Cleansing a Leper #18

Cleansing a leper is the account of a man with leprosy who begs Jesus for cleansing, and is healed when Jesus touches him and says he wills it. It appears in Mark 1:40-45, Matthew 8:1-4, and Luke 5:12-16, and it is one of the earliest healings in each Gospel.

The Account

A man with leprosy came to Jesus, knelt, and said, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” (Mark 1:40). Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him (Mark 1:41-42). Jesus then sternly sent him away, telling him to say nothing to anyone, but to go and show himself to the priest and offer what Moses commanded for his cleansing, as a testimony (Mark 1:43-44).

The man did not obey the first instruction. Mark says he went out and began to talk about it freely and spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly and stayed in desolate places, though people still came to him from every quarter (Mark 1:45). Luke describes the man as “full of leprosy” and says Jesus withdrew to pray (Luke 5:12, 16).

Setting and Context

The term “leprosy” in the Bible translates a Hebrew and Greek word for a range of serious skin conditions and is not necessarily Hansen’s disease. Leviticus 13 required that a person with such a condition be examined by a priest, live apart, and cry “Unclean” (Leviticus 13:45-46). Leviticus 14:1-32 sets out a detailed rite for restoration to the community after healing, including an examination, washing, and offerings.

That background explains two features. First, Jesus’s touch was remarkable, since touching a person with leprosy would normally make one unclean, but here the touch heals instead. Second, Jesus tells the man to follow the law and go to the priest, which confirms the healing publicly and allows him to return to normal life.

The Gospels differ in placement. Matthew puts it right after the Sermon on the Mount, as Jesus comes down the mountain (Matthew 8:1-4), while Mark and Luke place it early in the Galilean ministry. Mark’s text says Jesus was “moved with pity,” but some ancient manuscripts read “moved with anger,” and scholars debate which is original.

What It Reveals

The miracle shows Jesus’s willingness and power to heal the most excluded, and his honoring of the law. Interpreters often note that Jesus reverses the flow of impurity: rather than being made unclean by the leper, he makes the leper clean. Mark’s account also shows the tension of Jesus’s popularity, as the healed man’s news makes public ministry harder. Christians of many traditions read the cleansing as a picture of the forgiveness of sin, and the man’s plea, “If you will,” as a model for humble prayer, trusting in Jesus’s power and goodness.