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A Touch That Breaks Every Barrier
Where We Are
It is the Friday after Epiphany, and the Christmas season is drawing to a close. The first letter of John completes its testimony about the Son of God, grounding our faith in the witness of the Spirit, water, and blood. In Luke's Gospel, we encounter a leper who dares to approach Jesus and a Savior who dares to reach back. This miracle, placed near the end of the Christmas season, reminds us that the God who became flesh did not come to keep his distance. He came to touch the untouchable.
The Word
John's first letter declares that whoever believes Jesus is the Son of God has the testimony of God within them. The Spirit, the water, and the blood testify to the truth that God has given us eternal life in his Son. "Whoever possesses the Son has life." In the Gospel, a man covered with leprosy falls before Jesus and begs, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus stretches out his hand, touches him, and says, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy leaves immediately. Jesus instructs him to show himself to the priest, but the man spreads the news everywhere, making it difficult for Jesus to enter towns openly. Jesus withdraws to deserted places to pray.
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Reflect
In the first century, leprosy was not just a medical condition; it was a social and religious death sentence. Lepers were required to live outside the community, to cry "Unclean!" when anyone approached, and to avoid all physical contact. The purity laws were strict: touching a leper made you ceremonially unclean.
Jesus does not heal from a safe distance. He could have spoken a word and cured the man without physical contact, as he did in other healings. Instead, he stretches out his hand and touches him. This detail is theologically loaded. In touching the leper, Jesus does not become unclean; instead, his cleanness flows outward. Holiness, in Jesus, is contagious in a way that impurity is not.
This is the radical message of the Incarnation that the Christmas season has been proclaiming. God does not save us from a distance. He enters our mess, our shame, our isolation. He puts skin on and reaches toward the places we believe are beyond help.
Notice, too, the leper's faith. He does not question Jesus's power; he questions his willingness. "If you wish, you can make me clean." Many of us pray the same way. We believe God can help, but we wonder if he wants to. Jesus's response settles the question forever: "I do will it." God is not reluctant. His desire to heal runs deeper than our capacity to doubt.
Living It
Is there a part of your life you consider "untouchable," something so broken or shameful that you doubt God would want to come near it? Bring it to him today with the leper's honest prayer: "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."
Reach out to someone who might feel isolated or excluded. A phone call, a text, or a visit can be a physical expression of the same love Jesus showed the leper. Do not underestimate the power of presence.
Notice that after healing the leper, Jesus withdrew to pray. Follow his example. After engaging with the needs of others, take time to be alone with God. Service without prayer leads to burnout; prayer without service leads to detachment. Hold both together.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you stretched out your hand and touched what everyone else avoided. We bring you the parts of our lives we have hidden in shame, the wounds we think are too deep, the failures we believe disqualify us from your love. Touch us. Make us clean. And then send us out to do the same for others, reaching toward those the world considers untouchable, with the same fearless compassion you have shown us. Amen.
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