Joel M Bradshaw

1When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”–Matthew 8

I wanted to start today’s blog by thanking our new followers. Welcome to this daily Bible journey. It has been good discipline for me to do this blog and I pray it is a blessing to you as well. Expect a daily email as I write content every morning. My Bible podcast, called Masterclass Theology, updates weekly. This week, we posted a conversation about one of my favorite Bible characters, Naomi. Their is a tab on he home page of this blog that has the podcast. You are welcome to follow Masterclass Theology on your favorite podcast platform.

In the time of Jesus, lepers were social outcasts. They lived on the fringes of society until their scaly skin disease had run its course. When they could prove they were better, they showed themselves to the priest and he pronounced that they could rejoin society. Until that happened, they were to touch nobody and purposely kept their distance. I imagine their life was one of loneliness and bitterness against the God who did this to them.

“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. (Leviticus 13:45-46)

So ponder the boldness of the leper who approached Jesus. Lepers were the original ‘wear a mask and social distance’ crew. Such great faith wrapped up in the powerful word IF that he uttered. Nothing limited the power of Jesus except his desire to heal in any given moment. The leper showed great faith that Jesus wouldn’t turn into a ‘Karen’ and force the outcast away. His faith brought a risk and in a way is an example for us all.

Jesus not only was willing to heal, but then did so by touching the leper. We all remember hugging our grandparents again after not doing so because of covid for a bit. We don’t know the last time this man had any physical contact. Jesus entered into his lonely world and touched him to bring healing. Jesus could simply have said words to heal, as the next verses in Matthew 8 tell us. He could have healed from a distance, but instead Jesus touched the untouchable person. If that doesn’t encourage you this morning, I don’t know what will.

Finally, Jesus was more focused on the man going to the priest and being restored to society than he was about getting publicity as a leprosy healer. His ministry was more about the one being cared for rather than himself as a healer. As a pastor, this preaches to me.

How can you be bold and trust Jesus this morning? In our sins, we were all outcast from God and now are reconciled by the blood of Jesus.–JMB