Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean

 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

- Matthew 7:28-8:4

We have been reading through the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5 - 7 of Matthew's Gospel.  (These readings began with the Beatitudes, the blessed way of life of the Kingdom, see Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.)   "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'  Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."

 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  The way the scribes would teach was to cite a famous rabbi, perhaps one under which they had studied.  But Jesus teaches of His own authority, something which is remarked upon several times in the Gospels (see, for example, Mark 1:21-22).  Most notably, Jesus will directly clash with the religious leadership over His authority to cleanse the temple (21:23, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2).

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  One can find the biblical law concerning leprosy in Leviticus 13 and 14.  Deuteronomy 24:8 describes the purification of lepers and leprous houses, a duty entrusted to the priests.  My study bible comments that leprosy was considered to be a direct punishment for sins, and as lepers were unclean, they weren't permitted to live in the community or to worship in the synagogues or the temple.  To touch the unclean was also forbidden (Leviticus 7:21).  But here Jesus touched the leper, which shows His compassion -- and that He is not subject to the Law but rather over it.  To the clean, my study bible says, nothing is unclean.   We note that Jesus still shows consideration for the Law (and hence the community) in His instruction to the leper.

Jesus teaches with authority, and the people remark upon His difference from the scribes.  Yet, He's not been the student of a famous rabbi, nor does He have any official credentials among the leadership.   Neither is He a Levitical priest.  He respects the Law, and yet it is His compassion that overrides what is forbidden.  This act of healing and cleansing is something of a direct expression of what He has just taught in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus' work and effect is love in action.  He will also teach that He is the way, the truth, and the life; and that He has come so that we may have life in abundance (John 14:6, 10:10).  This is also expressed through the healing of the leper.  Christ's love and compassion are part of His authority, and these are unlimited and unlimiting.  They are not bound by scarcity; the life He offers is eternal and His mercy is without end (Psalm 10:17).  Therefore, Jesus' authority is all part of the whole of His Person:  His love and mercy, His truth, His offer of the abundance of life, His union with the Father (John 10:30).  St. Ambrose of Milan writes, "When nature is defective, the Creator, who is the author of nature, has the power to restore it."  But there is more to Christ.  He, who will voluntarily suffer out of love for us, wishes us to offer our own woundedness and imperfection, even our defects, to Him.  Let us note, also, something remarkable about Jesus' character:  He's not here to prove that He has this authority.  He has no need to do that.  He doesn't go about proving anything and will not give miracles on demand when the authorities demand that He do so.  Neither does He, here in today's reading, seek to make it known that He has healed this man.  Instead, Jesus' earthly ministry is one of love in action.  His primary drive is to teach, to offer all that He is here to give.  The signs that come from Him are signs of the presence of the Kingdom, that God is present with the people, evident here in the healing of the leper.  It is this presence to which the leper will give testimony to the priest.   It is faith that He is looking for, those who will respond to His love in turn with trust and love themselves.  How can we respond in the ways He asks?  His authority is not one of force, but of love and compassion.  Let us wed ourselves to His truth and His presence always with us.