What Would Jesus Do? Not What You Think

When Newfoundland’s vaccine passport was announced, some Anglicans complained about how it would affect faith-based gatherings. They asked, ‘What would Jesus do?’ and ‘Is the church really going to turn away lepers?’ There are criticisms that might be made about the way a province carries out its vaccine mandate. There are serious conversations to be had about the way society continues to care for those who have chosen not to protect themselves and their neighbours by getting vaccinated. But the ‘leper argument’ is not a serious argument or criticism, and it’s time to let it go.

When the Biblical writers talked about ‘leprosy’, they were using the word as a catch-all term for a number of disfiguring skin diseases that were chronic and contagious. Centuries before germ theory, people already realized that you could catch some diseases by coming into close contact with those who were infected. In order to protect the community, the Law of Moses ordered that someone who had been diagnosed with one of these chronic contagious diseases needed to dress distinctly, announce that they were ‘unclean’, cover their mouth, and quarantine themselves away from the rest of the community (Leviticus 13.45–46). A meme making the rounds on social media this fall pointed out that the Bible specifically orders both masks and physical distancing!

This was part of the world that Jesus lived in...

This post originally appeared in the December 2021 issue of Anglican Life.

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