Jesus Heals A Person with Leprosy
Ask: Do you know someone who had COVID? What did they have to do? (they had to stay at home, they were separated from other people)
Leprosy is a terrible sickness caused by bacteria that affects the skin and nerves. While there is medicine for it now, in biblical times there was no cure. What’s worse, people believed it was caused by a person’s sin. So if you got the disease, you would be kicked out of town and separated from everyone else, not just because you were sick, but because you were a sinner and “unclean.” Imagine being quarantined from your family and friends for the rest of your life!
Read: Mark 1:40-45
The way Jesus responds to the man would have been unthinkable back then. NO ONE would have come that close to a person with leprosy, much less touch them. Yet Jesus was not afraid of the disease or of what people thought. He showed incredible love and compassion by touching the man and healing him.
That’s actually a good definition for compassion – caring enough to do something. A lot of people feel sorry for others but that’s all. Jesus shows true compassion by actually getting involved and making a difference. He uses his power to heal, to help those who are hurting, to save us from our sin and to make us whole again. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, what you look like or what other people think about you. Psalm 34:18 says,
“The Lord is close to those whose hearts have been broken. He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your great love and compassion. Please help me to trust you with my hurts. In Jesus’ name, amen.