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." – Matthew 8:1

Today's Scripture Reading (December 14, 2023): Matthew 8

Your age probably says a lot about how you see science. If you are older than I am, you belong to a generation that mostly believed that science held the answers to all of life's problems. When I was at university, one of my textbooks predicted the unprecedented increase in free time that would be available to us in the 21st century because the workweek would be significantly shortened to four or maybe even three days. The prophecy actually came true, but the forecasters missed that, for many of us, the shortened hours at one job only meant that we would have to take second or third jobs to make ends meet.

If you are younger than me, your generations (multiple now) have a healthy skepticism on the concept that science will solve our problems because it hasn't worked.

I have watched most of the various iterations of the television show Star Trek. And it is interesting to note how the message behind the show has changed over the years. In the original series, technology and science are good, often symbolized by Spock. Everything is rational and logical, and the message is that the creators of "Star Trek: The Original Series" truly believed that science would conquer all.

But by the time "The Next Generation" came around, literally written for a new generation, all of that was lost. Now Spock is replaced by Data, and instead of being secure in his superiority, knowing he is the ultimate authority in science and rational thought, Data longs to be human. He is a Pinocchio character; all he wants to be is a boy. And the arch enemy, which once was flesh and blood empires like the Klingons or the Romulans, empires rooted in violent cultures, now becomes the Borg, the ultimate image of technology gone wrong.

By the time we reach "Deep Space Nine," written for yet another generation, we are confronted with whether Benjamin Sisko, the commander of the space station, is a religious prophet, a spokesman for God, a military officer, or an insane man living his life in a mental institution on earth in the 1930s? And "Deep Space Nine" refuses to answer the question. But each series identifies the area of greatest need differently. For some, it is technology; for others, it is the need to be more human; in yet others, it is undefined in the fight between religion and the pervading culture.

Jesus is coming off the mountain; he has just finished speaking to the multitudes, and a man stricken with leprosy comes and kneels in front of him. By Law, this leper is not supposed to be anywhere where people are.   Leprosy has left a mark on life; this man is scarred not just physically but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. But apparently, this leper was passing for healthy. So, he made his way to Jesus, and no one bothered to throw him out.

The leper comes to Jesus and comes out of the closet. He ceased to care what others might think in an attempt to get healthy again. He admits his point of greatest need, I have leprosy, and once he identifies his greatest need, he points out his extraordinary faith: you can make me clean. In this passage, there is no question of whether Jesus could, only whether he would.

Everything changes at this point; it is where our greatest need meets our extraordinary faith. And if our most extraordinary faith is in Jesus, then we too can know that Jesus can take care of our needs.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Mark 2