Leprosy was the most socially abhorrent condition a person could have in the time of Jesus. A leper had to live outside of the city and could not engage in normal social life with their family or friends, or anyone else. They lived on the scraps people literally threw to them, or at them, and had to carry a bell to announce their presence as they moved about so people could avoid them. There was no known cure or hope of relief from a degrading existence and the slow and painful death. One such leper approached Jesus, knelt down and said “If you wish, you can make me clean.” What an incredible act of faith! Jesus does not run away from or repel the leper. He recognizes a great act of faith and he has great faith in the leper, the faith that heals. The leper was healed by faith – his faith in Jesus. Jesus wants us to have faith in him – the faith that heals whatever is keeping us from a greater relationship with God by imitating Jesus. Do we have a faith like the leper to ask Jesus to heal us?
