On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 29 - April 4, 2010
Lesson 433
One of the characteristics of Luke's gospel in general is a positive tone.
Luke 5: 12While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 13Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. 14Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 15Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
Scholar Darrell Bock calls this a "Miracle of Authority". It is a miracle with some interesting questions. One of the questions I find myself asking has to do with the difference between how Luke and Mark tell this story. You may recall when we discussed this scene in Mark that Jesus takes a rather harsh tone to the man. Some translations (NIV, for instance) suggest that Jesus was "indignant" with the man's approach to Christ - If you are willing ... In Luke, there is no hint of acrimony or indignation in Jesus' tone.
One of the characteristics of Luke's gospel in general is a positive tone.
Another question: What about the issue of ritual cleanliness? We know the leper is "unclean". As soon as Jesus touched the man, he too was "unclean". And yet note the command to go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices ... Jesus presents us with what seems to be a contradictory approach - complete abandon when it came to rituals, and faithful adherence to tradition. How does one do that? How does one honor the changes required to stay current with emerging cultures while retaining ones' traditional moorings?
Is Jesus (according to Luke) above the need to be made clean himself? If so, what does that say about his authority? But when you think about it, how could Jesus heal the man if he was not somehow above the vicissitudes of life? In a way, the stories about Jesus take on a similar characteristic, apparently unconcerned with the problems of twenty-first century logic.
A leper was ostracized. Is it wrong to segregate someone with a communicable disease? Think of the extremes people were taking when faced with the recent scare over H1N1 ("Swine Flu"). Masks were out in force, and sales of hand sanitizer soared. No cough went unnoticed, and every sneeze was seen as a threat to national security! Signs were everywhere posted, some approaching a confrontational quality - "If you are sick, STAY HOME!" Indeed, we have our own way of making people walk the streets shouting "Unclean! Unclean!"
My experience tells me religious people are no less easy to frighten than anyone else. Our faith notwithstanding, we are quick to isolate those we perceive to be a threat to us. And then, along comes this Jesus ... What do we make of one who apparently had both the confidence and the authority to look illness square in the face and not be put off by it? As I read this story I see why Bock calls it one of "authority". It's not only the healing of the leper that has to happen here; the frightened bystander is in need of every bit as much "saving" as the sick person.
It's a new day ... but so many things are just as they always have been!
Is Jesus (according to Luke) above the need to be made clean himself? If so, what does that say about his authority? But when you think about it, how could Jesus heal the man if he was not somehow above the vicissitudes of life? In a way, the stories about Jesus take on a similar characteristic, apparently unconcerned with the problems of twenty-first century logic.
A leper was ostracized. Is it wrong to segregate someone with a communicable disease? Think of the extremes people were taking when faced with the recent scare over H1N1 ("Swine Flu"). Masks were out in force, and sales of hand sanitizer soared. No cough went unnoticed, and every sneeze was seen as a threat to national security! Signs were everywhere posted, some approaching a confrontational quality - "If you are sick, STAY HOME!" Indeed, we have our own way of making people walk the streets shouting "Unclean! Unclean!"
My experience tells me religious people are no less easy to frighten than anyone else. Our faith notwithstanding, we are quick to isolate those we perceive to be a threat to us. And then, along comes this Jesus ... What do we make of one who apparently had both the confidence and the authority to look illness square in the face and not be put off by it? As I read this story I see why Bock calls it one of "authority". It's not only the healing of the leper that has to happen here; the frightened bystander is in need of every bit as much "saving" as the sick person.
It's a new day ... but so many things are just as they always have been!
posted by Mark D at 7:36 AM
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