Friday, 12^th week in ordinary time – 26^th June 2026 – Matthew 8:1-4

The Sermon on the Mount has ended and the Gospel writer Matthew, having shown Jesus as the Messiah of the word, presents Him as the Messiah of the deed. In this section spanning Chapter 8:1- 9:38, we will read of nine miracle pericopes that encompass ten individual miracles.

The first of these miracles is the cleansing of the leper. Jesus has finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount and is followed by large crowds. It is a leper who comes to Him, kneels before Him, calls Him ‘Lord’ and asks to be made clean. Right away you see a crowd following ‘a show’; the leper approached for salvation. Then, in one swift move Jesus does the unthinkable. He touches a leper.

This narrative would make a good Jew of the first century recoil in horror. If there was one disease that was abhorred by any Jew or for that matter any citizen of the Roman empire, it was leprosy. At the time of Jesus, the lepers were despised from society and forced to live in isolation. They were driven from their homes as outcasts, had to wear torn clothes, let their hair hang loose, cover their upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’

To add to the distress of the person, the physical quarantine was twisted into a moral judgment as sinners. These rules were backed by religious sanctions. One had to get a certification of healing, not from a doctor but from the priest no less; all of which was given by Moses himself with instructions in Leviticus 13 and 14.

The Biblical understanding of leprosy, ‘tsara’ath’ in Hebrew, included a variety of skin ailments. Leviticus 13 and 14 list at least seven medical conditions as ‘tsara’ath’, including scaly skin blemish.

All through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks of fulfilling the law and in doing so, goes beyond what the law asks. He not only cleanses the man but in fulfillment of the Jewish law, sends the man off to the priests to be examined. But what the Lord preached on the Mountain, He lived in the plains. Where human law built a wall, divine love built a bridge.

The authentic living of Jesus is seen in His first miracle in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus did not have to touch the leper. There are many healings that He performed that did not involve touching. Besides, this act would have made Him ‘unclean’ in the eyes of the law. Yet He touches, to demonstrate the visible sign of God’s love to even an ‘outcast’.

Jesus doesn’t distance Himself from our disease; He destroys it with His touch. The hands that shaped the universe were not afraid to touch our rot. Jesus didn’t just touch a disease; He touched a man who hadn’t been touched in years.

There is also the faith of the leper to be considered. In the Gospel, we are not told the name of this man. He is simply referred to by his condition: “a leper”. There is a reflection here for all of us. When you struggle with a problem long enough, your identity gets entirely consumed by your issues. You stop being you and start being known only by what is wrong with you. Don’t let a temporary affliction become a permanent definition.

Scripture also tells us of the humility with which the leprous man approaches our Lord. His humility is what the Gospel calls us to imitate, “if you choose, you can make we clean,” he says to Our Lord.

He risks everything to make his way to Jesus, for if discovered he could have been stoned. He sees in Jesus, a man of authority and puts his faith in Him.  ‘If you wish’ he says, ‘you can make me clean’. Desperation drove him to his knees yet faith kept him there.

There is no demand or instance in a healing, just a humble request and in that moment, the leper came face to faith. The man says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Notice that the leper never doubts Jesus’ ability to heal him; he only questions Jesus’ willingness.

Often, we suffer from the same fear of wondering if Jesus would want to heal us. We ask ourselves, ‘what if, “God does it for others, but He won’t do it for me?’ We then ‘manage our expectations’ by staying at a safe distance from God so we don’t get disappointed. Take your petition to God but leave the healing to Him.

There is another question that runs through our minds. Why are some of us, devout as we are, never healed? In the Gospels, Jesus tells us that our healing is not for ourselves but to bring glory to God. Look at this man with leprosy, there was no demand or any pressure from him. He had heard Jesus speak of love and now in love he asks for what could have been turned down by the Lord.  True worship starts when we stop demanding and start submitting.

On a more reflective note, many of us also suffer from spiritual uncleanliness. Like leprosy, it ought to disgust us but sadly we may have grown used to living in our ‘sin colony.’ We were made for the kingdom, but we settle for the sin colony. The enemy doesn’t just want you dirty; he wants you comfortable in the dirt.

You cannot heal what you hide; take the mask off before the Master. Today, make an effort to take your uncleanness to the Lord with the same words of the leper, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.”  The moment you say ‘If you choose,’ you stop defending your past and start trusting His purpose. Jesus didn’t come to clean up the colony; He came to carry you out of it.