Today, Mark tells us about a leper who comes to Jesus.  Now, a little background about lepers:  Aside from the predictable ostracism from being contagious, there was also a spiritual isolation lepers endured because no one wanted to associate with a diseased person who might be that way because of some sin he or his parents committed.  At least, that was the thinking back in those days – however untrue that it is.  It was so bad, lepers couldn’t even go into large cities like Jerusalem because it was the holy city and a leper might defile it.  Even your own family often couldn’t or even wouldn’t want to care for you.  So you would have to live in a leper community with other lepers.  One author said leprosy was one of the worst things that could ever happen to you in the ancient world.  It was the equivalent to what he called, “a living death.”

            And so lepers were broken people.  They were cutoff and dismissed by others.  You might know how that feels sometimes to live the life of a leper.  The disease might be uncommon in our part of the world today, but there are those who suffer in similar ways. 

            This past week, a few of us from Holy Shepherd attended a luncheon at a drug abuse and treatment center in downtown Ft. Worth called Outcry in the Bario.  A number of the residents came forward and told their stories about how Christ had saved them from their self-destructive lifestyles to bring them to His life changing forgiveness.  As one of the men stood in front of a choir of others who came to believe in Christ, he spoke on behalf of all of them, “You don’t need to tell us we’re messed up.”  And it occurred to me that it’s easy in the suburbs to live in denial of that because we’re surrounded by many images of success.  And sometimes those things deceive us about the fact that we’re all messed up too.  Those first century lepers needed no reminders.  They knew their lives were that bad. 

            If I can say one thing about lepers or other broken people, they know they need healing.  And when Jesus showed up healing people of diseases and bringing peace and wholeness to those who were desperate to find it, well, then lepers knew they needed Jesus too.  You see, the brokenness we experience in this life allows us to see our need for Jesus.  It gives us an opportunity to draw close to Him or perhaps better said, to see Him draw close to us.  The leper goes to Jesus today because he believes Jesus can heal him.  Do you believe that?  Do you believe like a leper?  Do you believe Jesus can heal you, that He will not turn away from your brokenness? 

            Now, to heal this leper, Jesus could’ve merely said the words out loud, “Be Clean!” and the man would’ve been clean.  Jesus could’ve told him to wash seven times in the Jordan like was told to Naaman in our 2 Kings reading or to just believe and it will happen just as he told the synagogue ruler about his dying daughter.  But instead of doing any of that, it says in verse 41, “He stretched out His hand and touched him.”  Jesus touched a leper.  Did you catch that?

            In ancient times, the unclean corrupted the clean.  It resulted in contamination.  You wouldn’t dare touch a leper.  If anyone saw you do it, you’d be the scandal of the town and would end up being treated like a leper yourself.  What was unclean corrupted what was clean.  The other way around was not possible.  Well, unless you were God Himself. 

            Matthew 11 and Luke 7 say that the raising of the dead and the healing of lepers were synonymous with the messianic age of salvation.  And Messianic Age means that the Messiah is here and that means Jesus is the Messiah.  It’s more Son of God, Son of man talk.  It’s the message of Epiphany when Jesus appears as God in the flesh.  We’re being made ready for Lent because we’re learning exactly who this is who is about to be crucified.  He’s not just a prophet or a great Rabbi.  He’s not a gifted young man or a leader of rebels.  He’s the Son of God in the flesh who comes to bring healing and salvation to the nations. 

            When you are dealing with your brokenness, that’s where you go.  You go to the Son of God.  You start your prayers, “Son of God, please heal me.” “Son of God, have mercy on me, hear my prayer.”  The Leper went to Jesus believing that Jesus would bring healing.  And if he can do it, then so can we. 

            We come to Christ with our needs praying the words of the Kyrie, Lord have mercy.  Lord, have mercy upon my situation, my brokenness, my circumstances.  We ask Him when we pray, Hear our Prayer.  We invite Him to stretch out His hand and touch us with His grace because we need healing – spiritual, physical, emotional, psychological.  They all work together really as brokenness in one area spreads to the others.  Emotional stress leads to physical illness and physical illness leads to emotional stress. 

            All of our brokenness in this life screams to us that we have this need for Jesus.  Leprosy in the first century was a very physical reminder and people who had it were desperate to be cleansed of it.  Remember, in the ancient world, leprosy was like being among the living dead, so the healing of leprosy was considered the practical equivalent of raising the dead.  When Jesus heals the leper today, he is being given his life back.  This is no surprise.  Many of us know what it means to lose our lives or to lose something that is such a big part of our life that all of it seems lost.  But Jesus is our hope.  His hands touch our brokenness, His blood cleanses our sin and His love saves us from the shadow of darkness.

            Jesus loved the leper enough to touch him and heal him.  He loves you just as much.  Throughout this season of Epiphany, you’ve been able to see the mission of Jesus slowly unfolding – starting with his own baptism in the Jordan to the calling of his disciples to the casting out of demons and the healing of brokenness.  As you learn these things about Jesus, you are learning more about who He is and why He’s here.

            In our story today, the leper gets his life back and that means a lot of things for him.  He can go into the Holy City now.  He can return to his family now.  He can live in community now.  He no longer has to live life as an outsider.  He no longer has to live a life of brokenness.  You see, when God fixes our brokenness, our lives are restored to the way God designed them to be. 

            By touching the leper, Jesus illustrates for us the very powerful cleansing that happens at the end of the Gospel.  On the cross, Jesus will take our spiritual leprosy and brokenness upon Himself and He will give us new life and healing.  He will become unclean so that we will be clean.  He will be cast out of the Holy City of Jerusalem so that we can enter into the heavenly city of Jerusalem. The healing of leprosy today is life changing, but Jesus has come to bring about life changing eternally.  This might be why He calls for the man to not share what has happened to him.  He doesn’t want to the world’s healing celebrity.  He wants to be it’s Savior. 

            And He wants to be yours.  He comes into this life to take your brokenness upon Himself.  He comes to give you peace, righteousness and eternity.  Let not your hearts be troubled by the temporary darkness of this life.  This is the season of Epiphany when we delight in the light of the world who has come to shine in the hearts of men.  He comes with the kind of cleansing that restores us to community and gives us our lives back.  In the Name of Jesus.  Amen.