Changing the Stigma
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus.” John 9: 1-2 In scripture, Jesus does many miracles over the short course of his ministry. Over 30 miracles concern the physical healing of a man, woman, or child. But in the culture of his day, we can see by the verse above in John that many times physical deformities, illnesses, or diseases were associated with sin or some wrongdoing such that it had to be the result of some sort of punishment. In Matthew, the first healing by Jesus recorded was the healing of a leper. Leprosy was also one of those diseases thought by the surrounding community in Jesus’ day to be punishment for one’s sins. It is known that lepers would live away from the community and were counted as “unclean.” Even in the Mosaic Laws of the Hebrew Bible, those with skin infections were separated...