A Cleansing Touch

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

One of the most important issues in American everyday life is cleanliness. Just watch TV for an evening and count how many commercials run for things that clean: soap, shampoo, dental care, hair care, toilet paper, sanitizers, and so on. Clean is big business, and a big concern for a lot of people. Just think of the old adage: cleanliness is next to godliness.

In fact, much of the world takes to be more than just a quaint saying. In most of Asia, even in the dirtiest jungle, there is a concern for the state of one's feet. It is customary to take off your shoes when entering the home or temple of a Hindu or Buddhist, because to bring in the dirt of your travels would be to contaminate sacred space. The feet are considered perpetually unclean, and to display your feet or touch someone or something with them is considered insulting and offensive.

Among Muslims, cleanliness borders on an obsession. Islamic law has volumes of literature regarding personal cleanliness and hygiene. It is required that a Muslim wash ceremonially before each of the five daily prayers, and several other times a day. Shoes must be removed at the entrance to a mosque, so as not to soil the prayer space. Cleanliness is not simply next to godliness, it is godliness.

Even Jews have their laws regarding ritual cleanliness and purification, and great traditions exist regarding the maintenance of purity. And according to these traditions, one of the worst conditions one could have is leprosy. Leprosy makes one perpetually unclean.

Today's gospel lesson describes a leper drawing near to Jesus and falling at His feet. This was a bold move for a leper, since, by law, he could be killed for contaminating a clean person thusly. Jewish law limits the contact a leper may have with a clean person, even when walking on the road. According to the book of Leviticus, a leper is required to remain unbathed and unkempt, cover his upper lip, and cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” as he travels. A clean man passing by an unmoving leper becomes unclean.

Because of this uncleanness, the leper was ostracized from society. He was rendered homeless and destitute. Family and friends were allowed no close contact. He could not even come close enough to beg, but was forced to forage and scavenge. And, as if such a life were not bad enough, he still had to deal with the painful decay of his rotting flesh as the leprosy consumed his body. No one could come to his aid or comfort him in his agony, and no one could bury him when death had taken him.

But in this case, a leper defies the Law of Moses and approaches Jesus on the road. Presumably, he had heard Jesus preaching and teaching in Galilee, and may have witnessed the healing and restoration that Jesus brought to the multitudes of those sick and afflicted. On this account, he presumes to come to Jesus and grossly violate the Law by approaching the Holy One. He falls down at Jesus' feet and cries out, “If you will, you can make me clean.”

What a statement of faith! This man has heard the preaching of the Gospel and believed. He has seen the miracles and trusts in the Lord who performs them. And yet, he does not press his case. He does not demand that the Lord act for him. He does not even ask directly that Jesus heal him. He simply confesses his hope in the Lord, and trusts in the will of God to do what is right.

This leper trusts in the will of God because he has seen it in action, and he knows that it is Jesus' will to seek and save the lost, to bind up the brokenhearted and the distressed, and to heal the sick and suffering. This man need make no demand upon the Lord, because he has faith in the God who has already shown Himself gracious and merciful, and who has promised to answer the needs of His people.

At the same time, while the leper makes no demands outrightly, he is insistent that the Lord work according to His demonstrated will. He presses toward Jesus, falls at his feet, and places himself far closer than the Law would ever allow, because He believes and knows that Jesus will heal him. And the Lord does not flee from him or cast him away immediately. He allows Himself to be impressed upon for the sake of His people, because it is indeed His will to heal and save.

So what does Jesus do? Being indignant, one might say even angered, Jesus touched him and healed him. The translation “moved with pity” does not do justice to the emotion Jesus felt as He stared into the face of sin manifested in the flesh of this poor man. The reaction of our Lord to sin is righteous indignation.

He is angered on account of the ravages of sin in His creation. Everything that He declared very good has been marred and corrupted by that ancient poison. Death oozes from every corner, rotting all flesh from within and without. Disease, decay, disintegration all come about because of sin. What was good, no longer is.

