MARK 1:40–45
A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling, he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 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.” 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.
REFLECTION
This is a curious story, isn’t it? There are so many stories of great healing in the Bible and yet this one stands out for me, because of the way in which the leper frames his request. “IF you choose, you can make me clean”, he says — and you can tell that he’s either a person of great faith… or an excellent negotiator! Let me rephrase that to explain what I mean. This leper is basically saying, “Jesus, if you don’t cleanse me, I will understand that it’s because you choose not to.” There is absolutely NO doubt in the mind of the man that Jesus CAN cleanse him. So if he doesn’t cleanse him, it will be simply because Jesus chose not to. Now consider this — when we go to Jesus to be cleansed, how do we present ourselves to him, and what do we say? The kneeling leper is someone we can draw inspiration from for our own repentance journey. He kneels before Jesus, but a little way off (Notice how Jesus has to stretch out his hand to touch him?). He knows he is not worthy to be close to Jesus, nor that he is owed anything, but his faith has brought him there. He knows that there is nothing that Jesus cannot cleanse, and we too must believe that there is no sin that Jesus cannot wash away. When we ask to be cleansed of our sin, we must ask with the attitude of the leper — knowing that it is only through Jesus’ choice of mercy that we are saved. As St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9) And now consider Jesus’ response. It seems to have been a no-brainer for him — he stretches out his hand even before he says, “I do choose”. But when we make a choice, there is always a reason for it — we choose metal straws over plastic ones because they’re good for the planet, we choose juice over cola because it’s the healthier option… you get the idea. So there must’ve been a reason for Jesus’ choice too. Even though it may seem like it was only that Jesus was “moved by pity”, there was another reason that we might have easily missed — that the leper asked to be cleansed! There seem to be no other reasons for Jesus’ choice, besides the two — the leper is saved by Jesus’ grace, and through his own faith, not by anything that he has done. And so, for Jesus to choose to cleanse us of our sins, it is also our own choice that matters — our choice of asking to be cleansed and changed, instead of clinging to our sins and leprous lifestyles.So the next time we think we’ve messed up so bad that the spots on our soul will be permanent, let the choice to reach out to Jesus for cleansing be a no-brainer — like the choice between wearing a mask, and getting Covid-19!
Stay safe; God bless you.
