Luke 5:12-13 Then Jesus Stretched Out His Hand...

Luke 5: 12-13

12] Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean." [13] Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do choose.
Be made clean." Immediately the leprosy left him.

What is happening in this scripture? – Luke tells stories of Jesus’ healing. Jesus was once in one of the cities and a man was covered with leprosy. He didn’t just have leprosy, he was covered with it. When he saw Jesus, the man bowed his face to the ground, and begged him, Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean. The text says that then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, I do choose. Be made clean. And the leprosy left him.
What catches me the most about this poignant powerful text: The man was covered with leprosy. He bowed with his face to the ground (probably lying prostrate upon the dirt, as low as you can get), and doesn’t ask Jesus, he begs Jesus. But he begs by making a statement of faith. Addressing Jesus as Lord, he says, “If you choose, you can make me clean!” Then, dramatically, in a move that took only a second, but somehow forever, for the space between other people and the leper had been infinite, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and chose to do so. Jesus made the man clean by touching him.
Again, with Luke, we can stop at the surface, or we can go deeper. If we go deeper, which is what I usually prefer, Jesus chooses to do three things: (1) stretch out his hand, (this is a creative act of power, God power, reminiscent of God creating the world in Genesis, and of Moses, stretching out his staff); (2) Touch him (Unheard of! No one would touch a leper! They were, well, UN-touchable. How would it feel for you to be un-touchable?  How cut off and isolated would you feel? How lonely and hopeless and alone?; and (3) By touching him, he made him clean. Once again, Jesus crosses forbidden boundaries, and in so doing, he heals. And he does so because he chooses, consciously to do it. Immediately, says Luke, the illness leaves.

How is this happening in the world today?-- Some questions for us: Who are the ones covered with leprosy today? Who is bowing their heads and begging? What do you know of being a leper, untouchable, and blamed for your illness? The leper does one thing differently from any of the other days he had lived: He told Jesus that he knew he could heal him if he chose. He called out to God. What needs healing in us these days? Are we calling out to Jesus? Do we believe he can heal us? Do you believe he would choose to? Why or why not?

How is this my story? – Lord, I am covered with sickness. All of us in this world are covered with sickness. It is all around us. Are we too proud to bow before you? Do we refuse to participate in our healing? You stretch out your hand to us Lord. You are waiting, waiting to touch us. You choose to make us clean Lord. What will we choose to do?