He Reached Out and Touched Him
“A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.”
— Mark 1:40-42 (NIV)
A priest, not a doctor, ruled on this disease, and only a priest could lift the verdict. The law required torn clothes, a covered upper lip and a shouted warning to anyone drawing near. He lived outside the town, cut off from family, work and worship, often for years. Anyone who went near him became impure too, and was barred from worship until evening. In Israel's story only God had ever cured it, so teachers put it beside raising the dead. Going up to anyone at all broke the rules he lived under, and risked being driven off. Impurity was supposed to travel outward, from the sick person to whoever stood close. Here it ran the other way, and it was the disease that had to go. Mark records what followed: the healed man went back into town, and Jesus stayed out in empty places. Love goes close first, before anything is fixed.
There are people your body quietly backs away from. Maybe a relative is ill and no longer looks like the person you knew. Maybe a neighbour after a stroke speaks slowly and is hard to follow. Or someone at work or in the canteen sits alone because of the smell of cigarettes and the shake in their hands. Or it is someone you have not phoned for months, because the call is heavy going. You talk from a step further back, or you are the one who hangs up first. They notice, because everyone around them does the same. Jesus put out his hand and touched the man nobody would go near.
Put Out Your Hand
- 1Go up to someone people keep away from because of illness, age or the way they look. Stay a few minutes and talk about ordinary things. Shake their hand if that is natural here. If it is not, it is enough to sit down beside them and not move away when it gets uncomfortable.
- 2If there is nobody like that around you today, call or write to a relative who is ill and whom you have drifted away from. If nobody ill comes to mind, knock on the door of the neighbour everyone walks past and ask whether they need anything.
Lord Jesus, you put out your hand to a man nobody would touch. I keep my distance and tell myself it is because I do not know what to say. Show me today the person everyone walks around. Give me the courage to go over, take their hand and stay a few minutes. Do not let me leave the moment it feels awkward. Amen.
Today I will put out my hand to someone other people avoid.
Why does the NIV say Jesus was indignant?
The old manuscripts differ at this point. Most read that he was moved with compassion, a few read that he was angry, and the NIV follows the few. Whatever the anger is aimed at, it is not the sick man, because the next thing he does is put out his hand.
What did the law actually require of him?
Torn clothes, an uncovered head, a covered upper lip and a shouted warning to anyone drawing near, plus life outside the camp (Leviticus 13:45-46). Only a priest could declare him well again, after an eight-day ritual with two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop (Leviticus 14).
What if I am at home all day today?
Call someone ill or elderly you have drifted away from and ask outright how they are feeling today. The point is that somebody who is usually kept at a distance hears from you.