BROADCASTS.com

Then Jesus ordered him, \u201cDon\u2019t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.\u201d Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:14-16)

\xa0

After breaking through the barriers of social taboo and quarantine restrictions\u2014which he could do because he was God\u2014Jesus now gives instructions to the man he had willingly cleansed and made whole from leprosy.\xa0

Today we often think that freedom means the free, unrestricted pursuit of our own, authentic individual desires, even if that should come at the expense of others or of community.\xa0 The only relevant imperative is that we all need to do what\u2019s best for ourselves, and others just need to tolerate and accept it.\xa0 There are many examples, I won\u2019t fill that blank in for you today.\xa0 But against that backdrop, it is important to note how freedom works and is understood by Jesus here.

This man was not cleansed and set free of his restrictions so that he could go and live however he pleased: like in pursuit of his own authentic self.\xa0 He had lived long enough in that sort of dismal isolation.\xa0 No, according to Jesus, this man was cleansed and set free so that he could be restored to the good bindings of community.\xa0 Jesus tells him to go and return to life within the rules of the community: he is to follow the law, show himself to the priests, and offer the sacrifices.\xa0 The man is set free from his social isolation so that he can once again live within the obligations of restored communal relationship.\xa0 This is a good thing: his restoration to community is part of his restoration to wholeness.

That being said, Jesus reveals to us that there is still a place for isolation and solitary pursuits.\xa0 It is not in order to cultivate or convey an ever-more authentic self-image to the waiting world around us, but is rather to be restored into a deeper and more authentic relationship of communion with God.\xa0 The Christian tradition has long asserted that relationship with Christ is the only real access we have to becoming authentically human: we cannot get there by merely expressing, feeling, or searching the depths of our own self.

As the word gets out about Jesus\u2019 authentic healing power, he does not revel in the fact that he is seen, wanted, needed, loved, sought-after, important\u2014no, he recognizes a temptation to a lesser good in the crowd\u2019s attention.\xa0 Jesus knows that it is not finally about him.\xa0 It is about his relationship with the Father and his loving submission to the Father\u2019s will.\xa0 And so Jesus withdraws to that lonely desert place once again to be alone with the Father in prayer.

This is the proper place for authentic individual pursuit.\xa0 It is a pursuit to the heart of our relationship with God the Father where we find deepest access to our authentic humanity and self.\xa0 A humanity that is not solitary, but relational\u2014and a self not lived unto itself, but in submission to God.\xa0 Grounded there, as Jesus enables us to be, we are set free to live well in community with others.

\xa0