Restoration
"A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter." - Mark 1:40-45
Desperate for help, the leper begs Jesus to heal him. “If you will, you can cleanse me.” He believes Jesus has the power to make him well. Jesus doesn’t mock the man’s begging, but instead has pity on him. “I will. Be clean.”
Healing grace for the leper is good news for all of us. God can heal. Jesus’ compassionate touch is a courageous gesture that anyone who feels outcast can appreciate. To touch someone with a contagious skin disease is an act of kindness that brings another kind of healing, the kind you feel in your soul.
Then Jesus sends the man to show himself to the priest and to make an offering at the temple. This act will restore him to his community. He won’t be a social outcast any longer. Jesus seeks to heal this man physically, spiritually, and socially. In God’s own image, he is restored to wholeness.