Alone (Leviticus 12-14, Psalm 111, Hebrews 5)

Have you ever felt alone? Maybe it was during the covid pandemic when you had to isolate, or maybe it was because of bereavement or a break up. If you have experienced this pain, then you will know something of what it must have felt for a leper: “He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (Leviticus 13:46) The law was for the prevention of the spread of disease, but that hardly lessened the pain of isolation. How long would it last? For some it was a lifetime. A life time of no human touch.

One such leper was so desperate that he dared to approach Jesus and fell on his face and begged him to do something. What would Jesus do? As we saw yesterday, the ceremonial law was coming to an end, Jesus was abolishing the distinction between clean and unclean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. Why did he touch him? Why not just speak? Our saviour knew the man’s need, not just to be cured of leprosy but to be brought back into society, to feel the touch of another human. And amazingly instead of Jesus becoming unclean, the man becomes clean. What joy Jesus brought to the man, he was unclean and isolated, and Jesus made him clean and restored him to relationship.

The uncleanness and isolation of leprosy is a picture of what our sin does. It cuts us off from God and from others. Our reading from Hebrews 5 shows us something of what it cost Jesus to restore us. “He offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7). He was in agony as he contemplated the cross, knowing the suffering He would face so that we could be restored.

Picture Him there in the garden of Gethsemane, His sweat is like drops of blood as He cries out, longing that there might be another way less costly than Him going to the cross for you. But He knew it was Him or us, and He chose to take our uncleanness so that we could be made clean, so that we could be restored, so that we would never be alone. He did it so that we can have the joy of knowing Him with us even in the midst of our trials. He did it so that we can share His eternal joy, something that will make our present trials seem light and momentary by comparison.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for what you endured for our sake to deal with our problem of sin. Thank you that we can now be restored to right relationship to your Father and our Father. Thank you that we are never alone, no matter what we face, we can know you are with us. Amen