Health & Fitness
Jesus said WHAT??? SHOCKING!
We often assume that Jesus, the man was totally aware of his powers throughout his earthly life. Perhaps, just like all other humans, he had to actually discover this for himself.
The prescribed text for the 6th Sunday of Epiphany takes us to the end of the first chapter of Mark. It’s the familiar story of the leper begging to be made clean by Jesus. Looking over this passage something dawned on me that some may find shocking, but I’ll take my chances!
This event stands out because of two things: the leper actually has the audacity to approach Jesus at close range, and; he’s virtually challenging Jesus to do something. He (the leper) says,
“If you choose to, you can make me clean.”
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The leper understands fully that his condition makes him unclean and unfit for any other society. It’s not hard to imagine Jesus going into something like shock; this man has now contaminated him.
In the three previous healings, there is simply a spoken rebuke or a very limited and non-threatening touch involved. But this time, after Jesus presumably regains his composure, the text (New Jerusalem Bible) says:
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Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, “I am willing. Be cleansed.”
In English it looks familiar but in Greek, it’s downright shocking! The word used there is ipsato. A colleague who knows Biblical Greek far better than do I pointed out that this is a verb reserved for romantic intimacy. In other words, it seems that Jesus held and nearly caressed that leper as he spoke. It challenges all of the assumptions and norms of the day and, perhaps even some of Jesus’ assumptions. Frankly, it even challenges some of our norms! This begins to look like an awakening for Jesus or, if you will, an epiphany.
SHOCKING!
By comparison the first three events almost look like practice; maybe they were. People often assume that Jesus didn’t have to go through the messy learning processes that we all do, but why not? Despite his status as Son of God, he lived and died in quite human ways. All human beings have to learn the same way: from others or from mistakes but never in a vacuum. If he didn’t have to go through human learning processes then we might as well dismiss the human pain and humiliation of his crucifixion as well.
Jesus is the Son of God, but as a human being, it’s just possible that he, himself wasn’t yet aware of the scope of his powers. It’s altogether possible that he realized that some healing requires real intimacy. If this is the case, then ordinary human beings like you and I may have a good crack at doing truly amazing things too. This not-so-innocent little vignette from Mark speaks volumes to the idea that God may have made us all a great deal more capable than we realize. On a very intimate and human level, we’re called to make a difference with what we have in any moment and in the lives of others with the worship of our hands. It begins by caressing those we serve, just as He does.
SHOCKING!
