Mark 1:40-42 - Healing a leper

1:40-42

Mark now recounts an incident which demonstrates both Jesus’ healing powers and His attitude towards people. What was referred to as leprosy in those days was not limited to our current medical definition of leprosy, but included some other skin diseases as well. Leviticus 13:1-14:32 contains detailed instructions on leprosy. The leper wanted Jesus to heal Him. He was also very pleading, kneeling before Jesus, and “if you are willing”. This is because lepers were very much isolated in society.  Jesus said He was willing and did heal the man, but He not only healed the man, but touched him as well. No Jewish religious leader would have done this, for touching a leper would render a man ritually unclean. The man was healed completely.

Now this raises an issue about the Law. There aspects, like the sections on leprosy, that seem unloving to us. There was no doubt a “public health” aspect to some of these regulations, but I also find it helpful to look at things like this. One aspect of the Law (and it is only one aspect, we need to look at the Law from various perspectives to get the whole picture) is that it tells us how things should be. So in God’s kingdom there will be no sickness, there would be no sin. But the Law was powerless to enable us actually get there, to actually live up to God’s standards. So what the Law did was highlight how far short of the glory of God we fall. As it says in Rom 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. So the Law shows us how things should be, but left at that it is just a harsh statement, for it puts us all under a curse, all under God’s judgement, God’s wrath.  Jesus came and shows us how we can actually become part of God’s kingdom. Jesus came in grace and truth. Now, there is grace throughout the Old Testament as well, it is full of it, the mystery of how on earth the love of God for His people, and the utter sinfulness of mankind could be reconciled was not fully revealed until Jesus came.

So, the Law tells us how things should be, the gospel tells us what a fallen race is supposed to do.