Jesus Cleanses a Leper
Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45, Luke 5:12-16
Whoever you are — Christ’s Gospel is made for you because just like the man full of leprosy, Christ comes to redeem, heal, and give a new identity to the broken.
In Jewish culture, leprosy was considered unclean and was often symbolic of a person’s standing with God. Meaning, they were considered unholy. These people would be outcast from society and typically would live outside of cities where it was thought they couldn’t infect others, and where many of them would ultimately die from their condition. See Leviticus 13:45-46.
All humans, like the leper, are outcast from the presence of God on a path to death.
“And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean’” (Luke 5:17).
This man had likely heard stories of Jesus traveling throughout Judea preaching in the synagogues. He knew Jesus is the one he must ask to heal him, so he approaches Jesus and desperately asks to be healed of his condition. He knew by himself he was incapable of being healed and returning to society.
“Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean’” (Mark 1:41).
Mark is intentional by telling us that Jesus was moved with pity. He saw the pain and suffering of the man and not only touched the man full of leprosy, but he physically healed him. This would have been a shock to those watching. Jesus not only was full of the power of God, he was fearless in his ministering to people because he had power over their sickness. Jesus made the man clean of leprosy out of deep compassion and selfless love.
“And Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them’” (Matthew 8:4).
Jesus asks the man to say nothing because it is assumed he did not want everyone to come to him for the purpose of his miracles. Jesus had come to offer something more precious than that. It was in the Jewish customs, written in Leviticus 14:1-20, that after a person was healed of leprosy they would go in before the priest who would deem them healed. They would then offer sacrifices to God and return to society, no longer an outcast or faced with death. In a way, they would have returned from “the dead.” This is what Jesus asks the man to go and do to prove God had healed the man.
However, the man does not do this. Instead he goes out and tells others about what Jesus had done, causing many to attempt to come to him for physical healing.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost, so how does healing come into play? Jesus' acts of healing were a physical example of what he had truly come to do for the souls of the lost.
So, if we as a church are asked today to step forward in Christlikeness, what would we take away from these passages of scripture? Here are a number of things to consider:
If we are to be like Jesus we must, in our hearts and actions, love those who are poor or sick. We must love the outcasts of society like Jesus. American culture preaches that we should be more concerned for ourselves than for others. Jesus shows that ministering to a person’s tangible need is an act of compassion and love. How can you practically love someone today? In what ways are you more concerned for your own comfort or reputation that hinders you from ministering to the outcast? Do you need to ask God for compassion?
God has equipped his saints. He has given his followers his Holy Spirit to bring about sanctification in our hearts and miraculous, only God moments, in our lives — whether it be physical healing like the leper or salvation in Christ. Do you believe that the Spirit of God, who in Christ ministered to the man with leprosy, is inside of you and capable of using you in ministering to others?
In humility and desperation, like the man full of leprosy, we approach the throne of God through prayer and petition. Do you trust God to hear your prayers, and that he is capable of answering your prayers?
Church, we serve a God who has deep compassion and care for each of us. In this season of Lent, don’t believe the lie that God does not care for you. He loves you despite your rebellion, and sent his son to die on a cross and be raised from the dead to conquer sin. Church, out of love, Jesus has called you righteous, not out of anything you have done but completely from his free gift of grace.
