Mercy

Luke 5

 Once when he was in one of the cities, a man covered with a skin disease was there. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I am willing. Be made clean.” Immediately the skin disease left him. And he ordered him to tell no one. (Luke 5)

These events occurred just yesterday. And I have to say that I can’t yet fully grasp what happened and what it meant. Why? Because it went against so many of our beliefs and it made me question my assumptions about our Jewish faith.

Let me explain. The account contained in your gospel of Luke is quite brief. And there is much more to understand about this event and why it was so shocking. So, I will elaborate and fill in some of the gaps.

First, let me tell you about the man. His name is Joshua, and he is my cousin. We are about the same age, in our forties, and I have known him all my life. We grew up together and were always best friends. He’s been like a brother to me. And you surely understand how important families are to us in our time. They are the anchor to our whole society.

Yet until yesterday, I had not seen Joshua for over ten years. That may seem strange to you, especially when you consider that he still lives nearby.

We did not part company because of any feud or misunderstanding. No, you have likely guessed it was because of his “skin disease.” In your time, you will call it leprosy. We have no name for it, but let me tell you, it is extremely dangerous. There is no cure. Its first sign is the appearance of white patchy areas on the skin. Then, those who are affected slowly lose parts of their bodies, beginning with their fingers, toes and so forth. And after suffering for years, death is the only escape. As the passage above says, Joshua’s body was “covered” with it.

When this disease strikes, it changes everything, not just for the person who is affected, but also for the entire family. You see, it is extremely contagious. And worse, in our culture, contracting a disease like this is seen to be a judgment on the one who has become sick, as if he or she did something wrong, or sinned against our YHWH God in some way.

I am telling you all of this to let you know how the actions of Jesus were so extraordinary. You see, lepers like Joshua can no longer live in the community. Why? Because we follow this rule:

The person who has the defiling disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.  (Leviticus 13)

“Outside the camp” means that lepers live outside our city, in a special place, a commune of sorts, where none of us would ever dare to go.

Because anyone coming into contact with a leper is also considered unclean and must present himself to the priest, to prescribe purification steps and regular inspections.

While all of this may seem overly harsh to you, just remember how contagious the disease is.

As I said, I had not seen Joshua for ten years. In a way, he was considered to be already dead, dead to himself and dead to us, his family.

But there he was, yesterday, clearly where he was forbidden to be, inside the walls of our city and not quarantined outside, as he should have been.

You can’t imagine how terrible he looked. The word “disheveled” as in the passage from Leviticus, falls very short. Joshua was hardly recognizable, hobbling along, leaning on a piece of wood for a crutch. The disease had clearly progressed, and it was hard to even look at him. Pieces of his body were either missing or limply hanging as if by a thread.

I thought I had already mourned my cousin and friend, considering him lost to me in the death sentence of this terrible disease. But witnessing him in this state brought me to a new level of grief. Tears filled my eyes as I considered how much he had lost, from the vigor of youth to this state of what can only be called decay, a near death.

But of course, he shouldn’t have even been there.

Had Joshua heard about Jesus of Nazareth, and his healing powers? He must have, because, once he had been exiled, he had never before ventured back into the city. Until yesterday. You can read what happened in the brief passage above.

After the surprise of suddenly seeing Joshua, I could not imagine what would happen next. But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

By all accounts, Jesus should have reprimanded Joshua, ordering him to cry “unclean, unclean” as he retreated back outside the city. But Jesus did not do anything of the sort. Instead, Jesus did the unthinkable, the one act that none of us would have ever imagined.

Jesus touched him. Yes, he touched Joshua, instantly contaminating himself with the disease.

It happened just after Joshua begged Jesus to heal him. Why he thought that Jesus possessed that much healing power, a power that would literally bring Joshua back from the brink of death, I will never know. And as I said, it happened only after Jesus affirmed Joshua’s request and amazingly, touched him.

I’ve wondered how long it had been since anyone actually touched Joshua. How long since he felt healthy skin against his diseased body, how long since he’d felt the comforting warmth of a hug.

As you have read, Joshua was healed by Jesus. And there was no sign of judgment in the healing, either: no condemnation for Joshua’s presence where he should not have been. No judgment of whatever sins Joshua had committed that led to this terrible disease.

Christ Cleans Leper

Byzantine mosaic image

In my opinion, what we witnessed was pure mercy. Yes, mercy in its purest form, where there is no judgment, no questions of justice, right or wrong, just an act of restoration, of healing at the deepest level. Jesus clearly gave no thought to whether or not Joshua deserved to be healed. His act was one of pure mercy, a life-giving act.

And that brings me to the most important lesson for me, and, I believe, for all of those who witnessed this miracle.

You see, before Jesus healed Joshua, those who saw him were shouting at him to leave and return to his place of disease. “Go, get out of here!” they shouted, not seeing the man, Joshua, but only a diseased body, one who was violating what we were taught was a law of our faith. To us, and I confess, even to me, Joshua was transgressing a pillar of our faith, even as he was begging Jesus to heal him.

It was the mercy shown to Joshua by Jesus that changed everything. I don’t mean just the fact that he healed Joshua. I mean the way he touched him, the way he affirmed him, the way he loved him, even in his diseased and ugly state. And the way that Jesus accepted him without judgment.

Yes, we were witnesses to a healing power that we felt we’d never see. But more than that, we were witnesses to a God of mercy, one who will touch us, one who will affirm us, even in our sickness, even when we don’t deserve it.

Joshua wasn’t welcome in our city. Our law taught us that and we believed it. Now, I question that belief. Because Jesus taught us that he will welcome us, touch us and heal us, even when we don’t deserve it. That, in my opinion, is the purest mercy.

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice. (Hosea 6)

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?  (Micah 6)