"Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean." (Luke 5:14)
In the Gospel, Jesus is approached by a man with leprosy. In those days, leprosy was mainly a social disease, a sign of "un-cleanliness", namely, the leper had to live on the outskirts of town. When anyone approached, the leper had to shout, "Unclean!" to warn of his contagious disease. Then there was the ritual purification that one had to follow if a leper had been encountered. The leper was also unable to worship in public.
This man bows down and begs Jesus, "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean." He reveals to Jesus that he believes Jesus can heal him. Jesus, says, "I do choose." But, first, Jesus does the most remarkable thing in this story: He reaches out and touches the man, to reassure him that he's not untouchable. Then he responds to the man's faith, "Be made clean."
When we listen to this story, it is hard not to simply fall in love with Jesus. Who does this, except someone who loves deeply? Jesus, is unconcerned for his own safety: he’s not worried about ritual impurity, he just reaches out the man with great compassion. Our heart melts as we witness the scene.
The good news is that Jesus looks on us in our need in this same way. He knows how we feel about ourselves and others. He sees through the façade, the ways we present ourselves on the outside. He sees the pain we have and he reaches out to us. This story lets us boldly imagine approaching Jesus today and, in our own isolation, in our own way, saying, "Lord, I believe you can make me clean. I believe you can relieve this thing in me that is not healthy, that is self-defeating, this thing called sin that hurts, that isolates me from others." We can prepare ourselves to hear his merciful response, "Of course, I want to. Be clean. Be healed. Be set free. Be whole again."
And, when we are whole again, we will be full of gratitude and know that we have eternal life in him. We can be bold in touching and relieving the isolation of other sin pain. What a joyful gift.