The Leper of Christ: Reflection on the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
I Corinthians 10:31-11:1
St. Mark 1:40-45

By: Matthew David Wiseman

Leprosy is usually associated with what is called Hansen's Disease, and not without some reason. Both are highly contagious skin infections which have traditionally excluded people from society. However, even a cursory reading of today's lection from Leviticus makes it clear that the biblical leprosy is not the same as Hansen's Disease. There is no deformation of fingers and toes here, and the lesions are rather different from Hansen's.


The truth is that there is no clear disease or pathology which these chapters of Leviticus describe. In fact, some Jewish commentators conclude from this that there is no such disease, but rather that leprosy was a special curse from God.

Ikon of Christ cleansing the leper

All of this only contributes to the strangeness of what is already, for modern readers, a very strange story in St. Mark chapter 1. In our socially conscious, evangelistic mindset, we wonder what possible reason Christ could have for telling the leper not to spread the word of such a healing, of such a miracle, of such salvation. Isn't it Christ himself who, in Luke 10, sends out 72 of his disciples to spread the news of his coming and his miracles? What is different in this case?

The text of St. Mark's gospel implies the answer very clearly. The result of the leper's disobedience very nearly hinders Christ's ministry. He is so mobbed by petitioners that he is unable to reach them. Celebrity, far from allowing him to reach more people, surrounds him with crowds, making it impossible for him to "see the trees for the forest," if we may turn the saying upside-down. The healing ministry of Christ is overwhelmingly focused on one individual at a time (the twelve lepers being the only exception). The mob that now follows him makes that impossible. Celebrity is not the friend of service, contrary to everything that we are lead to believe by our culture. Fewer people, not more, are treated.

"By his wounds we are healed"
Caravaggio's The Incredulity of St Thomas

But there is more. St. Mark is very pointed about what Christ is forced to do as a result. "He stayed outside in desert places." (1:45b) Returning to our Old Testament lesson, in Leviticus 13:46, the rule for lepers was that they should remain "outside the camp." In fact, Christ takes up the leper's life and place in society. In a very concrete way he "bears his disease," and like a leper, we "esteemed him stricken, smitten by God." (Isaiah 43:5) Christ is pushed out into the waste places, where he continues to heal all who come to him.

God is not thwarted by the leper's disobedience, but rather Christ takes up our chastisement, and in his wounds our healing is found. But that means going to the waste places. It means retreat into the quiet places, far from the tempting noise of celebrity which we are tempted to believe means we are "reaching more people" or "having an impact," when we are really only being alienated from the individuals around us. For many of us it may mean a retreat from social media, from loudly sharing opinions which cannot be heard above the deafening crowd.

An icon of the voyage of St Brendan
Irish monks were known to make long voyages into the
wilderness of the sea seeking communion with Christ.
They called it "Green Martyrdom"

It is in the desert, in the quiet, in the wilderness of our own souls, that we can still meet others face to face, and show them the unesteemed Christ, the bruises he took for our sins, and the healing in his wounds. It is in the leper camps of those who seem stricken by God that we will find the face of Christ. In the stillness where no influence is found. And there, doing everything to the glory of God, we can still be imitators of Christ. (I Cor. 10:31-11:1)