Can't really blame them. More than a ritual, religious, Torah teaching, it was the 'ick' factor and the great medical unknown of how he got the skin disease and how I might catch it from him. So, yes, the Torah teaches that skin lesions render one 'unclean' (a term of ritual defilement, not a lack of a bath). No one should touch such a one or the 'uncleanness' would transfer to them. There were social (your village) and religious (your synagogue) consequences. So No One wanted to touch this guy.
Except Jesus.
What was Jesus thinking when he reached out his hand? Did he know that the disease wouldn't transfer to him? Did he figure that even if he became infected he could easily be healed? Did he think....These folks are making a big deal about nothing?
Or could Jesus have responded - down there in the pit of his stomach - with the same 'ick' reaction, and yet overcame it in order to invite this diseased one into fellowship, into healing?
Or, is it possible that Jesus didn't really notice the scales and assorted stuff because his love for him was so great it simply faded to the background? Is it possible that Jesus simply saw someone who needed to know the power of life and the source of that power, God?
Can love conquer disease?
Can love conquer rejection?
Can love form a community?
Can love see the heart?
Again and again Jesus reached out and touched the untouchables. Untouchable had no meaning to this one who was Life and Love in the flesh.
Of course it is not so easy for us, but it is reasonable to ask
Who are the untouchables for you?
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