The winter months have me feeling very nostalgic and I often find myself watching old movies – the classics that I grew up on from the Christmas favorites to the sigh-worthy chick flicks. 

Last night, however, I watched a movie with my husband that I surprisingly saw several times in my youth but haven’t watched in years – Ben Hur. 

As a child, I always loved the epic battle scene on the galleys, the beautiful love story between Judah and Esther and of course the legendary chariot race in the Roman arena – but watching the movie yesterday stirred my soul in so many new ways. 

The film is 62 years old, so I don’t blame you if you haven’t seen it…but you also can’t blame me for any spoiler alerts – you’ve had enough time to watch it.  

It is an incredible story of love, pain, betrayal, forgiveness and faith.  I don’t know if I have ever noticed this before, but as the title is displayed at the beginning of the movie it reads “Ben Hur” followed by “A Tale of the Christ” . . . it truly is just that. 

Our hero, Judah Ben Hur is a loving son, brother and friend – a prince no less, living at the time of Christ.  A false conviction of treason sends him to serve as a slave in the galleys and his mother and sister to a life sentence in a desecrated Roman prison.  Initially driven by revenge, Judah eventually returns to his home to find everything he once had is lost and the family he has always loved now lepers living alone in a valley of death.  He is broken and empty and can only be healed and filled by the one who gives us all living waters, even Jesus Christ. 

As he finally recognizes the Savior for who he is, Judah’s heart is softened and, in his words, “I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand”. 

His heart is changed. 

He finally forgives. 

It is only then that he discovers his mother and sister who were once cursed with leprosy are now well and whole. 

They have been healed! 

I think it is so poignant that his faith preceded the miracle, for this is where the true healing lies. 

As the movie ended, I sat quietly reflecting on how I felt.  I then began to ponder on something I have never considered before. . .

What can we learn from Christ healing the leper?

We know he healed the blind, the lame, the sick . . . but of all the ailments and illnesses the people at that time would have experienced . . . why is leprosy specifically and repeatedly referenced in the scriptures?

This led me to a search that has opened my eyes even more to what the Savior was truly teaching through the miracles he performed. 

2000 years ago, leprosy was not just a disease, it was a social status.  Those suffering from leprosy were considered cursed by God and declared unclean.  They were banished to a colony and were not permitted to participate in society.  They could not enter the temple.  They could not even see their families.  They were rejected.  They were alone.   

As I considered all of this, I realized that Christ continually cleansed the leper because spiritually – we are all lepers. 

Christ was teaching the people then and continues to teach us now that he can take anyone – no matter their social status, no matter how unclean they may be considered, no matter how separated from God they may seem, no matter how alone they may feel – he can take that person in his loving arms, and he can heal them. 

The miracle is so much more than it seems.  It is not just a healing of skin and flesh, but a healing of heart and soul. 

Brent H. Nielson shared these words, “[The Savior’s] message was that He could touch the eyes of those who were blind, and they could see.  He could touch the ears of those who were deaf, and they could hear.  He could touch the legs of those who could not walk, and they could walk.  He can heal our eyes and our ears and our legs, but most importantly of all, He can heal our hearts as He cleanses us from sin and lifts us through difficult trials.”

Let us now return to Ben Hur and consider the miracle at hand.  As Judah lovingly embraces his mother and sister now cleansed from their debilitating disease; I think the even greater miracle, the more powerful healing is that of Judah’s heart.  A heart once full of hate and void of faith, is now a heart turned to God. A heart that is healed.  A heart that is changed. 

That is the miracle!  

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.”