I want to tell you about my encounter with Yeshua (you call him Jesus) I will never be the same after meeting him, although I do have some regrets. You see, I was a leper in Israel, one of a small group of ten.
Being a leper is a hard life. If you have unusual spots on your body you must go to the priests to be examined. They can pronounce you unclean. Only they can rescind the proclamation and declare cleanness. But, once leprosy is identified, lepers are required to cover their mouths and shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” whenever they meet anyone in the way. We must live in isolation outside the community, away from family and friends. We are not even able to worship in the temple or study in the synagogue. I don’t understand it all, but I obey the Torah because the LORD commanded it and I trust Him. The priest would visit me every seven days to check on the progress of the sores. Once I am healed I will go through a cleansing ceremony and bring sacrifices to the temple before being welcomed back into the community. (Leviticus 13) But I had to wait.
The Rabbis have linked evil speech to leprosy. They say that if a person is guilty of lashon hara (evil tongue/evil speech), moldy spots first appeared on the walls of their house as a warning. If they did not get the hint, the spots moved to their clothing. Each of these could be dealt with by the priest trying to clean the house or the clothes. If that did not work, he could have the house demolished and the clothes burned. However, if the person still did not change their ways, the spots appeared on the body and they were declared leprous.
Harmful speech can cause someone to lose their homes, force them away from others, and ultimately cause them to lose their physical health. Once the damage is done, it is hard to fix. Our Wise king, Shlomo (Solomon) recorded for us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (Proverbs 18.21).The isolation time has been good so that I could reflect on how I have been using my speech.
You see, words are important, they are the means by which God created all things in the beginning. In fact, Yeshua is referred to as “The Word” who created in the beginning (John 1.1ff). Words are the building blocks of our relationships. When we misuse them everything about us – homes, clothes, bodies are in danger. The sages say, “The power of life and death is in the tongue.” Remember when Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses (Numbers 12)? She was struck with leprosy until she repented, Moses interceded for her (v. 13), but she had spent seven days outside the camp.
Rav Shaul (your “Apostle Paul”) tells us that sinful people are those, “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” (Romans 3.14) He also instructs, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4.29) Speech is a powerful tool. It is life and death. It is a means of sowing and reaping as I painfully am aware.
Of course, I was alone as a leper. I waited outside the camp and was inspected by the priest every seven days. But I got so lonely that I joined with people who were like me. We formed a band of ten lepers and went about together. We stayed outside the community, but we stayed in our own little community. It was far better for us to be together and apart than alone and apart. We were able to have more safety in numbers, but then, who would want to assault a leper? We shared in necessities; we had companionship; and we encouraged one another as we went about.
There was a time in our history when the Syrians sieged Israel (2 Kings 7). The siege brought a famine to the land. God intervened frightened the Syrians. They fled, leaving their food and property behind. A band of lepers went into the Syrian camp to beg for food. What did they have to lose? They were going to die either by famine or by Syria’s sword. Yet, when they got into the camp the Syrians were gone. The lepers feasted and carried off wealth. But then it struck them that there was a better way, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household” (2 Kings 7.9). They shared with the others.
Speaking of Syrians and lepers, there was another famous leper in our history, Naaman, a great soldier of the Syrian army. Once, Yeshua even got in trouble for mentioning Naaman in his sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4.27).
The LORD gave Naaman victories (2 Kings 5). In his indirect encounter with Elisha, he was cured of his leprosy, but not until he did as he was told and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan River. That cleansing made him a follower of the living God. He even carried bags of soil home so he could feel closer to the God of Israel.
Yes, I have to say, that in our little band of lepers we interceded for one another about our leprosy. But none of us was a Moses. We immersed ourselves in the river, none of us had the power of Elisha. We tried all we could think of, because we were desperate. Then one day, we encountered Yeshua.
We had heard about his healings. We had heard people were following him. We begged for help. I must admit, we were a bit like Naaman and expected some great action from him but he just sent us to the priests. We didn’t know why, we just did what he said. On the way we were healed! Only a priest could pronounce us “clean” so most of us ran as fast as we could to the court of the lepers in the temple to get the affirmation of our healing.
Yes, we were caught up in the moment. We wanted to follow the Torah and do what Yeshua had said. We all wanted to go and be with our families. But one of our group turned back – to Yeshua, fell at his feet and thanked him.
To be honest, I didn’t think about it at the time. That would have been the right thing to do. I guess I just got too excited. But, I also couldn’t really go back with my former band member because he was a Samaritan.
You know about Samaritans, don’t you? We are sworn enemies. They don’t like us and we don’t like them. It was one thing to share leprosy with him because no one would pay us that much attention. But now that we are healed, could I have dared to be seen with him? After all, Zerubbabel, Ezra and the ones who returned from Babylon refused their help in rebuilding our temple. Elijah himself called down fire from heaven to consume Samaritans (1 Kings 1) and James and John wanted to do the same (Luke 9.54).
Don’t you have your own Samaritans? I mean, people you dislike. O, I know you know the commands to love your neighbor as yourself and even to love your enemies (Matthew 5.43-44). You just can’t love your Samaritans because of some flaw in them.
I must admit, Yeshua confuses me. He once went into Samaria and taught our enemies for days (John 4). He spoke to a Samaritan WOMAN at Jacob’s well in Sychar. She brought the whole village out to hear him. As the white-clad villagers approached, Yeshua said to his disciples, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” Can he have come for more than the house of Israel?
Here he healed a Samaritan. Maybe there IS something different about him and his message that I need to grasp.
His disciples once saw a man casting out demons and stopped him (Mark 9). He was not part of their group, so he couldn’t be in the right. But Yeshua rebuked them – “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us.” Yes, Yeshua sees differently than we.
I know this, I was lost in my leprosy but Yeshua found me. He had mercy on me. My life will never be the same. I am a changed man because of Yeshua. I am going to control my words. I am learning to help the outcast. I am learning to keep God’s commands with joy.
I am going to see Yeshua again and thank him for all he has done. He actually has done so much more for me than heal my leprosy and the leprosy of my friends. He paid the redemption price for all of us, even the Samaritans – even YOUR Samaritans – even we sinners all. Isaiah reminds us (Isaiah 53.4-5):
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
After the LORD cleansed Isaiah’s lips he asked, “Whom shall we send? Who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6) Isaiah volunteered, “Here I am. Send me.”
Will gain his cleansing?
Will come with me?
Will accept the mission of Yeshua? Matthew 28.16-18
