Sunday Sermon 2/12/12

Today's readings include the moderately arrogant letter by Paul ("Imitate me as I imitate Christ"), a quality that peeks through occasionally and supports people who hate him anyway and Christ's healing the leper, another brilliant piece of writing. In this encounter Christ is approached by a leper and Christ heals him. He does it by touching him. Touching a leper was simply an impossible thought at the time. Although we know now leprosy is actually hard to transmit, at the time of Christ it was worse than AIDS is now in reputation. Christ's touching him was a touch of genius as it transcended the usual human response and implied intergalactic confidence. Then Christ tells him to show himself to the priests--the culture's current diagnosticians according to Mosaic law--but otherwise to keep the cure to himself. The King James version is pretty strict but the modern version is almost playful, as if Christ knows full well that it will be impossible for the man to remain silent. The result is that the public response is so great that Christ has to leave town and live in the desert--isolated like a leper.

The priests were the arbitrators of the diagnosis at the time because it was assumed that illness of the body had some connection with illness of the spirit. There was some vague personal or familial quid pro quo involved so that illness had some spiritual overtones. Indeed, later in the same writing Christ heals another man and is challenged by the priests as to whether this means he believes he can forgive sins and Christ asks, "Which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven or to heal an illness?" He then heals the illness and sends the priests home with a headache.