the corner, a task much more difficult after I lost a thumb and two fingers to injuries. I was also missing my small toe on my right foot. It had become very difficult to protect fingers and toes once all sensation was lost. My missing nose was another story entirely. It had simply collapsed in on itself bit by bit. All my eyelashes had fallen out, and my eyes had become so sensitive to the sunlight that I was limited to scavenging during certain hours of the day.

That morning, I slowly made my way out of the house into the early morning light, my legs heavy as I pushed them as fast as I could. The incessant gnawing in my empty stomach was driving my feeble body to the city gate in the hope that someone passing by would pity me and toss a piece of bread my way.

I glanced down and saw blood seeping into my sandal from a sore I could not feel on the bottom of my foot. Then I heard footsteps ahead. I drew to the far edge of the road, pulled the edge of my head covering across the lower half of my face to cover my nose, and shouted the designated warning just as the travelers came into sight.

“Unclean! Unclean!”

Their revulsion was immediate and obvious. Some were horrified by my wounds. Others were terrified that such a fate could befall them. The worst of all were those who snarled in contempt, confident that my affliction was an outward expression of the Lord’s judgment for some secret sin.

“Bread! Bread!” I begged as the travelers hurried past. One young man paused, reached into his pack, tore off a chunk of bread, and tossed it to me before hurrying away. The bread rolled through the dust to my feet. I picked it up, quickly brushed it off, and then devoured it as I continued on my way.

After a while I grew weary of dragging my heavy legs along the road— and even wearier of the horror openly expressed by the travelers I passed. So I stopped for shelter in the shade of a rocky outcropping far enough away to no longer offend but still close enough to catch bits of the conversations that drifted to me from the road.

Over and over the travelers were excitedly discussing the same topic: the great Healer and Miracle Worker, Jesus of Nazareth, was nearby. His fame was spreading throughout all Judea. They said He healed the lame, the blind, the deaf, and the mute.

What if this Healer could heal me too? I knew, of course, that my leprosy was unlikely to be healed, even in light of these miracles. No one had heard of anyone being cured of leprosy in hundreds of years. I had heard some say that healing leprosy was one of four miracles only Messiah Himself could do. The belief was held widely enough that priests put a specific temple protocol in place for any leper claiming to have been healed. He was required to present himself to the priests, who would inspect the man’s body. If the healing was real, the priests would begin to investigate if the Messiah had indeed come at last.

As I sat in the dust, I looked down at my disfigured body and my filthy rags. I thought of my wife and children. I wondered if my mother was still living. If there was any chance I could be reunited with my family, I had to seize it. I struggled to my feet and trudged on.

When at last I came to Jesus, a large crowd surrounded Him. I stood at a distance for a moment, my heart pounding in terror at the thought of crossing the road, breaking the law, and casting my vile, decaying flesh into the midst of all that was whole and good. I took one shuddering breath and limped my way toward Him. Someone spotted me, and the cry was raised. The crowd scattered, but Jesus stood firm.

“Unclean! Unclean!”

I threw myself face down into the dust at His feet, weeping, begging for mercy, believing the unbelievable— that He was Messiah and was therefore able to make me, even me, whole.

“Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Luke 5:12).

Jesus reached out His hand and touched me. He wasn’t repulsed by my filth; He wasn’t afraid of my decay.

“I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” (Luke 5:13).

Great power and life- transforming love flowed through me. Strength returned to my muscles. Feeling surged into my limbs. Fingers and toes were simply. . . restored.

I pulled back the sleeves of my robe to see perfectly smooth skin. I gingerly lifted my fingers to my face to find the nodules gone and my nose just as it should be.

I was speechless, overcome with awe and gratitude. I looked up into His kind face as tears of thankfulness streamed down my cheeks.

Then He said to me, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them” (Luke 5:14).

And I rose and made my way to the temple in Jerusalem. I was unclean no more.

Prayer

My God,

The world is fraught with suffering. Be near today to those who are outcast and in desperate poverty. Give me ears to hear their cries and an open hand to help meet their needs. Break my heart, Jesus, for those for whom Your heart breaks, that I may extend mercy to the untouchables and receive the forgotten as Your dear children.

Amen.