June 26: Healing / Sanación

“When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him; and there was a leper who came to Him and knelt before Him ... Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘Be made clean!’” (Matthew 8, 1-4)

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The ancient world was terrified of leprosy, and in its terror it probably mistook many less harmful skin conditions for it. By Jewish law, the sufferer was isolated totally from society: “The leper... shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp” (Leviticus 13, 45). 

No leper would ever have approached an orthodox Rabbi, but the leper in Matthew 8 approached Jesus confidently for help. This was exceptional, but even more exceptional was what followed: “Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him....” That touch healed him – healed his disease, yes, but healed also his feeling that he not only had a disease but was a disease; it healed his isolation, his loneliness, his despair, and his belief that he was cursed by God.... It also made Jesus himself ‘unclean’ in the eyes of the Law. This is the God revealed in Jesus – a “Father of Mercies,” a God willing to extend His compassion and healing love to all who are in need of them.

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Según Mateo 8, 2-3: “Un leproso se le acercó, se postró ante Jesús y le dijo: ‘Señor, si quieres, puedes sanarme.’ Él extendió la mano y le tocó diciendo: ‘Lo quiero, queda sano.’ Y en ese instante se sanó de la lepra.”

Puesto que somos humanos y hemos pecado, nosotros también deberíamos acercarnos a Dios para decirle: “Señor, tú puedes limpiarme.” Él está muy dispuesto a hacerlo porque nos ama y repetidamente nos sana. Ojalá nosotros también sepamos curar y fortalecer a los hermanos y hermanas que nos rodean.