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[0:00] The 15th of March, Touching the Untouchable. Our passage today, Mark 1, verse 41.

[0:13] Jesus, moved with pity, stretched out his hand and touched the leper. The little story told here in Mark 1, verses 40 to 45, and also in Matthew and Luke's Gospels, is one of the most moving stories in the Gospels.

[0:33] At the heart of the story, there was a man with a desperate need. He was a leper. We're not told more about him. His leprosy made him ill, made him an outcast, and made him someone to be avoided at all costs.

[0:50] But into this man's miserable life came the person of Jesus, and he was moved with pity when he saw this poor man. Jesus was so full of pity for him, that against all the taboos of the time, he stretched out his hand and touched the man, something no one else would dare to do.

[1:13] But Jesus did more than touch the man. He healed him, willingly and immediately and fully. The leprosy left him and he was clean.

[1:27] Verse 42. Jesus' compassion was powerful. Actually, we're all unclean in the sight of God. Our sin has made us that way, and it has cut us off from God.

[1:43] But Jesus still comes to touch us, to clean us, to save us through his sinless life, the sacrifice of his death and his infinite mercy.

[1:54] In the Bible story, the leper said to Jesus, If you are willing, you can make me clean.

[2:07] Verse 40. Just as Jesus said, I am willing. Be clean. So he will respond to you when you ask for his forgiveness and mercy, and you too will be clean.