In today’s gospel story from Mark Jesus heals a leper. Mark’s gospel tells many stories about Jesus healing people –especially lepers. They are miracle stories.
We miss the point of this gospel story if we read and understand it at face value. In taking the gospel at face value – in taking its meaning to be what is most obvious to us – we will always read the gospel in terms of our own culture. We read this first-century Greek text as if it were written by and for twenty-first century English-speaking Americans. And so we fail to understand what the gospel wants to say to us. We just don’t get it.
That’s a special danger with miracle stories. And that’s not peculiar to us. St. Augustine in his day, which was the latter part of the fourth century, complained about people not understanding miracle stories in the gospels. He said they just looked at the outer word – the outer events of the miracle and failed to get into the inner word – the inner meaning of the miracle story. In our own day we might be satisfied with imagining the healing of the leper much like a Walt Disney movie would portray it – special effects and all!
So let us try to hear and understand this story as Mark, the author, intends to tell us the story. And to do that, some clarifications are needed.
First of all, we are told that a “leper” came to Jesus – a “leper”. All sorts of ugly pictures come to mind – decaying limbs falling off the body. That’s our modern picture of the disease known to us as “leprosy”. Clinically, what we are picturing is called “Hansen’s disease”.
But what the gospel and the first reading from Leviticus is talking about is not Hansen’s disease – but what is called in Hebrew “sara’at”. The Greek translation for “sara’at” is “lepra”. What we’re talking about – “sara’at” or “lepra” – is a patchy skin condition. It’s more like acne, psoriasis or eczema.
In the religious understanding of Jesus’ day and of Jewish culture – having this kind of skin condition – having “sara’at” or “lepra” – being a “leper” – made you unholy and unfit to be a member of the community. Lepers were seen as“unclean” – to be separated out from the other “clean” and “pure” members of the community.
Contact with lepers was feared. The fear came not from fear of contagion. In those days contagion simply did not figure into their cultural understanding of sickness. Rather the fear came from fear of pollution. They feared contact would make them associated or identified with the unclean – with people who are seen as unfit and unholy.
A contemporary example of the same kind of thing might be a fear to go into a gay bar. The fear is not of being infected with homosexuality. Rather the fear comes from being seen in a gay bar and being thought to be gay oneself. As happens so often, our fears have more to do with appearances than with reality.
In the story we are told the leper comes to Jesus and asks to be made clean. “If you choose, you can make me clean.” (Mk 1, 40) Note: he does not ask for a cure. What he wants from Jesus is to be made clean. What he wants Jesus to choose to do – is not to think of him as unfit and unholy. What the leper wants is no longer to be shunned and avoided. Being made clean is moving out of separation – out of isolation and being welcomed back into community.
And that is precisely what Jesus does for the leper. In reaching out and actually touching the leper Jesus moves beyond any cultural or religious fear of pollution. He is not afraid of being associated with those seen as unholy. And he communicates to the leper: “You do belong! You do belong to the holy community! You will always belong!”
When Jesus directs the leper to show himself to the priest and offer what Moses prescribed, he is telling him to do something that could only be done by someone who rightfully belongs to the holy, worshipping community. Jesus is saying to the leper: “You do belong – and now act out of your belonging!”
That is what Mark and the miracle story mean by “healing”. That is how Jesus heals. And that is how Jesus heals us now – from whatever uncleanness we think or imagine we have. And that is how we heal one another. This is what the miracle story wants to communicate to us.
We have the power to heal. If we choose, we can make others clean. We are “the Body of Christ”. We are called to be healers. We have the power –we are called – to make clear to others: “You do belong! You do belong to the holy community! You will always belong!”
Fr. Pat Earl, S.J.
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