Word to the Wise
Thursday, January 16, 2014 - Thursday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 4:1-11 and Mark 1:40-45]A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean."
The Gospel of Mark has a "big picture' view of Jesus which we can lose sight of because our attention may be drawn to the individual scenes. Jesus' compassion in healing the leper and restoring him to his community is very comforting because we may call on that same compassion when we feel "outcast" in whatever way. However, the bigger picture is important as well in understanding Jesus' overall mission.
Mark presents Jesus as the power of God confronting evil. The previous scene in which Jesus exorcises an evil spirit is one demonstration of that power [as well as the power of his "word."] The leper shows the proper attitude in recognizing Jesus' power when he says, "If you wish...." Because leprosy resulted in the utter isolation of a person, they were considered "the living dead" in Jesus' time. Thus the healing of this leper is virtually a raising of a dead person to new life!
Power can instill fear, but when it is linked with infinite love and compassion, we can know that Jesus' power for good is available to us even if we consider ourselves "the living dead." AMEN