The Curse Of Leprosy
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series III, Cycle C
Leprosy is a horrendous mycobacterial disease. It is caused by a parasite and today, in the twenty-first century, more than twelve million people carry the parasite. Leprosy today is known as Hansen's disease after the man who discovered the parasite. The parasite is transmitted by intimate contact, usually with a household member. The incubation period can be from one to two years to forty years. Its origin is very difficult, if not impossible at times, to determine.
Complications from leprosy are usually due to peripheral nerve involvement resulting from either infection or neuritis. A person with leprosy does not register pain. Secondary infections are also common. Eye problems can lead to glaucoma and blindness. Today, treatments such as chemotherapy, physiotherapy, and reconstructive surgery may correct many of the disabilities.
But in Jesus' day, chemotherapy, physiotherapy, and reconstructive surgery were not used to treat leprosy. The lepers were simply shunned: banned from society. If a person with leprosy was well enough to go out, he or she had to yell, "Unclean!" so that people could distance themselves from the leper. Their clothes had to be torn so that they could be readily identified. They were outcasts in every sense of the word.
In Jesus' time a cure included boiling or burning clothes. The book of Leviticus gives clear instructions of the cleansing of a leper and certifying his or her recovery of health. Bathing, shaving, and animal sacrifice were part of the "cure." Oil had to be administered once healed, as well as a burnt sin offering brought to the temple.
Leprosy was a dreaded plague then, bringing horror and despair to the sufferer, with little hope for reentry into society. But we read in this passage that Jesus, when approached by a group of lepers, spoke to them. Jesus was greeted with the word "Master." And instead of crying out, "Unclean," the lepers cried out for mercy. Jesus did not touch them; he did not give them instructions other than to tell them to go before the priests. Priests were the only ones who could establish the lepers as well and allow them back into the religious community. The lepers went, and on their way they realized they were healed. Completely healed of this horrendous condition! They were elated! It was truly a miracle.
Only one of the ten turned back to Jesus. The man was a Samaritan, someone who was not supposed to be speaking to a Jew. But he turned to Jesus and called out in a loud voice, praising God. He fell down before Jesus and thanked him. Only the stranger, the foreigner, gave thanks to Jesus for curing him. He recognized Jesus' power; the man had received not only healing but divine grace. The man's faith had made him well.
Complications from leprosy are usually due to peripheral nerve involvement resulting from either infection or neuritis. A person with leprosy does not register pain. Secondary infections are also common. Eye problems can lead to glaucoma and blindness. Today, treatments such as chemotherapy, physiotherapy, and reconstructive surgery may correct many of the disabilities.
But in Jesus' day, chemotherapy, physiotherapy, and reconstructive surgery were not used to treat leprosy. The lepers were simply shunned: banned from society. If a person with leprosy was well enough to go out, he or she had to yell, "Unclean!" so that people could distance themselves from the leper. Their clothes had to be torn so that they could be readily identified. They were outcasts in every sense of the word.
In Jesus' time a cure included boiling or burning clothes. The book of Leviticus gives clear instructions of the cleansing of a leper and certifying his or her recovery of health. Bathing, shaving, and animal sacrifice were part of the "cure." Oil had to be administered once healed, as well as a burnt sin offering brought to the temple.
Leprosy was a dreaded plague then, bringing horror and despair to the sufferer, with little hope for reentry into society. But we read in this passage that Jesus, when approached by a group of lepers, spoke to them. Jesus was greeted with the word "Master." And instead of crying out, "Unclean," the lepers cried out for mercy. Jesus did not touch them; he did not give them instructions other than to tell them to go before the priests. Priests were the only ones who could establish the lepers as well and allow them back into the religious community. The lepers went, and on their way they realized they were healed. Completely healed of this horrendous condition! They were elated! It was truly a miracle.
Only one of the ten turned back to Jesus. The man was a Samaritan, someone who was not supposed to be speaking to a Jew. But he turned to Jesus and called out in a loud voice, praising God. He fell down before Jesus and thanked him. Only the stranger, the foreigner, gave thanks to Jesus for curing him. He recognized Jesus' power; the man had received not only healing but divine grace. The man's faith had made him well.
