A Grateful Leper at Your Feet

Isaiah53:4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted. 

Mark 1:⁴⁰ And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

“You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet.” Casting Crowns, Jesus Friend of Sinners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOiD0cREjjU

So, after many meanderings, I am back to looking at the Gospel through the eyes of the disciples. I went off on the Lord’s Prayer rabbit trail after the verse, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went to a solitary place where He prayed.”

Apparently, Jesus heard from the Father that it was time to move on. And so He did. To an outside observer, Jesus’ path probably did not look straight. It certainly did not look smart from the perspective of someone interested in bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth. To the disciples, a straight path would have been one that drew attention to Jesus, one that led to an earthly kingdom.

Instead of seeking crowds and acclaim for His miracles, instead of seeking out those who could catapult Him onto a throne, Jesus sought out individuals, those who were shunned by society, and He asked them to keep it on the down low. His path led Him to the ultimate outcast, the leper. Jesus is El Roi, the God who sees me. He is Ishmael, the God who hears me.

In my mind’s eye, I imagine the leper approaching Jesus and everyone scattering the way we would if someone with ebola entered our space.  http://www.thisis50.com/profiles/blogs/ebola-virus-ravaging-west-africa-539-deaths-reported-counting?xg_source=activity  Jesus did not run away; He did not tell the man he was stricken by God, unworthy of grace. He saw past the disfiguration; He heard the man’s plea; He understood the man’s loneliness.

Jesus was a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. He knew what it was to be disfigured, an outcast, lonely. Jesus was moved with compassion. He didn’t just feel sorry for this man, He did something about it. He touched the untouchable.

Oh, God, help me to see past my own sorrow, my own needs. Help me to reach out with compassion to one person at a time. Help me to see past the ugliness to the hurting person. Help me to hear the cries for help and be willing to do something about it. Keep me from trying to protect myself from pain. Bring me alongside the hurting as You lead me on this straight crooked path.

“I'm falling at Your feet, Ruined by Your majesty, My life, my everything, Are crumbled on the ground before You” Among Thorns, Falling at Your Feet   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD36dsYQ4ZQ