And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I will do it. Be made clean.”
It took all the boldness the leper possessed to approach Jesus and ask if he would heal him. He had to ignore social stigma, religious purity requirements, and even, no doubt, some degree of self-loathing to even approach Jesus. In any other case and with any other healer this would probably have been foolish. But because the leper intuited correctly some sense of who Jesus was what the leper did was in this case an act of courage. The leper realized that Jesus was unique and his ability to heal was unique. Others would pray to God and God would perhaps respond. With the famous prophets his response was as regular as clockwork. But Jesus was something else again. The healing power originated directly from what he himself willed because he was himself the same God to whom prophets prayed.
He said not, If Thou wilt ask of God, or, If Thou wilt make adoration to God; but, If thou wilt. Nor did he say, Lord, cleanse me; but left all to Him, thereby making Him Lord, and attributing to Him the power over all.- Saint John Chrysostom
Jesus not only willed to heal him, but chose to do so by touching him. He did this in spite of the fact that we know that he was able to heal at a distance, and could thus have avoided any potential scandal. But he wanted to make a point about his relation to laws about purity, showing that in his case that which he touched was made clean rather than the contrary. We can imagine that this touch was an important part of some deeper and invisible healing in the heart of the leper who had for so long been without human touch. It was probably for him as though even then in that moment his full sense of his own humanity was restored.
He was able, to cleanse by a word, or even by mere will, but He put out His hand, He stretched forth his hand and touched him, to shew that He was not subject to the Law, and that to the pure nothing is impure. Elisha truly kept the Law in all strictness, and did not go out and touch Naaman, but sends him to wash in Jordan. But the Lord shews that He does not heal as a servant, but as Lord heals and touches; His hand was not made unclean by the leprosy, but the leprous body was made pure by the holy hand. For He came not only to heal bodies, but to lead the soul to the true wisdom. As then He did not forbid to eat with unwashen hands, so here He teaches us that it is the leprosy of the soul we ought only to dread, which is sin, but that the leprosy of the body is no impediment to virtue.- Saint John Chrysostom
Jesus did not come to overthrow the law but to fulfill it. Thus he sent the cleansed leper to the priests to offer the designated gift. The cure would be validated and the leper would be restored to the life of the worshipping community. And perhaps for some of the priests the healing really would be proof for them, not just that a leper no longer had leprosy, but that Jesus was in fact who he claimed to be.
We are sometimes like lepers ourselves because sin makes us ugly and separates us from the life of the community. At such times we still remember that Jesus is able to heal us but lose our confidence of his love that assures us that he desires to do so. But our sin is by no means a risk to Jesus. He has established the sacrament of Confession so that through the instrumentality of priests he can reach out and touch all who seek to be cleansed. Then, through penance and amendment of our lives, we become proof for others of the healing power of Jesus.
Perhaps we should also ask if there are any around us whom we might be able to help but whom we are afraid to reach out and touch. We are meant to follow in the footsteps of the master and not let our personal preferences or affinities deter us from bringing to bear the healing power of Our Lord when he would have us do so. There may be situations which he calls us to enter directly, and not just from a distance. We must listen closely to his direction for he may call us to rely on his own protection to touch those whom we would otherwise fear to touch.
When we heed the guidance of Jesus we will see that still takes away our infirmities and bears our diseases even now, especially those deepest diseases of the soul. Only by doing so will we be made fit to dwell in the eternal heavenly Jerusalem, the true Zion. Only then will we sing the songs of Zion in fullness of joy forever.
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