"Oh, for the touch of Jesus! For you, it means forgiveness!" Wednesday of Trinity 14 2025

24. September 2025

Wednesday of Trinity 24

Mark 1:40-45

Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (Mk 1:40–41).

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Leprosy was a dreadful disease. In the ancient world, it was one of the most feared afflictions you could have. It was more than a skin condition. It was a systemic disease that ravaged the nerves, destroyed sensation, disfigured limbs, and slowly wasted a person away. There was no cure. If you had leprosy, you carried it for life.

But the physical pain was only part of the suffering. The greater wound was social and spiritual. A leper was unclean. He could not live with his family. He could not work with his neighbors. He could not come into the assembly of God’s people. The Law of Moses commanded that the leper dwell outside the camp. He must tear his clothes, let his hair hang loose, cover his mouth, and cry out whenever someone drew near: “Unclean! Unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45–46).

Think about that. Every encounter became a sermon of condemnation. Every shout of “Unclean!” was a reminder that you were cut off—from your people, from the temple, from God. That is what sin does to us. Sin is more than bad choices or bad habits. It is a disease. Like leprosy, it spreads through every part of us—body, mind, heart, and soul. It isolates us from one another. It cuts us off from God. And there is no cure we can invent for it. Psalm 51 says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Sin is not only what you do; it is who you are by nature.

And yet, into this hopeless situation, a man with leprosy dares to approach Jesus. He has heard the stories—that demons flee at His command, that diseases vanish with a word or a touch. He falls on his knees before Jesus and says, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Notice what he says. He doesn’t question Jesus’ power. He knows Jesus can. His only question is: “Are You willing?” Does Jesus want to make me clean? Would Jesus even touch a man like me? That’s the question of every sinner. We know our condition. The Law has shown us. Our conscience has testified against us. We cry out, “Unclean!” But deep down, we wonder—would God want to forgive me? Would He want to take me back? Could He really cleanse me?

Then comes the Gospel. Jesus looks at the man with compassion. And He does the unthinkable. He stretches out His hand and touches him. That was forbidden. Everyone knew: if you touch a leper, you become unclean. But not Jesus. The Son of God is not defiled by the unclean. Instead, His holiness flows outward. His purity conquers impurity. His life overwhelms death. He says, “I am willing. Be clean.” And immediately, the man is healed.

This is the heart of the Gospel. Jesus does not shrink back from you in your sin. He does not wait for you to fix yourself first. He reaches out and touches you where you are most unclean, and His Word makes you clean. That is why He came. Not to remain distant, not to keep Himself safe, but to enter the uncleanness of this world, to bear our sin in His body, to become the Outcast in our place. St. Paul writes: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

So when Jesus touches the leper, He gives a preview of the cross. There, He Himself will become the leper. He Himself will be numbered among the unclean. He Himself will be cut off, forsaken, and condemned. He will cry out, not “Unclean!” but “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And in that moment, He bears your uncleanness so that you may be clean. That is what He gives you even now. Jesus still reaches out and touches you. He does it in the means He has appointed—His Word and His Sacraments.

In Holy Baptism, He joined you to His death and resurrection. The water and Word washed away the leprosy of sin, clothed you in His righteousness, and marked you as His own. St. Paul says in Ephesians 5 that Christ cleanses His Church with the washing of water with the Word. Baptism was your cleansing.

In Holy Absolution, Jesus speaks to you through the mouth of your pastor: “I forgive you all your sins.” That Word is not empty. It does what it says. The sin is gone. The guilt is lifted. The uncleanness is cleansed.

In the Holy Supper, Jesus touches you again—not just with words, but with His very Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Here He feeds you with the medicine of immortality, the cure that no human doctor can prescribe. His Body and Blood unite you with Him, heal you, and strengthen you for life everlasting.

This is how the Church lives. We are the people whom Jesus has touched. We are the outcasts brought in, the unclean made holy, the dead raised to life. Now notice what happens at the end of the text. Jesus commands the healed man to tell no one, but to go to the priest and offer the sacrifice Moses prescribed. Yet the man cannot keep it to himself. He proclaims it freely. He spreads the news everywhere. He simply can’t remain silent.

And that is how it is for the Church. Jesus has not told us to be silent. He has commanded us: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” A Church that knows she has been cleansed cannot keep quiet. Forgiven sinners must speak. You tell your family. You tell your neighbors. You tell anyone who will listen: Jesus has cleansed me. He has forgiven me. He is willing—and He is willing for you too.

But we must be clear: Jesus did not come simply to be a healer of diseases. If that were His mission, He could have set up a permanent clinic in Galilee. He could have eliminated every sickness in Israel. But He didn’t. Even in the days of His ministry, not every leper was healed, not every sick person made whole. Why? Because His purpose was greater.

Every miracle was a signpost, pointing to the cross and the resurrection. They were signals that the kingdom of God had come, that the Messiah was here, that in Jesus, God was reclaiming His creation. They were previews of the final resurrection, when every disease will be gone and death itself destroyed.

That is why your hope is not in temporary healing but in eternal life. Yes, Jesus may grant you relief here and now. He may answer your prayers for healing in body. But even if He does not, you are still healed forever in Him. For the greater miracle is that your sins are forgiven, death is conquered, and you are promised a resurrection body free from all disease.

So, what does this mean for you today? It means this: Your sin is not greater than Jesus’ mercy. He is willing. Be clean. Your isolation is not final. Jesus restores you to fellowship with God and His people. Your death is not the end. Jesus has conquered it, and you will rise. In Christ, you are not unclean. You are baptized, forgiven, fed, restored, holy. You belong to Him. Oh, for the touch of Jesus! For the leper, it meant healing. For you, it means forgiveness. For the world, it means life and salvation.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin