This Week's Story
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Diseased people through centuries have often been rejected because no cure was available to them.
This Week’s Story relives American history and the Bible through brief inspiring stories presented on mp3 audio recordings and text for reading.
If you are willing…. part one
“Today I would like to take you with our listeners and readers, into a Galilean town in Israel. There, it is the year 31 A.D. For the rest of us, it is the year 2026. Thanks to the wonders of time travel.
“Sharlene, why are you puzzled?”
“Mrs. Crawford, look at that man staggering ahead of us. What is wrong with him? Listen! The people around us are shouting, ‘Leper! Get away!’
“I do not know, if he has leprosy. Many diseases, especially skin disorders, used to be mistaken for leprosy.”
“What does real leprosy cause?”
“It is a long-lasting infection caused by a bacterium—mycobacterium leprae. It can bring permanent paralysis, numbness, blindness, and the disfiguring loss of fingers, toes, and even limbs. It can turn normal skin color to patches of pale and discolored skin.
“Mrs. Crawford,” listen to him and the people around us.”
“What do you hear?”
“He is calling, ‘Unclean, unclean!’
“And, people are moving away from him and shouting, ‘Get away from us!’”
“Why doesn’t he get away from the people, Mrs. C.?”
“He is desperate for help. I would guess that he has heard Jesus is in this town. You can see there are many people here, more than usual. They are probably hoping to hear Jesus speak or bringing their sick ones to Jesus for healing.”
“Do you think Jesus could heal this leper?”
“Maybe. He has healed many people.”
“Mrs. Crawford, can you tell me about leprosy.”
“For hundreds of years doctors thought there was no cure for leprosy. They knew it could be contagious. Now we know that it is not. You have to be in close contact with it, as with droplets from sneezing or coughing.
“It usually affects the skin, upper respiratory tract, spinal column, and eyes. The Jews had strict rules for how to deal with lepers. The life of a leper was very isolated and sad.”
“Mrs. C., what were the requirements during the time of Jesus among the Jews?”
“They were in the book of Leviticus in the Bible and the Torah. The rules specified that anyone with an infectious disease thought to have leprosy was to keep separate from the public. Live in caves or abandoned ruins. Beg for food near the outer gates of cities. Maintain safe distances from travelers.
“Wear torn clothes to show humiliation and grief. Hair is to be disheveled as a sign of mourning. Shout warnings to anyone coming near to you, so as to avoid contaminating the public.
“Doctors in 31 A.D. had no cure for leprosy. If the signs of leprosy disappeared a priest could pronounce to a former leper, ‘You are clean;’ but, priests knew they could not cure leprosy.
Only Jesus could pronounce, ‘You are clean.’ and cure leprosy.”
“For a leper to breach a crowd of people in hopes of receiving healing from Jesus sharply broke the rules of isolation enforced by the people.”
“Today, is there a cure for leprosy?”
“Yes!”
“Does leprosy still exist?”
“Yes, but with far fewer cases!”
In part two we will learn of cures for leprosy and a leper who asked for help from Jesus.
Our recording team today is Carlos Gamez, Sarah Steiner, and Gwen Crawford.
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