In one city a man who was a leper came to Jesus. Sometimes that disease is only a few spots on the skin, but this man was “full” of the dreadful sores and no one could help him. If the law of the people had been kept, he could not have come near anyone, it said, “The leper ... shall put a covering upon his upper lip and shall cry, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ ... he shall dwell alone” (Leviticus 13:45-4645And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. 46All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be. (Leviticus 13:45‑46)).
So the leper was to warn people not to touch him, but this man knew Jesus cured disease and he was certain He could cure him. He believed Jesus was greater than a prophet; he believed He was the Lord, and he fell on his face, knowing he was not fit to be near, and said, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”
Jesus did not fear or hesitate to touch the poor leper; He put forth His hand and touched him, and said, “I will: be thou clean.”
What Cleansing a Leper Means
Jesus then told the man to go to the priest for the cleansing required for one healed of leprosy.
In Leviticus 14 we are told just what must be done to cleanse such a one: first, the priest must carefully inspect, to be certain the disease was over; then take two live birds, and kill one and dip the other in the blood, and let it loose to fly away. The man was sprinkled seven times with the blood of the dead bird; later he was to take two lambs, and flour and oil to the priests to be offered to God for him. If he were poor he could bring two pigeons instead of one of the lambs.
When the priests at the temple had all those offerings to make, and the blood and the oil to be sprinkled, as told, they surely would inquire how the leper had been cured, wouldn’t they? It is not likely they had any lepers cured, to cleanse, as Jesus said there were many lepers in Israel, but none of them was cured (Luke 4:2727And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. (Luke 4:27)).
All that careful cleansing of the leper taught those people that God was holy, and they must be made fit as He directed. But they did not understand, as we do now, that the little bird killed, and its blood sprinkled on the leper, taught of One (Christ), to come from Heaven whose blood was shed for sinners. Or that the other little bird, with its feathers dipped in the blood was to teach of that One, raised from death, and going back to Heaven. The lamb offered, also taught of Him; He is now our High Priest in glory, occupied with us.
When we hear of the power of the Lord Jesus, we may “come” to Him, though unworthy as the leper, and confess Him our Lord. The leper was not sure it would be the Lord’s will to cure him, but we know it is His will to save sinners. His words many times invite them to come to Him. Almost the last message of the Bible is, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)). Christ is Himself that “Water of Life.”
Further Meditation
1. What did the priest need to do when a healed leper came to him?
2. Why does all the careful cleansing of the leper teach people that God is holy? What does it mean that we ought to be holy if we are to enjoy common thoughts with our Lord and Saviour? How does God make us holy? What keeps us holy?
3. You’ll find The Law of the Leper by G. C. Willis to be a wonderful and very simple exposition of the Old Testament portion describing what happened to a leper when they had been cleansed of their leprosy.