Grace Pending
From The First Reading
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “If a swelling or scab or spot appears on someone’s skin, which could develop into a contagious skin-disease, that person must then be taken to the priest, either Aaron or one of his sons. If the person has such a disease: he is unclean. The priest will declare him unclean; he has a contagious skin-disease of the head. Anyone with a contagious skin-disease will wear torn clothing and disordered hair; and will cover the upper lip and shout, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ As long as the disease lasts, such a person will be unclean and, being unclean, will live alone and live outside the camp.” Leviticus 13:1-2.
From The Second Reading
A man suffering from a virulent skin-disease came to him and pleaded on his knees saying, “If you are willing, you can cleanse me.” Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, “I am willing. Be cleansed.” And at once the skin-disease left him and he was cleansed. And at once Jesus sternly sent him away. Mark 1:40-43.
And so on this Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, I learned something new.
Something that I had never known before about leprosy.
But also something that helped me to see people a little differently.
And a little more clearly.
First, let’s briefly review the physical disease.
What some have referred to in these passages as “leprosy” – that hideous, face and limb disfiguring affliction that we today more properly call Hansen’s disease – was perhaps not leprosy at all.
Our celebrant made clear that many modern scholars have now so opined based upon more accurate translations of the original Hebrew and Greek writings, as well as upon a closer scientific look at the disease itself.
Unlike what we now know about Hansen’s, the diseases referred to in these passages were considered highly contagious.
Moreover, there are no biblical descriptions of “rotting limbs, hardened skin, loss of feeling, or grotesquely deformed faces” which are more typically associated with Hansen’s. And, historically, “the contorted skeletal damage that characterizes Hansen’s disease was not found in human remains in Israel until well after the time of the Old Testament.”
Finally, other “sources such as the Talmud (Sifra 63) make clear that tzaraath refers to various types of lesions or stains associated with ritual impurity and occurring on cloth, leather, or houses, as well as skin.“* All these combined, the likelihood is that when reference is made to “leprosy” occurring in biblical times – and those references are made quite often – we are more likely seeing some other outward appearing, ritually impure skin affliction that may have even healed over time.
It’s likely, then, that some blotch or stain appeared on the surface of the person’s skin that not only rendered him ritually unclean, but was also capable of quickly spreading to others within close proximity. Now, whether one interprets this as purely a physical manifestation or as an analogy for sin, the need for an immediate separation makes complete sense. For that one instance of vulnerability could easily infect many others and could cause them to fall away in very short order.
And, finally, observe that the admonition to separate from the camp lasted only “as long as the disease [itself] lasts.” Again, this could refer either to a physical healing or to an atonement for sin. In the latter case, then, Christ’s cleansing can easily be seen as both a supernatural physical healing and as a spiritual forgiveness.
Now here’s where our celebrant took us just a bit further.
He taught that these passages can also be seen, quite literally, to be about surface appearances.
They reflect how we see others. And how they see us.
In short, they may enlighten us about our superficial differences.
Differences that keep us separate and apart from one another other.
But that’s not to say that these passages aren’t themselves meaningful or deep.
They are.
For they serve as important reminders.
A reminder that we are all vulnerable.
A reminder that we all suffer from multiple, hidden afflictions.
A reminder that we really are all the same – if just a bit below the surface.
And a reminder that we are all in need of unmerited grace and unconditional healing.
It’s just that some of us are better equipped than others to conceal our human frailties, and our potentially devastating vulnerabilities. Some of us can more easily hide behind a clean façade, an opaque surface, an impenetrable wall.
In our best suit, and our finest shoes, we may well appear to be miles apart from that homeless, dirty, smelly man on the street we just passed by.
But we have to ask ourselves:
Are his obvious addictions to alcohol and drugs – the very addictions which may have brought him to his knees on this street corner, the addictions that we can all see – are they really so different from our own well-hidden addictions?
Are they really any less devastating?
Our hidden addictions may be money, tobacco, pornography, ego, or anger.
Can we really then say that our hearts, our minds, our bodies are not being similarly destroyed?
Yes, he may be the one with who appears in public with the obvious stain.
He may be the one whom we have declared unclean.
He may be the one who has been separated from us.
And so we might easily convince ourselves that we are not like him at all.
Because we look so damn respectable to the world.
But here’s the thing:
We, too, are the sick.
We, too, are the elderly.
We, too, are the disabled.
We, too, are the vulnerable.
We, too, are in need of healing.
And we, too, are jerks – more times than we may care to admit.
Scratch just below the surface of any one of us and you’ll see that.
No, we aren’t any different from the others.
No different at all from those whom we have called unclean.
Not even if we show up in our little corner of the world looking all pristine, clean, respectable, and . . . marvelous.
Because we, too, are them.
Peace
_____________
* More from Wikipedia: “Many English translations of the Bible translate tzaraath as “leprosy,” a confusion that derives from the use of the koine cognate “Λέπρα” (which can mean any disease causing scaly skin) in the Septuagint.”
Photo Credit Here (Wikimedia Commons): Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images [email protected] http://wellcomeimages.org A portrait of a young man, William Taylor, looking in a mirror. Etching by T. Worlige, 1751, after himself. 1751 By: Thomas Worlidge Published: 1751
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