Thursday January 11, 2018
Leprosy terrified the ancient world; it was seen by Rabbis as “a special scourge from God” and “a living death”. More than other diseases, it was seen to be a punishment for sin; and Mark speaks of it as demonic possession. The repulsive physical aspect of the disease lent credence to this. To heal a leper, then, was to show a power approaching the divine.
Scholars say that the words “he sternly warned him” in v. 43, which seem emotionally so inappropriate, are in fact addressed to the demon that had just been expelled, and not to the pitiful man who had just been healed. Lepers were people you didn’t touch! In fact they were compelled to stand at a distance, cover their upper lip and cry ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ when they saw someone approach. If this disease – the extreme of physical illness, social ostracization and demonic possession – is so readily healed by Jesus, we are being given the deepest assurance that we are never beyond the reach of his hand. In this passage it is even literally so; “Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.”
