Leviticus 13.45-46
Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!" As long as they have the disease they remain unclean.
They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.
Matthew 8.2-3a
A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
And Jesus reached out his hand and touched him.
So simple, so revolutionary, so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLove it! Now that's Good News!
ReplyDelete"Help me overcome my unbelief."
ReplyDeleteWow! What a contrast of sacrifice/holiness and mercy!
ReplyDeleteDistilled compassion. We must do likewise.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful, fifteen-second homily. Thanks be to God.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is just my cynicism. But this only furthers my image of Jesus as the good guy and God as the bad guy.
ReplyDeleteYou are not a cynic. You are just responding to the image of God that the church teaches.
ReplyDelete"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."
ReplyDeleteI still remember your monologue at Preston Road - one of the very best interpretations of this idea that I've ever seen!
ReplyDeleteBoy, that was a long time ago! Great memories.
ReplyDeleteluther would be proud! not so sure about e.p sanders and your jewish friends....
ReplyDeleteis there a danger of exporting our modern western individualism into such a reading and forgetting that covenant is never between an individual and her god but between a whole community and their god?
Not a cynic, just an expression of your viewpoint. If I may, "...as long as they have the disease, they remain unclean" yet Jesus touched the man an cleaned him. Jesus Himself said, "Do not be deceived, I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." His words here demonstrate that Christ's action here on Earth were a reflection of the spirit of God written throughout the law. The parts of the law that man misunderstood or practiced unjustly, Jesus did away with by demonstration how the law was meant to be practiced.
ReplyDeleteThe very same God that said they should live outside of the camp and be visibly recognizable said that the Jews were to take care of the sick, widowed and orphaned. The very same God that instructed the Jews to live, behave and eat cleanly criticized them for their obsession with outward cleanliness and their simultaneous disregard for spiritual and actual cleanliness.
Beautiful.
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