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HOUSMAIL HM106 23
June 2003 JESUS AND THE LEPERS OLD
TESTAMENT LAWS The
Old Testament laws about diagnosing Leprosy and dealing with it, are
very detailed and strict. (You can read them
in Leviticus 13
and 14, Leviticus 22:4-9, Numbers 5:1-4.) There is some disagreement amongst scholars about exactly what
Old Testament Leprosy was. It seems to include a number of different things,
which could affect not only people, but also garments and houses. However
when referring to people, there appears to be little doubt that it did
include REAL Leprosy as we know it today. THE
CONSEQUENCES OF LEPROSY It
is NOT really important for us to solve those "technical" questions
about what it was. It is much more important that we appreciate the terrible effect
on people! Infected garments had to be burned. Houses were
demolished. Very expensive! But
it was the social consequences for individuals
affected with the disease, which were really terrible. From the day they were
diagnosed, they were to be regarded as «unclean» and excluded permanently
from society. They had to live alone outside the city walls, away from family
and friends. Anyone who so much as touched them, even accidentally, was also
regarded as temporarily «unclean», and had to follow a special bathing
ritual. Then they had to wait till after sunset before they could come back
inside the city. Very inconvenient! The leper himself had to wear torn
clothes. If anyone approached him, he had to warn them that he was a leper,
by crying out «unclean, unclean». If he was ever healed, he had to show
himself to the priest, and there was a very complicated ritual which had to
be followed before he was allowed back inside the city. Since this included a
"guilt offering", we conclude that leprosy was somehow regarded as
a "spiritual problem", resulting from sin. (The cases of Miriam in By
the time of Jesus, the Jews had added some other quarantine regulations,
which specified the distance that lepers had to keep clear from other people.
If the wind was blowing towards the leper, he could approach to about 4
cubits (about 2 metres) from other people. If the wind was blowing away from
him towards them, then he had to stand at least 100 cubits away. (about 45
metres!) Some people were so afraid of being contaminated by contact with
lepers, that they would actually throw stones at them, to keep them away!
Others would take to their heels and run away if a leper appeared in the
distance. ("The Life
and Times of Jesus", Alfred Edersheim,
Book 1, P495) Lepers
were completely isolated by their disease. They faced a lingering lonely
death, which would normally take many years to happen. They could not visit
their families. They could not worship in the Temple. They could not work.
Unless friends looked after them by leaving food at a «safe» distance, they
had to beg to survive, and were in danger of
starving to death. What
a really wonderful gift from God it must have seemed to those who were healed
and set free from such a terrible situation! How shall we even begin to
understand those nine lepers who never returned to give thanks! HEALING The
Law of Moses did include a "Cleansing Ritual" for healed lepers.
This can only mean that it was expected that Leprosy might be healed under
some circumstances! However, historical sources from outside the Bible, tell
us that the Rabbis regarded healing from Leprosy as totally medically
impossible. In the Old Testament the only healings recorded came through a miracle
from God. (e.g. Miriam and Naaman) That
would have been why Jesus told the disciples of John the Baptist to specially
mention it, along with other remarkable miracles, in answer to John's
question as to whether Jesus really was the Messiah. (Matthew 11:2-6, Luke 7:18-23) It
was one of the really spectacular "proofs" that He was the
prophesied Messiah from God. TOUCHING
THE UNTOUCHABLE Matthew
says that Jesus did the unthinkable. "He reached out and TOUCHED HIM!" But
Jesus was different! His reaction was not rejection. Instead, the Gospels
repeatedly tell us that for people like that, "He had compassion on
them". That includes lepers. In the eyes of those who were watching,
Jesus had just deliberately made Himself "ritually unclean". And
although the Gospels don't mention this aspect, this would have cost Him a
great deal of personal inconvenience. To conform perfectly with
His Father's "Quarantine Law", Jesus would have had to undergo the
time consuming cleansing ritual described in the Old Testament. It would have
cost Him a LOT to heal that leper! It says a lot about Jesus, that He was
prepared to accept the personal inconvenience of the time consuming
"cleansing ritual", in order to give those lepers a new chance in
life, and a restored freedom to worship again in the House of God. NOTE - REPENTANCE
FROM SIN Did
Jesus call the lepers to repentance? Well yes! THAT was inherent in His
commandment to go to the priests and show themselves! The "cleansing
ritual" included a "guilt offering", which of course implies
the repentance that should accompany such an offering. Of course lepers who
went to the priest should know what they were getting into. But you may be
sure that if they didn't know, the priests would soon tell them. The Priests
depended on such offerings for their own food! (Leviticus
14:13) THE
CROSS When
Jesus healed lepers, it presented a very uncomfortable challenge to the
Jewish leaders. Would they believe that He was God's Messiah? Or would they
reject His claim, even when confronted with such remarkable evidence? But
it was NOT simply a demonstration of "power", to establish His
identity. It arose much more from the depth of His LOVE and COMPASSION and
CONCERN for those who came to Him. The Jewish Leaders lacked that in themselves
and were blind to it in Jesus! And that blindness eventually led to the
jealousy on their part, which resulted in His crucifixion. (Matthew 27:18) When Jesus reached
out to touch those lepers, He already knew and had counted that as the
ultimate personal cost of his actions. Yes
Jesus did reveal the Glory of God, and the Power of God, and the Love of God.
But looking beyond that, His ultimate goal was to save us from the
consequences of our sins on the day of Judgment, and work with us now, to
make us ready to inherit the Kingdom of God. For
Jesus, all of that is involved in His life and work -- and it
was much more important than any consideration for His own personal comfort
or safety. And,
if we are willing, THAT same quality of love is one of the
things He wants to create in our lives. (Ephesians 3:14-21) Allon |