Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 180:720 (Oct 2023)
Article: From The Editor
Author: Glenn R. Kreider

From The Editor

Glenn R. Kreider

Matthew recounts an incident in the life of Jesus immediately following the Sermon on the Mount (8:1–4). Jesus descended the mountain, followed by a large crowd. A man with leprosy knelt before him and asked Jesus to heal him. Surrounded by the crowd, Jesus’s actions were on public display. Seemingly without hesitation, Jesus reached out, touched the man, and cleansed him from leprosy. Jesus then instructed him to go to the priest to have the miracle verified (cf. Lev 14).

We might expect that when confronted by an unclean person— a man suffering from leprosy—Jesus the Holy One (John 6:69) would avoid contamination by any means possible. Instead, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. Rather than protecting himself from the disease and ceremonial uncleanness, the transcendent Holy One placed his hand on the suffering man and healed him. Jesus demonstrated his compassion and mercy, these attributes of holiness in action, by healing a man who was unclean and considered untouchable. Although we today do not have the power to heal people as Jesus did, we do have the ability as holy ones to enter the lives and experiences of hurting people with compassion as we minister grace and mercy to people in pain.