For the third week in a row, we are reading another healing story from the first chapter of Mark’s gospel. Enough already with the healings, Jesus? You might suppose so, except that this time it is a leper who needs Jesus’ healing touch, not least because no one else will touch him. They are all too afraid of catching only his disease but his contagion, his social isolation, his abandonment to unkind fate and a lonely doom. Sounds rather like Ebola, no? Now we may be onto why this story is so important within the gospel writings! As our pre-Lenten introduction to Mark comes to an end, this story leaves us with much to ponder about our commitment to Jesus’ radical mission to heal our world.
You can listen to my comments here…
Howard Pilgrim