Sun 3 Mar

There are many stories in the Bible that point us to God and His plans for us. Some of them will be your favourite story. Stories that speak of His justice, His compassion, His love, His grace. Jesus’ encounter with a leper points us to a God of grace.

It is a marvellous story. Lepers were generally isolated from the general population. They were considered unclean. And if someone was unclean then they may pass their uncleanness on to the rest of the population. Life was not easy. They were isolated. They were lonely. They missed out on events with their family and friends. They were kept from worship and sacrifice at the temple.

Ask yourself how you would feel if you could not attend a family birthday or a friend’s wedding, or go to church to worship and encourage others. Today, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and enjoy a fellowship meal together. Such times we take for granted, but if you were a leper such participation was not possible.

All this leper wanted and craved was to enjoy the company of a fellow human being who was not a leper. Jesus comes along and reaches out to touch a man who simply wanted a human touch.

Are you in need of human interaction? Has God drawn across your path someone in need of comfort and encouragement? Jesus was willing to get involved in the life of the leper. Whose life is God asking us to get involved in?