The Lord is angered on account of the pain in the lives of the faithful. Sin begets pain and suffering. The leper before Him was suffering in his body the effects of a dreadful disease, but he was also suffering the consequence of sin. The separation, desperation, and affliction he felt in his soul were a result of not being able to come before the Lord and receive the forgiveness of his sins.

The faithful people of God experience suffering in a multitude of ways, but it always brings with it pain and grief. Sin isolates you from your brethren in the faith and divides you from the communion of saints. Sin brings grief and sorrow of heart. Sin disconnects you from those who would suffer with you and bear you up in the midst of tribulation.

Finally, Jesus is angered on account of the unbelief of those who oppose Him. He knows that this man believes, and so will be healed. But He knows that many more will not believe. They will see the miracles, they will eat the bread from heaven, and yet they will turn back into themselves and remain in the ashes of death.

Yes, Jesus is moved to anger, and that anger motivates Him to action. He stretches out His hand, touches the leper, and says, “I will; be clean.” The Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel, touches one who is so thoroughly unclean and impure, and He heals him. Unable to be contaminated by sin, Jesus instead drives the poison of sin and death from this man. He heals him and restores him to fellowship with all the faithful people. For now that his flesh has been restored, the man can once again go into the house of God and worship in the Temple.

The Lord heals with a touch. And this touch is invasive. No mere pat on the head could do such great things. When the Lord touches His people, regardless of what the outward action is, He invades your body and soul. It is more like touching a child with a dirty diaper. No little pat will solve that condition. The offending article must be opened up and the filth and stink laid bare. Then what is there can be wiped away and the child made clean and fresh and pure again. The Lord rips open and lays bare the filth that inhabits you and He washes you clean, and makes you holy and pure.

Our Lord Christ accomplished this cleansing because His righteous anger for sin moved Him toward the cross. There, He died the death due once for all on account of sin. There He destroyed sin, death, and the power of the devil. He marched into the grave and burst forth from the earth renewed, resurrected. He won the power to make you righteous, to make you clean, to make you holy. Because He died and rose, you who share in His flesh and blood have died and risen with Him, and you will likewise rise from the graves into which you will be laid. He has taken on human flesh and blood, body and soul, and all that He has taken up, He has healed and sanctified.

After He has pronounced His will that the man be clean, Jesus sends him to the priest to be examined, and He is charged to “offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” The man's cleansing is proof of Jesus, that He is and does what He says. The rabbis acknowledge that it is as difficult to cure leprosy as to raise someone from the dead. Only the Lord can effect such a cure and cleansing. Therefore, in pronouncing the man's purification and accepting his offering according to the Law, the priests are accepting the proof they offer, that Jesus has the power to forgive sins and cleanse body and soul.

This proof, this witness, will stand against the priests later, as they seek to deny what they know to be true, that the same Son of David who worked such great miracles and wonders in the land is the Son of God come to bear their sin and be their savior.

This proof, this witness, will stand for you as proof that Jesus does what He says. His resurrection is proof that the will of God is to cleanse and restore you. All that Jesus says and does is for your good, for your restoration, for your purification. Jesus has reached out and touched you in your flesh, and He has made you clean. The blessed floods of Holy Baptism have washed you clean with the Blood of the Lamb. The Holy Body and Blood have passed through your lips and course through your veins, driving from you all fear and doubt, all sickness and unrighteousness. By these proofs, by His own flesh, our Lord confirms His good will for you.

In this way, God's name is hallowed among us. The leper hallowed the Name of the Lord when he called upon Jesus to exercise His will to heal and save. You hallow the Name of the Lord when you call upon Him in any and every trouble. You hallow the Name of the Lord when you beseech Him to be faithful to His Word and promises, to save His people and bless His heritage. You hallow the Name of the Lord when you live as one cleansed and pure, filled with the life of Christ and overflowing with the light of faith. Offer yourselves as proof that the Lord is good, that His mercy endures forever. “Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven!”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.