The Untouchables

Read Mark 1:1–3:35

35. Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.
36. Later Simon and the others went out to find him.
37. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
38. But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.”
39. So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.
40. A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.
41. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!”
42. Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.
43. Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning:
44. “Don’t tell anyone about this.” Mark 1:35-44

When making a new acquaintance, you probably greet the person warmly, perhaps even with a friendly handshake, especially if the emotional connections or mutual friendships are right. But what if you learned that the person had AIDS? Would you feel shocked and fearful? Would you involuntarily put your hand back into your pocket?

The disease of leprosy received that kind of negative reaction in Jesus’ day. As with AIDS today, leprosy was seen as a death sentence, wreaking horrible physical devastation on the infected person. Lepers were unclean outcasts—no one came near them.

Despite the social and physical consequences, Jesus, filled with compassion, reached out and touched a leper (Mark 1:41). The empathy and love demonstrated by our Lord challenges us to reach today’s outcasts.

Understand this in context. People greatly feared lepers. Many kinds of leprosy had no cure—once a leper, always a leper. And the disease’s side effects meant disfigurement and paralysis. In addition, the law in Leviticus 13 and 14 said that people with leprosy were unclean and were barred from all religious and social activities. Lepers had no status; they lived as total outcasts. Some people even threw rocks at lepers to keep them away.

Certainly you know people who wear the stigma of a disease (such as AIDS), a disability (such as cerebral palsy), or some other condition. The natural response of revulsion or disgust will only prevent you from reaching out to those people in any meaningful way. God’s love compels his people to be friendly, accepting, and kind (and to help them, if possible). Reach out and touch an “untouchable.”