Jesús sana a un leproso Jesus heals a leper

Mateo 8:1-4. "Cuando Jesús bajó de la ladera de la montaña, lo siguieron grandes multitudes.
Un hombre que tenía lepra se le acercó y se arrodilló delante de él. --Señor, si quieres, puedes limpiarme --le dijo. Jesús extendió la mano y tocó al hombre. --Sí quiero --le dijo--. ¡Queda limpio! Y al instante quedó sano de la lepra". Texto bíblico tomado de la Santa Biblia, Nueva Versión Internacional. © 1999 Por la Sociedad Bíblica Internacional

La lepra era un a enfermedad incurable en esos días. Producida por una bacteria llamada bacilo de Hansen (o Micobacterium leprae), debido a su descubridor. Esta enfermedad produce lesiones serias en la piel y puede dañar mucho al cuerpo. El día de hoy se puede tratar con ciertos medicamentos y hasta el 99% pueden ser sanados. Pero en los tiempos bíblicos era incurable, Las autoridades religiosas de la época ordenaron que el pueblo tomara ciertas medidas para evitar el contagio entre el pueblo. Las personas que tenían sospechas de tener lepra tenían que venir ante el sacerdote y este era el que declaraba si era lepra o no. Cuando una persona era declarada leprosa, era considerada inmunda, por lo tanto su relación con la sociedad cambiaba. No podían estar a menos de dos metros de distancia de las demás personas sin gritar ¡inmundo, inmundo!, y tenían que vestir ropas que los identificaran como leprosos. Tenían que vestir ropas rasgadas, y con la cabeza cubierta. Cuando iban a otro lugar y el viento soplaba hacia donde ellos iban no podían acercarse menos de 90 metros sin gritar ¡inmundo, inmundo!, así la gente podía alejarse de ellos; pero si el viento soplaba en contra de donde iban, se podían acercar 35 metros y luego empezar a gritar. No tenían vida social, ni su familia los podía tocar, solo entre leprosos podían tener un poco de compañerismo, Vivian deambulando por las calles a los alrededores del pueblo.

Y allí estaba este hombre leproso, postrado a los pies de Jesús, con su mirada fija en el suelo. Había tenido lepra tal vez por mucho tiempo y cuando oyó que venía Jesús, no lo pensó y vino a su encuentro. Este hombre puso en riesgo su vida, se acercó a menos de dos metros de Jesús; si Jesús quería podía acusarlo ante los sacerdotes y lo matarían. Pero no lo hizo, ¿qué fue lo que hizo Jesús? Lo que por mucho tiempo la gente no había hecho por este hombre. ¿Qué era lo que la gente hacia cuando escuchaba ¡inmundo, inmundo!? La gente se apartaba para que pase el leproso, a lo mucho alguien con un poco de misericordia le dejaría la comida en el piso para que el leproso la tomara, o le tiraría un pan para que coma; pero Jesús no corrió de este sino que lo, ¡tocó! Este hombre estaba esperando que Jesús declarara su sanidad, pero en lugar de eso Jesús le tocó primero. Este hombre sintió la mano de alguien sobre su hombro después de muchos años de indiferencia. Jesús le mostró su amor a este hombre antes de sanarle; pero también le sanó.
Jesús no está interesado sólo en sanarnos, que sí lo necesitamos; sino que él quiere darnos su amor, quiere hacer lo que no ha hecho nadie: amarnos de verdad.

Otra cosa interesante de este pasaje es que el leproso sabía que Jesús podía sanarlo, pero aún así el dijo: “si tu quieres…puedes sanarme” hay gente que dice que si uno ora así, es falta de fe. Pero lo interesante es que Jesús le responde:”si, quiero, sé limpio”. Creo que no mostramos falta de fe cuando le pedimos al Señor que haga su voluntad a pesar de nuestros deseos.

Matthew 8:1-4. "When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."Leprosy was a incurable disease in those days. It is caused by a bacteria called bacilo of Hansen (or mycobacterium leprae), by the guy that discovered it. This disease produces serious lesions in the skin and can do a lot of damage to the body. Today, leprosy can be treated with certain medicines and up to 99% can be healed, but in those days it was incurable. The religious authorities in that day ordered people to take certain precautions to avoid the spreading of leprosy to other people. The people who they thought might have leprosy had to go to the priest and the priest would tell them whether or not they had leprosy. When a person was declared a leper, they were considered unclean. This made their relationship with society change. They couldn’t be within about 6 and a half feet of someone without having to yell “unclean, unclean” and they had to wear certain clothes that would identify them as lepers. They wore clothes that were torn and covered their heads. When they went to another place and the wind was blowing towards where they were going, they couldn’t get any closer than about 295 feet from others without yelling “unclean, unclean” so the people could get away from them. If the wind was blowing against where they were going, they could get about 115 feet from others and then start yelling. They didn’t have a social life, not even with their families could touch them. They could only have a little fellowship with other lepers. They lived their lives wandering through the street and the outskirts of the town.So there was this leper, before the feet of Jesus, looking at the ground. Maybe he had had leprosy for a long time and when he heard that Jesus was coming, he didn’t think about it, he just came. This man put his life at stake because he came closer than 6 and a half feet to Jesus and if Jesus wanted to, he could have accused him before the priests and they would have killed him. But that is not what Jesus did. What did Jesus do? He did what people had not done for a long time for this man. What did the people do when they heard “unclean, unclean”? The people got out of the leper’s way until he went by. At the most, someone that had compassion on him would leave him a little food on the ground so he could eat or they would throw him a loaf of bread so he could eat, but Jesus didn’t run from him, He touched him! This man wanted Jesus to heal him, but instead of healing him, Jesus touched him first. This man felt the hand of someone on his shoulder after so many years of indifference. Jesus showed him His love before healing him and then He also healed him. Jesus is not just interested in healing us, but He wants to give us His love. He wants to do something that no one has ever done: really love us.Another thing that is interesting in this passage is that the leper knew that Jesus could heal him, but he still ask, “If you want, you can heal me.” There are people who say that if you pray like this, you lack faith. What is interesting is that Jesus said to him, “I want to, be healed.” I think that we are not showing a lack of faith when we pray to the Lord and ask Him to do His will despite our own desires.