About Mark: The leper in this story is healed, and understandably overwhelmed with excitement. Early Christians could be as excited as the healed man in this story. Sometimes exuberance about their own experience of Jesus did the cause more harm than good. As time passed, the risk of distorted reporting grew. Mark's Gospel, like the others, was written to give a factual basis for people to decide about Jesus.
Mark lived in times when social position meant everything. Mark was a Jew. Jews generally thought they were God's chosen people. Greek culture and language had swept the world, its vaunted wisdom and education making for cultural barriers between Greek and barbarians--as classical Greeks called people who couldn't speak Greek (their languages sounding to Greeks like bar-bar-bar-bar, thus barbarians).
Mark's Gospel was written in koine Greek, the common market version of the Greek language. In the same way, Rome's more recent power made Roman citizenship, power, and privilege a prized possession of selected sons. Society was infected by class snobbery. Alienation of one kind or another separated "the haves" from "the have nots". And no one was more alienated from social acceptance than the leper. This story, perhaps above all others, describes the attitude of Jesus towards the outcast.
His compassion has motivated his followers throughout history. Many remember Mother Theresa. Regretfully that kind of compassion has not always been the case. The importance of a Gospel like Mark is that it tells us what Jesus was truly like, and what his disciples should also be like to loyally represent him in our world.Bible: Mark 1:40-45, Jesus Cleanses a Leper
40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean." 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44 saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
Comment: THE UNTOUCHABLE TOUCHED
Inside his skin How can we possibly get inside the skin of this man, the leper? Leprosy conjures up every kind of horror! Disease has randomly struck - as it does - rich and poor! Righteous and rotten! Father and son! Craftsman and scribe! Who had this man been? What had he been? But all that was past. And what he is now, is plain.
An outcast! Cast away from the hearth of his family and their embrace of love. Cast out from gainful employment, and its lift to dignity. Cast off from social interaction, and a sense of place. Cast down by the harsh judgement, "it is the curse of God!" The closer this man got to people the more repellent his effect; except upon Jesus. For all the reasons the leper repelled others, he attracted the attention of Jesus who came to save and to restore the outcast.
Touching his skin
Jesus stretched out his hand and touched his skin. How long had it been since anyone dared do that? Fear of contamination must have kept everyone at much more than arm's length. But not this Jesus! Jesus was moved with pity, and acted with power! "`Be made clean!' And immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean."
Out of his skin
Jesus told this man to present himself to authorities who would authenticate his cure, but to "say nothing to anyone" (44). Crowds could be a problem to Jesus when they clamoured for healings rather than the kingdom which heals (1:37-39).
But the man just couldn't keep quiet. He was bursting out of his skin. He went out and began to proclaim it freely, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly. After that, Jesus tended to heal in private (Mark.5:40, 7:33, 8:23). Mark tells the story with a mixture of understanding and reproof. New Christians can sometimes be so exuberant about the kingdom that they don't listen well enough to Jesus. And they get in his way! You may have met some of them. But the kingdom is about following Jesus, isn't it?
Discipleship today: Putting this in today’s setting, many people feel alienated from others in society. There can be dozens of reasons why. Such isolation can be the result of our own choices, but frequently it is caused by apparently random circumstances. Often, as in this
case, it is an isolation imposed by others.
Sometimes the reason is a visible disfigurement. But in fact, everyone is disfigured or damaged to some extent. It is just that internal damage is more easily hidden. It is cruel to tell people that such a misfortune is because of God's curse. Such an idea is disproved here by Jesus' compassion towards this man, leading to his cure.
This man's understanding assured him that Jesus had the power. But he was rightly dubious about the will of Jesus in his particular circumstances, because Jesus doesn't heal everyone. Healings are temporary. More eternal things are at stake, and the temporary healings point to greater things.
The story should lead you to consider if you share this man's faith in Jesus. Is it a faith that feels his compassion for you, and changes any feelings of alienation you have? Is it a faith that accepts God as he is, whether it is his particular will to heal you of your damage or not? Or is it not faith at all, just a demand to get what you want?
No comments:
Post a Comment