“Jesus touched the leper!”  I kept repeating that to myself.  The visit began normally enough.  I confirmed the address, collected my computer and my Bible and knocked on Kevin’s door.  But after that first knock everything went south.  Kevin’s partner answered, frantic, wild-eyed.  “He’s bleeding everywhere,” he screamed and led me back to a chaotic scene in the chaotic bedroom of a chaotic life.  Kevin was terminal.  And the effects of his long illness had ravaged his body.  And to make things worse, he also had a variety of other communicable pathogenic conditions, including Hepatitis C.

Hep C is a bloodborne pathogen.  And there was blood everywhere.  I had arrived without gloves, without gown, without mask, without slippers.  After all, I was the Chaplain.  I was not there for personal care or nursing assessment.  But that day, I sat and held the bloodied hand of a bloodied man and prayed and read scripture, covered in his disease.  And God reminded me that Jesus touched the leper. 

We find this remarkable story in the opening chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. Mark 1:38-45

The Lord had brought me to that moment at Kevin’s bedside.  To say I was anxious is an understatement.  Following the visit, my supervisor immediately sent me to the OSHA doctor. He examined me for any cut, any small wound, any bloodborne pathway through which dread Hep C might enter.  My hypochondria was raging.  And with good reason.  But whatever came of this, the Lord who divinely ordained and scheduled my visit reminded me that in that moment Kevin’s comfort was more important than mine and that He would exhibit his grace to me.

When people are infectious, it makes us leery. Covid turned neighbors into threats.   We distanced.  We isolated.  We locked down.  We donned PPE, masks, gowns, gloves.  We hoarded Covid tests and got vaccinated, often under duress.  And we got boosted and boosted again.  And again.  When someone is infectious, we “double the bubble.”   Fear makes others “unclean.”  Contagion, real or perceived, always threatens fellowship and increases fear.  Yes, “Jesus touched the leper.”  But should we?

After all, doesn’t Leviticus 13 warn us to keep our distance?  Instruct us to assess and hold the contagious as those who are “out of fellowship?”  What are we, in our contemporary preoccupation with ‘contact precautions,’ to make of God’s instruction to his ancient people about caring for those suffering with infectious disease?  How do these ceremonial laws about ritual purity and dermatology teach, rebuke, correct, or train believers on this side of the cross?  Are they completely obsolete?  Or do these laws, like all the ceremony of Israel, speak beautifully of Christ? 

Join us as we examine Leviticus 13 and consider what endangers our fellowship with God and others far more than leprosy.  We meet on the square in Pottsville, Arkansas right next to historic Potts’ Inn for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.