When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-44)
Leprosy is a contagious disease that affects the skin, mucous membranes, and nerves, causing discoloration and lumps on the skin and, in severe cases, disfigurement and deformities. God gave Moses a law on how to deal with people who have leprosy (Leviticus 13), but the long and short of it is “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (Leviticus 13:45-46) This was very sad, but the person had to be quarantined from the rest of the people so as not to risk spreading the disease. Therefore, imagine how this man felt when he dared to come to where Jesus was, around all those people, and Jesus put out His hand and touched him. ...the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)
This is how we have to deal with sin in our lives and the lives of others. We have to remove ourselves from it, or remove it from us. God calls us who are Christians to live in such a way around unbelievers ...to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. (Acts 26:18) But for the person who claims to be a believer but does not choose to live like one, not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” (I Corinthians 5:11-13)
But as with the love of God towards us, when the person shows sincere remorse and repentance, we are not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. (II Corinthians 2:5-8) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,... (Romans 3:23) Maybe the man's leprosy was a result of sin, maybe not, but the leprosy represents sin, and the man shows us through this healing how we are to handle sin, a leper came and worshiped Him. We may have to stay away from man, but we can come to Jesus at any time, and He will tell us the same thing, "I am willing; be cleansed.”
Jesus instructed him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. [Leviticus 14]” If any of us has experienced a miracle or a blessing in our lives or the life of someone we're close to, we know how difficult it is to keep that to ourselves. Well the same was true for this man healed of the leprosy. However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction. (Mark 1:45) ...the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. (Luke 5:15-16)
Yet again Jesus shows us the importance in having a regular prayer life (see THE GOSPEL: Establish A Prayer Life) It's not the Jesus didn't want people to know what He was doing. That would have been impossible! But being in the flesh as the Son of Man, and prior to His transformation after the resurrection, He ...was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) God allowed Him to experience all the temptations and limitations of being in a flesh body, and He physically just couldn't do everything for everyone, and His disciples could only do as much as their faith would allow, which wasn't very much at this point. But when someone does things we've never seen done before, we just like the people back then will hear and undoubtedly follow: So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. (Matthew 9:1) And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. (Mark 2:1)
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