Reach Out and Touch

“And being moved with compassion, He (Jesus) stretched out His hand, and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be made clean.” Mark 1:41 (RV)

The account of Jesus with the leper is very close to my heart. I am especially intrigued by the leper’s sincerity when he approaches Jesus and from his speech one can almost see the trial of his life. The leper could have been you or me, he may have been to different physicians, the best of the best specialists, homeopaths, or perhaps in his last resort he even visited witch doctors, but still “there was no hope; there was nothing anyone could do.” The leper’s years of disappointment to and from the hospital, the church (synagogue) and wherever else he may have gone, leads him to enquire about a man they called Jesus. With little or no hope of ever being healed he approaches Jesus and utters those touching words of a sin-sick soul, and at the feet of the Saviour he pleads “if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Among the symptoms of leprosy, is the loss of sensation on the hands and feet, one may cut, burn, and prick or injure oneself without feeling pain. The long-term effect which is infection to the area/s untreated can possibly lead to a slow, miserable death as the organs shut down. Due to the contagious nature of the disease, lepers were removed from society and lived in isolation. Do you know of a leper? The leprosy of sin makes us numb to the sensation of the Holy Spirit and leads us to spiritual death; this disease also has the ability of making us numb to the needs of others, we somehow become forgetful of God’s blueprint as in Matthew 22:37-39. “Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel the sympathy of our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15

In the same way that Jesus experiences the pain caused by our sin-sickness, the tears He sheds and the broken heartedness He feels when we wander off with the enemy, we are to manifest the same spirit of service to others, for while we help others as Matthew 25:36-40 says, God works on refining our characters for eternity. There is healing in serving.