Jesus cured a leper

Yesterday, I mentioned that every Evangelist has his own agenda. Each presents Jesus from their own perspective, or rather each persuades us to buy his version of Jesus. Now that we are reading Luke, what image of Jesus does Luke try to persuade us to believe? Let's compare the Luke text we read today with those of Mark.
Let me put the Luke version in context. After Jesus was rejected in Nazareth, he came down to Capernaum and taught on Sabbath. He drove out a demon from a possessed man in a synagogue. Leaving the synagogue, he entered Simon's house and healed his mother-in-law of fever. Then he healed more people and drove out more demons which cried aloud that Jesus was the Son of God. Then he retired into a lonely place to pray. People came to seek him.
but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43).
This much Luke follows Mark, except that he had not called any disciples yet. So, it was not Simon and other disciples who sought him (Mark 1:36). Rather, it was just the people.
Then came the story of the calling of Simon Peter in chapter 5 with a twist. We have the story of a miraculous catch of fish. At first, Simon addressed Jesus as Master. After the catch, Simon called Jesus Lord.
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8)
For the first time in Luke, Jesus was addressed as Lord. Here, I would hypothesize that in the gospel of Luke, disciples of Jesus address him Lord. Before we become disciples, we must recognize our unworthiness, and confess our sins. This is the attitude we must possess before we may become his disciples.
Of course, Jesus did not depart from Simon. Instead, he recruited Simon to be the fisher of man.
For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken;
and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men."
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him (Luke 5:9-11).
In one stroke, Jesus recruited three disciples, Simon, James and John. But where is Andrew? Then, the story of the cure of a leper follows.
The story is nearly identical with that found in Mark except that the leper also called Jesus Lord.
While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." (Luke 5:12)
And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." (Mark 1:40)
To become a disciple of Jesus, we must see our sinfulness, our leprosy. Furthermore, we must humble ourselves, fall on our faces and beseech him. Then, we are ready to receive Jesus' touch and be cleaned. The gospel of Luke provides us with a lot of occasions to meditate as a disciple. For example, when the soldiers laid the cross of Jesus on Simon of Cyrene, he carried the cross behind Jesus (Luke 23:26). This is a powerful image for all disciples of Jesus. We are his followers. We don't go before him, lead him. Instead, Jesus leads us.
Thank you St. Luke for providing us with a prayerful book for meditation as a disciple.

Dear Lord, do not depart from me for I am a sinner. I am not able to leave everything to follow you. I am just an accidental disciple. Help me in my work to make Shung Tak a more religious school. Amen.