Soul Wound

                When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8:1-4)

 

Close to 40 years ago, I read a Matthew Henry commentary on Matthew, and in the section that dealt with this passage, he taught what leprosy was like in Jesus’ time. So when Jesus reached out and touched this man, it suddenly meant a lot more to me, and it’s never quite let go. I’ve seen the portrayal from The Chosen, and the case depicted there was mild in the extreme, at least compared to my imagination.

Yesterday, I watched a video by John Ortberg in which he talked about soul wounds. Of course, when he described his, it didn’t seem so bad to me, because it’s not my wound. Though, truth be told, it’s probably very much like mine. Mine doesn’t seem so bad to others, who tell me, in effect, “Get over it,” as if that’s supposed to help.

This morning, as I was thinking about this, it connected with the passage above. For me, and perhaps for most of us, our deep soul injuries are some sort of leprosy. They are not just sicknesses or injuries, but they are disfiguring. It would be helpful if you wandered around crying “Unclean…unclean” so people would know to run the other way, because, of course, leprosy (the disease they called leprosy back then) was at least thought to be contagious.

Yesterday, also, I wrote about big prayers during waiting times, and this seems to tie in with today’s thoughts. To be asked to be healed of a deep soul wound – a soulical leprosy – would be a big prayer, and it’s something that probably won’t heal instantly, though God is able to do so. And if we apply the model Prof. Willard gave us – of vision, intent, and method, then to be rid of “Not Good Enough” would look like being joyful. It would be to have the deep conviction that I am cared for by Someone who has the capacity to act effectively.

What’s your soul wound? Do you know? Perhaps that’s where you need to pray – to discern what it is. Once you know, you can pray about it by name. Or, maybe you’ll even be able to say what your healed, kingdom self would look like, and be able to pray for the healing rather than against the injury.