Be Accepting Of The Sick Series

I wish to begin our message today with two quotes by Mother Teresa. Here is the first quote: “The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.”(1) In her humanitarian efforts in Calcutta, Mother Teresa observed much rejection and hopeless, as very few people would reach out to help and show they cared. One of the reasons why people fail to assist the sick and needy is because they are afraid of becoming contaminated by unsanitary living conditions, catching an illness and getting themselves sick.

This observation leads to her second quote: “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”(2) People can become so afraid of catching an illness or disease, that they will stay clear of anyone who has an infirmity, never befriending the individual, and therefore never demonstrating much-needed love and compassion. In this manner people miss an opportunity to make an eternal impact on someone’s life, and they fail to become “something” to “someone.” They instead go through life in their own insulated bubble being “nobody” to “anybody.”

In our message this morning, we will see how Jesus challenged the people of His day to realize that caring for the spiritual needs of others far supersedes one’s own selfish plans, or one’s desire for self-preservation; and what we will learn can be applied to how we treat people today who have a strange, frightening or misunderstood illness.

Jesus Allowed the Sick to Draw Near (v. 40)

40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

We read here that a leper approached Jesus begging for His help. It was considered risky business for someone to be in close proximity to a leper, for leprosy is a contagious and infectious disease. It is “characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive debilitation.”(3) Body parts “can become numb or diseased as a result of infection; infection results in tissue loss, so fingers and toes become shortened and deformed as the cartilage is absorbed into the body.”(4)

Before modern medicine, leprosy was a terminal illness and greatly feared; therefore, the leper was to be kept at a distance so that the disease could not be spread to others. Old Testament law prescribed strict guidelines for handling those with leprosy. In Leviticus 13:45-46, it is stated,

Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

We learn from these verses in Leviticus how the leper was considered unclean, or highly contagious, and this fact could not be emphasized enough. In these two verses alone, the word “unclean” was mentioned five times. M. G. Easton, in Easton’s Bible Dictionary, commenting on the rules assigned to the leper, elaborated, “He had further to warn passers-by to keep away from him . . . nor could he speak to any one, or receive or return a salutation, since in the East this involves an embrace.”(5)

If a leper was not supposed to draw near to anyone or even speak with them, then this man was making a legally unacceptable move, which portrays his great desperation to find a solution for his illness. Jesus was also challenging the social norm by allowing this man to approach Him, when He should have warned the leper to keep away. The text states that “a leper came to Him . . . kneeling down to Him” (v. 40). The leper had to be in close proximity in order to kneel before Jesus.

The fear of contracting a terminal illness is not uncommon today. Take, for example, the way people behave around those who carry the HIV virus, that when contracted can lead to the AIDS disease. A study was conducted back in 1999 by members of the Psychology faculty at the University of California at Davis concerning how people feel and react toward those who have AIDS.(6) Based on the findings acquired from three national telephone surveys, here is what they concluded:

Many Americans still express fear and discomfort about people with AIDS. In 1999, thirty percent of those polled [stated they] would feel uncomfortable having their children attend school with another child who has AIDS, and twenty-two percent [stated they] would feel uncomfortable around an office coworker with AIDS.(7)

I recall the period around the 1980’s when cancer was being emphasized in the public eye, and how it was greatly misunderstood. Some people thought that cancer might be contagious, and kept their distance from those who had it. Others remained at a distance because they felt awkward, and were afraid of saying something that would emotionally wound the individual. Michael Zevon, with ABC News Health, says,