Download BRINGING OUR LEPROCIES TO JESUS (Contemplata aliis tradere

BRINGING OUR LEPROCIES TO
JESUS
(Contemplata aliis tradere)
SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B, LEV 13:1-2, 44-46; MK 1:40-45
Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, you have said that you are
the way, the truth and the life. By the entrance of
your word suffer us not to stray from you, who are
the way, nor to distrust you, who are the truth, nor
to rest in anything other than you who are the life.
Amen.
Martin was a young soldier, 18 years of age, in the Roman army. Elegantly dressed,
he was mounted on his horse one day when he was accosted by a leper begging for
alms in a bitterly cold winter of 334 AD. The sight and the stench of rotting flesh of
the leper was so repulsive to the sensitivities of young Martin that his first instincts
were to ride off on his horse. But something inside him made him walk up to the
beggar. Since all he had was his military coat, he cut it in two and gave half to the
leper while he wrapped himself with the other half. He said to the leper, “This is all I
have to give you for I have no money”. That night in his dream he saw Christ clothed
in a half coat saying to the angels around His throne, “Martin has clothed me with his
garment.” This event was the turning point in the life of him who was to become St
Martin of Tours. This agrees with Jesus’ depiction of the scenario of the final reunion
in the gospel of Matthew, when men and women will be rewarded based on how they
helped Christ in the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the naked and the hungry (Mt
25:35-36). This reminds me of Christ’s word, “Whatever you do to the least of my
brethren, you did it onto Me” (Mt 25:40). The natural revulsion of Martin before
leprosy is nothing compared with the ancient Hebrew attitude to leprosy.
This was based on their concept of retribution. In ancient Israelite society, there was
the belief that God repaid each one here on earth according to his or her deeds. It was
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mathematical: God rewards the faithful and punishes the wicked. This concept of
retribution also drew from the fact that they had no concept of heaven as we have it
today. They only knew of Sheol; and Sheol was a place where both the good and the
bad enjoyed the same state of life. It is therefore not surprising that people got their
reward or punishment here on earth. Sickness was seen as a punishment from God. It
is from this background that the friends of Job accused him of sinning against the
Lord, when he suffered skin disease. It is also from this perspective that the apostles
asked Jesus in the Gospel of John about the man born blind “who sinned, this man or
his parents” (9:2). This idea of retribution also prompted the Psalmist to say that old
age is a sign of virtue (91:16). From this perspective we also understand why the sage
of the book of Genesis (3) tells us that the span of human life was shortened after the
fall of our first parents. Leprosy, the subject we are dealing with in today’s readings
was considered to be the result of sin.
When we speak of leprosy as understood within this historical time, it goes beyond
our understanding of leprosy today. What the scripture translates as leprosy is the
Hebrew word tsaraath. It means a strike on the body, and this encompasses all forms
of skin disease: ranging from rashes, ringworm, eczema, and elephantiasis to leprosy.
They did not enjoy the scientific advancement we enjoy today in the field of medicine.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ association with lepers marks the difference between His
priesthood and the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. While Jesus associated
with lepers and the downtrodden, the Levitical priests condemned them. One of such
instances is in the Gospel of John, a woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus
for condemnation, but Jesus stood for her; confirming His Word in the gospel of
Matthew, ‘I have come for the weak, for the healthy do not need a doctor’ (9:12).
The Levitical priests did not do anything to cure the victim of leprosy, they only
examined the person and then shouted to the hearing of the public “He has leprosy, he
is unclean”. From this moment, the person who has been declared leprous was to wear
tattered clothes, the persons would also stop barbing their hair so that they would be
covered with a long and rough hair, a bell is also tied round his or her neck so that the
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ringing bell will identify them as unclean, at the sound of the bell, people would run
away before they get defiled. They were also expected to cry aloud: “I am unclean, I
am unclean”. Such was the treatment that the Levitical priests gave to leprous victims,
in accordance with the Law of Moses.
We may think of the Levitical priests as being wicked, but is it not the same treatment
that we measure out to others when we reject them based on tribal grounds? When we
condemn some people as sinners; when we refuse to associate with the poor, the
unintelligent or people affected by HIV/AIDS?
In today’s gospel we see Jesus’ priesthood based on the law of love. While the priests
of the Old Testament emphasised bodily integrity for the worship of God, Jesus
emphasizes spiritual integrity, the integrity of the soul; a purity that springs from
within. While the Levitical priests did nothing to cure the victim but only declared
him unclean, Jesus does something to cure the victim. While the Levitical priesthood
declared the leprous unclean in public, Jesus affirms his dignity in public. Now we
understand why Jesus is referred to as the New Moses.
The leprous man today brought his sickness to Jesus and he was cured. Obviously
nobody here has leprosy in the strict sense of the word. But the real leprosy today runs
rampart, they are, the leprosies of fornication and adultery, the leprosy of lies and
deceit, lack of self-control, envy, jealousy, pride, anger, the leprosies of family and
youthful challenges. Jesus wants us to bring them to Him like the leprous man. If
these are indices of modern leprosy, It will not be out of place when I address us today
as “we lepers”. The scripture tells us that Jesus Christ touched the leprous man. In
touching him Jesus fulfilled the highest level of love. Jesus also touches us as he
touched the leprous man. The non-verbal language here is that He loves us dearly.
The leprous man came with faith. He believed that Jesus could do it for him and his
faith healed him. We must come to Jesus with faith. His faith was based on the things
he had heard and had seen Jesus do. Before now, the scripture tells us that Jesus had
healed many who were sick and drove out many demons (Mk 1:29-34). This was the
starting point of his faith. Since Jesus did it for others, he believed that Jesus could
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also do it for him. In the gospels Jesus cured no one who had no faith. Faith can
enable us to reach targets we thought are beyond us. Faith can help us solve
intractable problems, perhaps of a personal nature. The practice of the virtue of faith
can give to our natural experience a supernatural outlook. Whatever your problems
are, do you believe that Jesus can still do all things? The Word of God is full of so
many things that Jesus did for others, why do you think that He can’t do it for you?
Genesis 18:14 asks “Is anything impossible for God”; if that is to be a question the
Gospel of Luke responds in 1:37 “With God nothing is impossible”.
What amazes me most is the healing authority of the Word of God. Jesus spoke and
the leprous man was healed of his disease. The leper said to Jesus: “If you so will, you
can make me clean”, Jesus’ response was “I will, be clean”. This reminds me of what
the scripture says about the nature of the Word of God. “Is my word not like fire?”
God also says in the scripture: “My word is a shattering hammer” (Jer 23:29), which
speaks of the power of the word of God to pull down the situations that weigh us, no
matter how enormously they loom at the horizon of our existence. In the book of
Genesis, God spoke and the universe was made, today, Christ sends out His Word and
it healed the leprous man. Does it not confirm the testimony of the Psalmist in Psalm
107: “He sent His Word and it healed my disease.” The prophet Isaiah said in chapter
55, that,
“As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return
till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food
for others to eat, so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth: it will not
return to me empty, but it shall accomplish my will, the purpose for which
it has been sent”.
The leprous man being a man of faith appropriates the healing authority of the Word
of God. Let us bring our leprosies to Jesus with faith and He would heal us.
Once again, the treasure box has been opened and the beauty of Christ has been
revealed.
Grace, peace and love be with you all. Amen
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