Lepers and Jesus

this Sunday is the last Sunday of Epiphany season so the readings below will not be used, but I want to share the sermon that I will never preach

2 Kings 5:1-14

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Mark 1:40-45

God reveals to us through patterns, so to hear God's word more deeply, we must ay attention to details. For example, the Greek word lepros occurs only one more time in Mark, at the end of Jesus' ministry. In chapter 14, Jesus eats dinner at the house of Simon the Leper, where a woman anoints His head. Prior to the meal, the  chief priests and scribes are looking for a way to secretly arrest and kill Jesus. Immediately after the meal, Judas works out a deal to betray Jesus. When Jesus says the woman has prepared Him for burial, it is obvious why. 

Does healing this leper at the beginning of His ministry have symbolic meaning as well?  Jesus has just had dinner at the home of another Simon. He declares that He has come to be a herald, so they must go to all the villages. Immediately after healing the leper, Jesus is confronted by scribes for blasphemy in another healing. Seeing some verbal connections now?

Lepers are social outcasts, unwelcome in society. Leviticus describes the physical malady, various scaly skin disorders and what was to be done. It was considered dangerous to breath the same air as them so they had to practice social distance.

Jesus had 'compassion' on this poor man. The other two times He has compassion are because the people are sheep without a shepherd, a code word for Messiah King and because He wants to feed the crowd, a direct verbal tie-in with the Last Supper and crucifixion. 

Jesus ends his social isolation by touching Him. Two things happen, the man is healed and Jesus is made unclean. Jesus, obedient to the Law, sends the man to the priest, to perform the rituals and be officially reintegrated into the community. When the man tells everyone, Jesus can no longer go into the villages. Understand, figuratively and literally, Jesus has switched places with the man. For all practical purposes, Jesus has become a leper.

Jesus follows the Law, but doesn't lose sight of the human tragedy. Jesus does not build a wall to keep Himself safe. Jesus embraces the man and His situation. Jesus does not welcome the man into the community, nor does He reject the Law about lepers. He is no social justice warrior tearing down institutions and structures. Instead, He takes the man's sufferings onto Himself as the cost of healing him.

Mark's consistent story, from beginning to end, is that Jesus, the faithful Jew, is our Messiah and Savior. That the compassionate mercy of Jesus includes healing us at a great cost--the suffering He endured to minister, reaching its climax in His death on the cross

Each of us is that leper. Jesus touches us, makes us clean in baptism. He feeds us bread in Eucharist. He stands with us as social outcasts for our faith. If others view us with indifference or hostility, Jesus looks at us with mercy and compassion.

This is the Kingdom which He came to announce. God's salvation.