Who Are the Lepers in Our Society? Matthew 8:1-4

 Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

As Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount, we move into his public ministry where he will start showing his power as the Son of God filled with Holy Spirit. 

8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.

After teaching on the Sermon on the Mount the people said, "What teaching and with authority".  He piqued their curiosity, as they had never experienced a rabbi like Jesus. He taught about what the kingdom of heaven looks like and now he is going to show them what it looks like for it to come on the earth. 

2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

As you may know, leprosy was not a disease you wanted to have in Jesus' day.  Lepers were considered cursed by God and unclean by the Jews.  When a person with leprosy entered a public setting, they had to cry out, "leper", so that no one would mistakenly touch them. 

The fact that Jesus begins his public ministry by healing this man not only shows his power to heal. but also his compassion on the outcasts of society.  Notice the leper's faith.  He knows Jesus has the power to heal him, but given his condition he is not sure if Jesus WILL indeed heal him. 

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 

Jesus quickly answers his question by touching his hand, probably the first time anybody had ever touched him since he contracted this disease.  Jesus makes it clear he is "willing" and commands him to "be clean".  It doesn't take long for the healing to take place.  "Immediately" the man is healed. I can't he imagine the feeling the leper had toward Jesus.  Not only was Jesus willing to touch and heal him, but as soon as he said the words "be clean", his life long affliction was gone. 

4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

It is curious that Jesus asks the man not to tell anyone about the healing.  This would lead us to believe that no one was there to watch the healing.  One would think Jesus would want the word about him to spread rapidly, but Jesus also knows that he has a lot of work to do. When people hear of the healing, he knows they will start flocking to him.  So, he wants the man to keep it under the radar for now. 

Instead he DOES want the man to go and show himself to the priests  and tell them what happened. He also urged him to do the right thing by offering the gift Moses commanded in Leviticus.  Jesus never disobeyed the clear law of Moses.  He will say later, "I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." 

Here is a little more background info about why Jesus gave him this command.

"The Mosaic Law prescribed specific sacrifices to be conducted upon the healing of a leper, and when the man reported it to the priests, they no doubt had to perform ceremonies that were rarely (if ever) done (Leviticus 14).

i. Going to the priest would also bring the former leper back into society. Jesus wanted the healing of the man’s disease to have as much benefit as possible. (Guzik)

ii. “This gift was two living, clean birds, some cedar wood, with scarlet and hyssop, Leviticus 14:4, which were to be brought for his cleansing; and, when clean, two he lambs, one ewe lamb, three tenth deals of flour, and one log of oil, Leviticus 14:10; but if the person was poor, then he was to bring one lamb, one tenth deal of flour, one log of oil and two turtle doves, or young pigeons, Leviticus 14:21, 22.” (Clarke)

Who are the lepers in our society?  What would it mean for us as believers to reach out and touch them like Jesus did?  Do you have the same faith as the leper so you could say, "If you are willing you could (fill in the blank with what you need!)?  Why or why not?