As you know Chandler and
I have been watching “The Walking Dead” and loving it. It hit me that zombies
are the modern day equivalent to Biblical time lepers. Lepers were considered
unclean and people were terrified to be around them. Lepers were not allowed to
live in the city limits around other people and when they did enter the city
they were required to shout “Unclean, unclean, unclean…” as they walked down
the street. If someone heard a leper walking down the street shouting “unclean”
the person would drop everything they were doing and get away as fast as
possible with fear in their heart because they didn’t want to become infected.
Then Jesus came along and actually TOUCHED a leper (Mark
1:41, “…Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him…). Not only did He touch
the leper, but He had COMPASSION on the leper (Mark 1:41, “Moved with
compassion Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him…) …this was unheard of.
Lepers today are not heard of very much, and we are not as
scared of them. We understand the disease better today and are not horrified by
it like the people of Jesus’ time. So this got me to thinking and trying to
understand what it would have been like to experience a leper and watch Jesus
touch a leper. This lead me to zombies (I know they’re not real). I felt this
was a close comparison. Nobody wants zombies living near them. Zombies have
skin and body parts falling off. Zombies kind of shout unclean by “growling” as they
walk which warns people of them coming. When people hear the growling
they drop everything and get away as fast as possible …well, everyone except
Darryl (Inside joke with Chandler)..
If I every came across a zombie I would be horrified, and I
would be filled with a fear like I have never known (except one time when I was
very young and my sister closed my bedroom door leaving me alone in pitch
blackness, and who knows what monsters were in that blackness with me). This is
why I compare zombies to lepers. It helps me to understand the horror of Jesus
touching one. Image yourself in a zombie infested world. You have found a safe
“town” with a fence around it. The fence isn’t perfect and every now and then a
zombie gets through. When one does get through you hear it growl and you know
to run and hide. Now imagine Jesus has come to this town and is preaching
compassion. While he is there, a zombie gets through the fence and is walking
down the street growling (“Unclean”). While everyone starts to scream and run,
Jesus turns around to face the zombie. He sees the zombie and is full of
compassion for the zombie. In Mark 1:41 it says …”Jesus stretched out his
hand…” Stretching out His hand implies that Jesus reached for the leper. He did
not wait for the leper to come all the way up to Him, He was not repulsed or
afraid of him. Now imagine Jesus walking towards the zombie and reaching out to
him. He then TOUCHES the zombie! “He must be CRAZY! Doesn’t he know what
zombies are and how they can infect him?” But He doesn’t get infected. Instead
He says “I am willing. Be clean!” and right there in front of your eyes the zombie
becomes a normal person again. AMAZING!
Amazing what a little compassion can do to a person. We’re
supposed to have compassion (Col. 3:12, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy
and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another…”)
for people (which are not near as horrifying as zombies). I don’t even come
close to having the compassion that Jesus has.
The next time you want to
complain about someone, laugh at someone unusual, be horrified by someone doing
something weird, remember Jesus’ compassion for the zombie (leper) and ask
yourself “Should I have compassion on this person?”
Dad
