fredlott63

A moment of introspect

The scriptural background for this lesson is in Mark 1:40 - 45. In this lesson Jesus is approached by a leper. The leper says, “if you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus is moved with compassion, heals the man and gives him further instructions. But what is leprosy and why would the man say what he did? Leprosy is a disease that once caught will physically deform you. It is the only disease that if you catch it, a priest can put you out of the city. Once put out, you can only be with other lepers. If anyone approaches you, you must let them know you are a leper by yelling “unclean.” A leper can’t even be around his mother or children. The leper sees Jesus and realizes this is a chance for his life to improve. But at this point the has a moment of introspect and realizes he has lived a miserable, selfish, and trifling existence, with the motivation for his actions be either to gain pleasure or avoid pain. He knows he does not deserve to be healed. But he needs and wants to be healed. All he can say is, “if you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus can read minds and knows what we all go through.