Touching the Untouchable

In 2020, two words were introduced to our vocabulary that changed the way people related to one another. Those two words are social distancing. For the first time in our lives, our society as a whole went to great measures to distance us from one another. This was for good reason as COVID-19 was highly transmittable through one’s breath and saliva. So we wore masks and separated ourselves while standing in line and even in coming to church. But did you know social distancing was not new three years ago? It may have been new to us, but it existed in the time of Jesus as well.

During his time in Galilee, Jesus performed a number of healing miracles. Last week we saw him heal a demon possessed man. After that, it is recorded that he healed an untold number of sick and demon possessed people. This next miracle we will see shows Jesus healing a leprous man. This exchange is interesting and it also occurs in three of the four gospels. Today, we will focus on the version in Mark’s gospel.

Mark 1:40–45 NASB95

And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said 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.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

As we examine this exchange, I want you to see two reminders for effective ministry.

If we are to emulate Jesus, then our ministry must include touching those society will not touch.

Verse 41 says Jesus was moved with compassion at the leper’s request to be healed. As we see in verse 40, this is no mere ask. He is begging. He is in a posture of desperation. We need to understand a few things about leprosy. First, we need to understand that the word used for leprosy in the Bible is rarely associated with the modern medical understanding of leprosy. The word is used in the Bible to refer to varying kinds of skin diseases, all of which were very contagious and incurable. So we have to remember that when the Bible says leprosy, it may not be the modern understanding of leprosy, but rather some other skin disease.

Secondly, the significance of verse 41 cannot be overlooked. Jesus stretched out his hand and touched the leper. These skin diseases were highly contagious and were transmitted through physical contact. According to their own law touching such a person was forbidden. Leviticus 13 outlines what to do in the event someone is suspected of contracting a skin disease. When a person developed a blemish on their skin, they were to go to the priest for inspection. If the priest determines it is leprosy, the infected person is pronounced unclean. If the blemish looks to be surface level only, the potentially infected person was to be isolated for seven days. Then a second inspection would be done and if there is no change, he was isolated seven more days. After two weeks, if the infected area has not changed or has begun to fade, the infected person is pronounced clean and they can return to normal living. If it has gotten worse, the priest would pronounce him unclean. Once a person is pronounced unclean, they were sent to live in a leper camp outside of town. They were not permitted into town unless someone rung a bell shouting, “Unclean! Unclean!” This alerted the public to then socially distance themselves from this individual so they might not accidentally come into contact with him and contract the disease.

So the leper in this story is untouchable, and for good reason. Leprosy had no cure. Either your body could fight off the disease or you would succumb to it and die. There is major risk involved in coming into contact with a leper. The other side of that is that by coming into contact with something unclean made you unclean whether you contracted the disease or not. When a person became unclean according to Jewish law, they were prohibited in engaging in regular worship practices. Every unclean person had to go through ceremonial cleansing to be declared clean again. All of this is going on in the background of the story we are reading. This was life in first century Israel.

Jesus could have healed the man simply by speaking. We saw that when he healed the unnamed official’s son. Jesus chose to touch the one who was untouchable. This act of touching the leper is huge! Nobody would have done this. Jesus did. He was the only one who could. By touching the leper he allowed healing to flow from him while simultaneously taking the leper’s uncleanness upon himself. This is a big deal as it illustrates what Jesus does for every person.

We are unclean due to our own sin. None of us is perfect. We have all violated God’s law. We are also not capable of making ourselves clean because we need an unblemished sacrifice. Jesus is the unblemished sacrifice who took on our uncleanness so that healing could flow through him. We are cleansed from our sin and made clean through the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. God’s kingdom is perfect. It has no defects. For it to remain that way and for us to be a part of it, imperfections must be removed. Jesus removes them through the sacrifice on the cross. He voluntarily touched us so we could be made clean. The Bible says,

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The leper was cleansed, but Jesus took on his uncleanness. Remember that Jesus, by touching this leper, was now required to follow the law and submit himself to ceremonial cleansing because he came into contact with someone who was unclean. This is very inconvenient. Jesus would not have been allowed to enter a town until he was declared clean. This did not seem to matter because verse 45 tells us his fame had grown so much that he could not enter a town publicly because of the crowds waiting for him. But he still had to go though ceremonial cleansing before he could engage in regular worship practices at the temple. Jesus was willing to take this man’s uncleanness upon himself so the man could be clean.

The other thing I want us to understand is this:

Overcoming physical barriers can lead to spiritual renewal.

The leper would have been very lonely. No physical contact with anyone for a minimum of two weeks. The text implies he was dealing with this for much longer. We are made for physical connection. Even the most introverted person needs the physical touch of another human being from time to time. We crave it naturally. If you go too long without a hug, a handshake, or some other form of kind touch, you will begin to wonder whether anybody loves you at all. Nothing is more maddening than isolation.

It was really hard being isolated from my community when we got COVID right after moving here. We moved from our hometown and from our families to a place where we knew nobody but were ready to begin building new relationships. It was difficult not being able to be anywhere, but we made it. Isolation, even for a good reason, is maddening. We need physical contact from others. When we do not get it, we feel ostracized by our community. This is exactly what happened to lepers. They were outcasts. Nobody wanted anything to do with them. But Jesus touched the untouchable. Jesus physically touched a man he did not need to touch to heal him. But what that touch did humanized the leper.

There are people in our society who are deemed untouchable. They are ostracized and ignored. They are seen as burdens and not opportunities. We have all done it. When somebody is hard to love, it is easier to ignore them than help them. We have to be careful not to dehumanize the people who need our help the most. There will always be those who just want to take advantage of us. But we cannot dehumanize the people that are hard to love.

Overcoming physical barriers can lead to spiritual renewal. Do you think the leper only received physical healing that day? Or did his life radically change because of the miracle Jesus worked in his life? The act of a physical touch changed this man’s reality. We feed the poor and the homeless to satisfy a physical need. We do this so we can then try to satisfy their spiritual need. There are a bunch of kids in the Philippines who probably aren’t going to worry about rice for a while because of your generosity. We need to make sure we are investing in the people living in our own community.

We are making strides to do just that. In 2024 we will be putting evangelism and missions into our budget. We will be working on strengthening our partnerships in the school district and within the community. I pray that one day God might build this church into a church that invests in its community to such a degree that if we ever had to close, the city would mourn. We must do whatever we can do to impact our community and beyond for Christ. Remember that the power of simply touching someone who is untouchable can lead to spiritual renewal in that person’s life. How can you touch the life of an untouchable this week?