The Healing of the Leper

In Luke 5:12-13, “While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him.”

The story of Jesus healing a man with leprosy is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. However, only Luke, being a doctor, uses the medical term “covered with” to describe the extent of the man’s leprosy.

In the Bible, “leprosy” includes various skin diseases, as well as the severe disease we know as leprosy, which causes a person to become foul-smelling, decaying, and eventually die. This is spiritually analogous to the consequences of sin. In the Old Testament, people who developed leprosy were often believed to be afflicted because of sin. They were considered unclean and were to be quarantined (Leviticus 13-14). The healing of leprosy was one of the signs of the Messiah’s identity (Luke 7:22). In God’s eyes, the natural, fleshly nature of man is full of sin and is like being “covered with leprosy.” A person with leprosy was forbidden by law from entering a city (Leviticus 13:46). This encounter might have taken place outside a city, or perhaps the man was so desperate that he broke the law to enter the city. He recognized the Lord’s authority, and “fell with his face to the ground,” humbly coming before Jesus to seek healing.

Jewish law required lepers to be isolated, and anyone who touched a leper was considered unclean. Jesus could have healed the man with just a word, but instead, He “reached out his hand and touched him.” This act shows that He is “willing” to have compassion on us and is “not unable to empathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). He is willing to unite with sinful people and feel our pain.

Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version of the Bible and a comprehensive biblical interpretation.