Matthew 8:3 tells us that Jesus touched a leper and completely changed the man’s life. He could have simply given a command and the man would have been healed. Instead, Jesus touched one who was an outcast and I believe this is still how God responds to broken people. He touches them and He invests Himself in each individual person, no matter what situation they are in.
According to the law, a leper was
to be declared unclean by the priest who examined him/her (Leviticus 13:3, 8).
Jesus, by touching the leper, should also have been declared unclean but
instead the leper was healed. Jesus then sends the former leper away to follow
the law as prescribed for the day of cleansing healed lepers in Leviticus 14.
By touching the leper Jesus proved that
He is not bound by the law in the same way that a mere human would have been.
If He were a pagan we could accept this as Him simply being someone who was not
born under the covenant between God and Israel, although we would still expect
Him to contract leprosy. As Mary’s child, Jesus was Jewish and thus born under
the covenant. As such the law should have applied and He should have been
unclean immediately after touching the leper. The fact that the leper was
immediately healed shows that this is not the case.
Assuming the law to be true, there
is only one other explanation. Jesus was something or someone Who by nature was
not governed by the same weaknesses that other people experienced. His lineage
was also the Holy Spirit, making Him the Son of God. By His very nature He was
on the other side of the Old Covenant: The side held, not by a human but by God
Himself. The rules on that side of the agreement were different as they called
for God to be Lord and to deliver. Jesus was God and Lord and He routinely delivered
people. The healing of the leper was the evidence of this delivery and of the
fact that Jesus is God.
It was Jesus’ nature as God
incarnate that not only kept Him from becoming unclean but also gave Him the
power to cleanse that which was by nature unclean. That same nature dwells in
all of God’s children in the form of the Holy Spirit of God. By nature, He
cleanses us and by nature keeps us clean with His word. Thus, by nature we are
to touch broken people like Jesus did, even when we are afraid of being made
unclean. We are to let Jesus touch them through us so that instead of us
becoming unclean, they are cleansed by the power of the Spirit of God. And we
are to know by His power that Jesus is God and LORD of all.
Like Christ, His followers should
be ready to touch those who are less fortunate, sharing the Gospel that sets
people free. Are you ready to be like Christ? Are you ready to answer the call
to change lives?
(Note: This is based on an entry I wrote in my journal back in 2019. While researching more recently I came across a webpage on evidenceunseen.com where James Rochford makes a similar argument about Matthew 8:3)
No comments:
Post a Comment