This morning, we meet a leper. Leprosy was the scourge of the ancient world. Nothing evoked more fear, more dread, or more revulsion than the sight of these walking dead. That is what a leper was called, a walking dead man.
The smell of his decaying flesh would announce his coming long before the tattered scraps of his clothing would be seen, or his raspy "Unclean! Unclean!" announcement he was required to declare could be heard. The stumbling shuffle of toeless feet, the wandering of sightless eyes, and the moan of a cheekless mouth all pointed to Leprosy, this unseen attacker that slowly destroyed human bodies and made the individual untouchable to society.
The great Jewish culture scholar Edersheim says the disease, which we today call leprosy, generally begins with pain in certain areas of the body. Numbness follows. Soon, the skin in such spots loses its original color. It gets to be thick, glossy, and scaly. … As the sickness progresses, the thickened spots become dirty sores and ulcers due to poor blood supply. The skin, especially around the eyes and ears, begins to bunch, with deep furrows between the swellings, so that the face of the afflicted individual begins to resemble that of a lion. Fingers drop off or are absorbed; toes are affected similarly. His throat becomes hoarse, and you can now see, feel, and smell the leper and hear his rasping voice. And if you stay with him for some time, you can even imagine a peculiar taste in your mouth, probably due to the odor.
LEPROSY is a vivid and graphic physical picture of the spiritual defilement of sin. Sin is ugly, loathsome, incurable, and contaminating; it separates men from God and makes them outcasts. The instructions were given to the priests in Leviticus 13 help us understand the nature of sin: Sin is inside us, deeper than the skin (Lev. 13:3); sin also spreads (Lev. 13:8); sin always defiles and isolates (Lev. 13:45–46); and just as leprous garments are fit only for the fire (Lev. 13:52, 57), so those who die clothed in sin will burn forever.
But then came Jesus. Mark used his favorite word in our passage we will read this morning. When the untouchable is touched by Jesus, note (v. 42), “Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.”
Imagine what happened to that leper who was touched by Jesus. His feet—toeless, ulcerated stubs—were suddenly whole, bursting his shrunken sandals. The knobs on his hands grew fingers before his very eyes. Back came his hair, eyebrows, eyelashes. Under his hair were ears and before him a nose! His skin was supple and soft.
Can you hear a thundering roar from the multitude?
Can you hear the man crying not, “Unclean! Unclean!,” but, “I’m clean! I’m clean!”
Shackled by a heavy burden, neath a load of guilt and shame,
Then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I ma no longer the same.
He touched me, Oh He touched me, and Oh the joy that floods my souls,
Something happened and now I know, He touched me and made me whole!
The walking dead were so feared that they were driven to live outside of civilization. No family would be allowed to stay in touch with their loved one once that oozing, green sore was detected. With pitiful wails like a funeral, the dirge of the farewell to the precious husband, father, son, daughter, mother, grandfather, or grandmother would swell from the tear-filled faces of the ones never to see their loved one again. Off went the walking dead leper to the dark, pain-filled world of exclusion, hatred, bitterness, and loneliness. Marked for life as a communicable bearer of the most dreaded, incurable blights ever known. Doomed to be treated as an enemy for the rest of your life. Welcome to the Leper’s World, the World of the Walking Dead.
Read text Mark 1:40-45
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