Miracle charlatan [Epiphany 3; St. Matthew 8:1-13]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

From the Gospel heard today, Jesus speaks, saying:

“And behold, a leper came to Him and worshiped him, saying, ‘Lord, if You will it, You are able to purify me.’”

What we explore in Epiphany is how Jesus reveals Himself to be the only true God, because people already see Him as “just a man”. Again, He is not pointing hell at you and demanding you kneel in fealty. He is pointing at His miracles in order that you believe that the Son has authority on earth to forgive earthly sins in earthly ways.

Let’s just be honest, as much as people want you to believe that good feelings heal you better than anything else, good feelings do not help this leper. He doesn’t need good thoughts. He doesn’t need platitudes. He needs to return to his family. He needs to return to his life and his church. He needs to be healed.

Let’s understand leprosy. Leprosy, in holy Scripture, can be used to describe a number of skin diseases. When a skin disease is contracted, you go to the priest. He looks at it. Declares you unclean and depending on how it looks, proscribes your quarantine sentence, which could range from 7 days to infinity days, depending on whether or not you get better.

If the priest touches you, he goes through days of purification to become fit for service again. If you happen to get better, you go through days of purification, burning your clothes, and shaving all your body hair off in order to rejoin society and church, but only if you happen to get better.

Which usually wasn’t the case and the priest did not have the power to heal you, only to diagnose. This is why leprosy is considered punishment for sin and the wrath of God. Many times in the Bible people who sin are divinely afflicted with leprosy and when they are, they are cut off from the people, because God’s people are to be clean.

Thus we get leprosy colonies. What else are we to do with our loved ones that are cursed? We want to love them, we don’t want to forsake them, but we don’t want to catch Gods wrath from them. What did they do to deserve that? What if associating with them gets me the same thing?

Now, you could say that leprosy, at least how we know it today, has been cured. So, if Jesus would just have waited a couple thousand years, He would not have had to perform a miracle, or His miracle was not a miracle because a cure could be found. To make matters worse, every religion claims miracles.

That would be true, if miracles were Jesus’ only calling card. That would be true if miracle were the only thing to prove Jesus’ divinity. That would be true if God was simply a god of parlor tricks.

Whether it’s a cold or a terminal illness, all diseases point to one thing: death. Even if you get over them, you know the next one could be it, because everybody dies. Thus, a miracle really can not stand on its own. Its needs something beyond itself to point to, because a miracle done in time only delays the inevitable.

No amount of scraping, shaving, or bathing washes away death. No amount of miracle pills, cures, or even miracles themselves, rid a person of dying. Do not look for miracles when you are seeking Jesus. Though He can do them if He wished, even the devil will be performing miracles in these last days.

Repent. You‘d like to think that you can spot a con game from a mile away. You’d like to think that if you just search the Scriptures, you’ll find a life to live and that will be your test against these false miracles. You’d like to think you stand firm by what you do.

What happens when Jesus touches the leper is that He becomes unclean! What happens when Jesus touches the dead or dying is that He becomes unclean. One of the false charges against Him is that He eats and drinks with unclean people and things and therefore is unclean and not worthy to call Himself God.

When Jesus touches the leper, the leper is made clean and declared clean. The leper gets to return to his family and Jesus must go before the high priest. The leper gets to return to life and Jesus must go to suffer and die. The leper is raised up and Jesus is brought low.

Jesus performs this miracle, not for the miracle’s sake, just so that there are miracles for you to believe in, but because the miracle not only shows His power over all things, but so that when you see Him on the cross, you know what He can do and Who He said He was. And three days later believe it.

Now who is on the cross? The man who did miracles but has none for himself. The God who cured and healed and raised, but can not save Himself. When you look at an empty cross, instead of focusing on Who should be on it, you are thinking about what happened and how it happened and what it would be like for you to see.

With a miracle it’s the same way. How did that happen? What did He do to make it happen? Isn’t that amazing? Do you do children’s parties? Can you do it again?

Jesus goes to the cross to silence these speculations and uncertainties. If miracles were all there were, then Jesus is a fraud. However, Jesus on the cross answers all the questions. The miracle that temporarily restored life shows a Savior who is going to permanently restore life, with His death on the cross.

If you are going to perform a miracle, you had better be prepared to die for the sins of the world, otherwise you too are a charlatan. Miracles are no parlor games. In Scripture, they are all performed to prove that Christ is crucified and those receiving faith need to be baptized. They are done so that people believe and are brought into the life of the Church.

Thus, miracles take a back seat to catechesis and going to Church. Miracles are lower than preaching the Gospel and receiving the forgiveness of sins. You do not have a mystery on the cross. You do not have an enlightened idea on the cross. There should be a body there so there is no question: this is what miracles are all about.

The importance of this is what is to be done with the leper, with the one who is afflicted with death. He needs healing, yes, but he needs perfect healing. He needs a savior who doesn’t just produce ideas and miracles, but one Who can guarantee that it will never happen again.

One that will take this sickness unto death into the grave permanently. When there is a body on the cross, you do not have to speculate or doubt any promise made by Jesus, because it all becomes clear. The miracles were done to show that Christ is on the cross, both God and man, dies, and three days later rises again.

Here is the miracle worker Who has one last miracle for you: to rescue you from sin, death, and the power of the devil by the forgiveness of sins. This is the greater work of Jesus Beyond the miracles is you hearing Christ’s forgiveness proclaimed to you by the pastor and believing it is yours.