Jesus and the Leper

My body has been covered in hives since last Tuesday. Red, itchy bumps are all over my torso, arms, legs, and neck. The doctor told me that it was contact dermatitis (noncontagious), but I feel like I have leprosy. I feel ugly and dirty. I avoid wearing T-shirts or skirts because I don't want people to notice my skin and wonder. I even asked my husband if he finds me less attractive.

"No, you're still lovely," he assured me.

"I'm a toad. Your princess turned into a toad!"

"You won't be like this forever," he said.

"What if I am?!"

Sometimes I can get a bit dramatic. 

Then my husband admitted to me that he has a phobia of skin conditions, but this was helping him to get over it. He would love me no matter what. And the proof?

He's the one rubbing the ointment on my bumpy back. As I feel his warm hands on my infected epidermis, I am comforted.

Touch. It's so simple. And I can imagine now how the leper felt when Jesus laid his hands on him. (see Matthew 8, Mark 1, or Luke 5) When people could hardly look at the man because the very sight of his condition caused nausea, Jesus saw him, touched him, and loved him.

With the season of Lent and the approach of Easter, my mind meditates more and more on the man called Jesus of Nazareth, and how, because of his life and ultimate death and resurrection,

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. ~Matthew 11:5