What do four seminary students talk about as they ride 180 miles together four days a week? The subject of leprosy came up. My fellow students are creative thinkers. One sang a song about leprosy to the tune of The Beatle’s Yesterday. Leprosy was far removed from us the mid-1980’s. But a disease called AIDS was just beginning to emerge. No one sang songs about AIDS.
What has leprosy to do with AIDS or with COVID? All three have carried a sort of stigma. In the early days of COVID, people were wary of admitting illness. “Allergies,” we explained. In all three cases a diagnosis ushered in isolation. It is terrible to be sick, but worse to be sick alone. Sometimes in scripture, sickness is associated with some specific sin, but not always. Jesus explained the blindness his disciples inquired about was not the result of the man nor his parents’ sin (John 9:1-7). After the fall, we are susceptible to all sorts of illnesses which were not in Eden and will not be in heaven.
God gave Moses and the Israelites specific instructions to prevent the spread of leprosy. The priest had to determine if it was leprosy. Once patients were diagnosed, they were forced to shout “unclean” and maintain social distance from others. I first saw leprosy depicted in the movie Ben-Hur when I was a child. It was terrifying.
Then Jesus came. Imagine the ten lepers crying out to Jesus for healing. The Samaritan leper ran back and fell at his feet. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law. He cleansed the leper and healed the sick. When they came to him, Jesus restored them to community. No sickness. No stigma. This healing should make us sing for joy.
