Matthew 8:1-4

Matthew 8:1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.

And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,

“I will do it.  Be made clean.”

His leprosy was cleansed immediately.

Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one,

but go show yourself to the priest,

and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;

that will be proof for them.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I wish to be made clean with all my heart. You sent your Son to cleanse me and wash away my sins with his blood. He is the true Lamb sacrificed for our sins. He is my brother and Redeemer, who paid my debt of sin and brought me home to you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The First of Ten Great Works of the New Moses: Matthew 8 begins the narrative section of Book Two of Matthew’s Gospel. While Book One, Matthew 3-7, announced the Kingdom, Book Two, Matthew 8-11, is concerned with the establishment of the Kingdom. It covers Jesus’ miracles and his commissioning and instruction of the twelve apostles. Jesus, the New Moses, comes down from the mountain after his sermon to perform the first of ten great works and signs that reveal the nature of the kingdom he has announced. The 10 great works of the New Moses recall the 10 plagues that the old Moses mediated to Egypt. Jesus first cures a leper, who exhibits great faith in Jesus and his divine power. Jesus was not made ritually unclean by touching the leper; rather, Jesus’ holiness transformed the uncleanliness of the leper and made the Leper clean. In his Incarnation, the Son was not made unclean by assuming our human nature. He became like us in all things but sin. He was not contaminated by his solidarity with us. Through his passion, Jesus transformed our human nature; he merited for us the Spiritual Bath that would cleanse us of our sins. We are made clean in the waters of Baptism because it is our share in the action by which our human nature was transformed, namely, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

2. Liturgical Worship in the New Kingdom: Jesus announced his kingdom with a call to repentance. Through the gift of God’s grace, we turn from a life of sin and enter into communion with God. Christ, the high priest taken from among men, has made us a new people, a kingdom of priests. Jesus tells the leper to show himself to the priest so that he can be reintroduced into the community of worship. Through our Baptism and our Confirmation, we are introduced into the Liturgy of God’s Kingdom: we now share in the thanksgiving sacrifice of the Son of God; we truly worship the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.

3. The Faith of the Leper: The leper approaches Jesus with remarkable humility and confidence: “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” He does not presume to tell Jesus what he must do, nor does he doubt Jesus’ power to act. His faith unites complete trust in Christ’s ability with complete surrender to Christ’s will. In this way, the leper teaches us how to pray. We bring our needs, wounds, and sins before the Lord with confidence, knowing that he possesses the power to heal and save. Yet we also submit ourselves to his wisdom and providence, trusting that whatever he wills is ordered to our true good. The response of Jesus reveals the heart of God toward those who seek him in faith: “I will; be clean.” Christ does not turn away from those who come to him in humility. He stretches out his hand, touches us in our weakness, and restores us to communion with God and his people.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have made me clean through Baptism to worship you in Spirit and in truth. I now share in your death and resurrection and am a member of your Kingdom. Extend your reign in my heart, in my family, and in my community.

Living the Word of God: What do I need Jesus to make clean in my life? Where is there leprosy that only Jesus can heal in and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation?