Luke 5:12–16: the touch that changes everything

Several years ago, while in New Delhi, India, I visited a leper colony. There are many forms of leprosy, but a common one attacks the nerves, preventing those affected from feeling pain. As a result, cuts, scrapes, and burns go unnoticed, become infected, and can cause parts of fingers— and even entire hands and feet—to rot away. Because leprosy often targets the limbs first, that day in New Delhi, I encountered people with no fingers or hands, and only partial feet. For those living with such a relentless disease, every day is a battle against pain, loss, and invisibility. At the end of the street stood the city’s garbage dump, a stark reminder of their desperate circumstances.a