This week in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus touches a leper and heals him. But here is the thing, lepers were, well, kinda gross. So, Jesus touching this guy is a big deal.
In Mark 1:40- 45, Jesus is approached by a leper. Context. Lepers were not supposed to walk up to people. It was a big no-no in Jewish culture. In Leviticus 13, Lepers are instructed to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" while they walk around so that people would be able to stay away from them. To even touch a leper would make a person unclean, and they would need to go through the ritual purification also prescribed in Leviticus. So, this guy walking up to Jesus already puts us in some tricky territory.
The leper does more than just approach Jesus; he speaks to the Lord and says, "If you wish, you can heal me." There is some wisdom here I don't want to miss. Take a moment to hear how the leper speaks to Jesus. "If you wish." He comes in humility and acknowledges Jesus' authority. He knows that Jesus can heal him. But knowing that, he does not demand the Lord do it. Instead, he makes it very clear that Jesus is the one who is going to make the call. "If you wish, you can heal me."
Compare that to our prayer. I find that too often, my prayer doesn't sound like the leper. I err in one of two ways. Too often, I don't give the Lord the credit he deserves. I don't pray like He can accomplish whatever he wants. It sounds crazy, but too often, I have come to the Lord as if he can do nothing but hear me. That denies who he is. He is the Lord of all creation. Creation is in Him. To pray as if the Lord was bound by the constraints of whatever situation I am in, well, it doesn't make sense. I have fallen into this way of thinking too often, and I don't think I am the only one. Take a moment and consider if your prayer gives the Lord the credit he deserves. Does your prayer acknowledge that the Lord is Lord? Or are we praying as if he is some mid-level bureaucrat who can do nothing more than hear our plea and file the complaint.
The other trap that I fall into, and perhaps you do too, is demanding action from the Lord as if I somehow have authority over him. "Lord, you can heal me if you want, so do it now!" Sorry, that doesn't work either. To deny that absolute authority of God, even over me, is a big mistake as well. When we come to the Lord, when we seek his intervention, when we seek his grace, we are not conjuring some force we can control through subtle words or prescribed formulas. No, we are coming before the one who created all things. We are standing before the author of creation. Yes, he loves us, but he is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He is Father. And children should not go to their father, particularly if dad is the King, and demand he does what they want. They ask. When we pray, we need to come to the Lord in humility, acknowledging who he is and acknowledging that ultimately, He is the faithful one. "Lord, I know you can move, and I am begging you to do so, but I trust in your will because I know who you are, and I know you love me."
The leper's prayer is essential for us to hear, and we would be wise to imitate it. But, there is another thing I need to point out about this story. The leper approached Jesus, and Jesus did not withdraw. The leper spoke to the Lord, and the Lord did not rebuke him. No, it says the Lord "stretched out his hand, touched him." Get the picture. The leper was close-talking Jesus. He was in his space. How do I know this. Because all Jesus had to do was stretch out his arm, and he was touching him. What is the takeaway?
Too often, when we find ourselves in sin, or in crisis, or let's just say trouble, we act like we can not get close to Jesus. We act like we should not approach him. We buy into the lie that Jesus stopped loving us when we didn't act like we love him. We act like Jesus is going to cringe if we try to get close until we can somehow make ourselves worthy. But, here we see that is just not the way Jesus acts. He lets the leper get close and then Jesus touches him. Don't mistake that. Jesus did not need to touch this guy. But he did. Why? I think it was maybe so we would know that Jesus doesn't want to heal us from afar either. He wants us to draw close. He wants to touch us too.
There is a lot to think about this week. How have we been approaching the Lord? Do we recognize who he is when we pray? Do we acknowledge his authority? Do we accept his power? And do we beleive that even when we are in sin, the Lord still wants us to draw near to him so that he can touch our lives as well?