0130 LIGHT WINS!

LIGHT WINS!

Today we are reading chapter two. But there is an event in chapter one that is one of my favorite moments of Jesus. Because I was doing an overview, we didn’t cover it yesterday. Here is the moment: Mark writes, And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ~Mark 1:40-42

Let’s imagine it: Jesus and his followers are walking along when a man with a full-blown case a leprosy comes walking right up through the group, straight to Jesus. The twelve are getting a bad collective case of the heebie-jeebies, on account of that fella was supposed to be more than half a football field away, if he’s upwind of anybody. (Granted, it’s a bit more difficult to judge that distance, since football wasn’t invented yet, but you get the point). 

He’s required to spend the rest of his pitiful life banging on a pot and yelling, “Unclean! Unclean!” All that so nobody else catches his cooties and has to spend the rest of their own pitiful lives doing the same.

Now, understand that there are several laws in the Old Testament that talk about when a holy thing comes in contact with an unclean thing. In every case, the result is that the holy thing is made unclean and is rendered unholy. That’s how it works; cooties win. Everyone knew that when light comes in contact with darkness, darkness wins. Every time.

Anyhoo, this man falls down at Jesus’ feet. Jesus stops and looks him over good. The man’s covered in white powdery patches of skin, with bloody, seeping spots in the middle. Around most of the red spots are black patches of gangrenous dead skin, that looks and smells like four-day-old meat that’s gone way bad. The man’s hands are wrapped up with dirty, lymph-soaked rags. He’s missing half of his left nostril, and it looks like you can see right into his brain. It’s about the most disgusting sight you can imagine. And the smell is overpoweringly awful, like the man’s been dead for days already. They all don’t know whether to run or stare.

But Jesus don’t run. And He don’t stare. He squats down in front of the man and looks at him with unimaginable love.The leper speaks with his gravelly, half-eaten-up voice: “Lord, if you’re willing, You can make me clean.” Tears are streaming down the man’s face, he’s so desperate and full of pent-up hope.

Then, Jesus did the bravest, most compassionate thing imaginable: Jesus reaches out and caresses that man’s eaten-up face in both of His hands. You know, it’s one thing to talk about God’s ways or even to cast out a demon with a word. It’s another thing altogether to touch something, someone so contagious that it would cause Jesus to have to go into isolation for a week, and then be inspected by a priest and declared clean.

With His thumbs, He’s gently brushing away some of the white powder and the tears, like a momma with the face of her little boy, like He’s known the man as a brother for years. No doubt, it’s the first time in years this man has ever been touched by any human. Jesus gets teary-eyed Himself and says real gently, “Of course I’m willing. Be clean.” 

He hugs that smelly man there in the Galileean dirt, and then He helps the man unwrap his hands. To their amazement, his hands aren’t missing fingers or even covered in sores! Neither are his feet! Or his face! The man is clean! He’s looking like a little boy unwrapping presents on Christmas morning, giddy and reeling from the pure delight of having his greatest wish come true. Him and Jesus are both laughing and crying, and soon all of the disciples finally get over their shock, and start laughing with them.

After a bit of this, Jesus helps the man stand up and He gives the man some serious instruction: “Now, quickly go straight to the priest, so that he can declare you clean and you both can give glory to God. Then go find your family, man!”

I’ll tell you, that man run off, like a calf released from his stall. Gravity’s having a bit of a time keeping him stuck to the ground, if you want to know the truth. Jesus has got His hands on His sides, laughing at the whole scene in pure delight.

As the man heads around the bend, a silence falls over his followers. Of course, we’d already been silent most of the time already, trying not to inhale. But it become clear that it’s time to debrief a bit with the Master over this event. 

Maybe Peter tried to ask a clarifying question that might have come out sort of like, “Jesus, You . . . (the words are coming hard, even for a talker like Pete) . . . You just . . . Touched . . . A leper! Wh . . . H . . . ?”

“Don’t you know? When light comes in contact with darkness, light wins. Every time.”