Jesus Cleanses a Leper
Mark 1:40 “And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”
Leper: Lepers were considered ceremonially unclean and were outcasts from society (Lev. 13:11). While the Old Testament term for leprosy included other skin diseases, this man may have actually had true leprosy (Hanson’s Disease), or else his cure would not have created such a sensation (verse 45).
The leper assumes a respectful, if plaintive, posture. His beseeching is not based on Jesus’ ability but on His willingness.
Leprosy was a dreaded disease. These people were not even allowed to be near the rest of the community. This man was taking his life in his own hands to get to Jesus. The thing that would help him with Jesus was his great faith and humility.
He did not doubt that Jesus could heal him. He said to Jesus, If you will, you can heal me. Sometimes sin is spoken of as spiritual leprosy. Jesus is the healer of physical or spiritual leprosy.
If thou wilt... Few if any doubt the ability of God, but many doubt the willingness and love of God to do all things for His children today. The reason Christ healed this man, and all others was because it was the will of God. He did nothing that was not the will of God (note, John 8:28).
The disease of leprosy was peculiarly fearful to a Jew. In its stealthy beginning, its irresistible advance, the utter ruin which it wrought from the blood outward until the flesh was corroded and fell away, it was a fit type of sin, at first so trivial in its indications, but gradually usurping all the nature and corrupting it. And the terrible fact, that the children of its victims were also doomed, reminded the Israelite of the transmission of the taint of Adam.
The story of Naaman and that of Gehazi make it almost certain that the leprosy of Scripture was not contagious, for they were intimate with kings. But, apparently to complete the type, the law gave to it the artificial contagion of ceremonial uncleanness and banished the unhappy sufferer from the dwellings of men. Thus he came to be regarded as under an especial ban, and the prophecy which announced that the illustrious Man of Sorrows would be esteemed "stricken of God," was taken to mean that He should be a leper. This banishment of the leper was indeed a remarkable exception to the humanity of the ancient law, but when his distress began to be extreme, and "the plague was turned into white," he was released from his uncleanness (Lev. 13:17). And this may teach us that sin is to be dreaded most while it is yet insidious; when developed it gives a sufficient warning against itself. And now such a sufferer appeals to Jesus. The incident is one of the most pathetic in the Gospel; and its graphic details, and the shining character which it reveals, make it very perplexing to moderate and thoughtful skeptics.
The Cleansing of a Leper
On Jesus’ Galilean tour, a man with leprosy came to Him a bold move for a leper. Leprosy included a variety of serious skin diseases ranging from ringworm to true leprosy Hanson’s bacillus, a progressively disfiguring disease. This man experienced a pitiful existence due not only to the physical ravages of the disease but also to ritual uncleanness (cf. Lev. 13-14) and exclusion from society. Leprosy brought anguish at all levels: physical, mental, social, and religious. It serves as an illustration of sin.
The Rabbis regarded leprosy as humanly incurable. Only twice does the Old Testament record that God cleansed a leper (Num. 12:10-15; 2Kgs. 5:1-14). Yet this leper was convinced that Jesus could cleanse him. Without presumption If You are willing and without doubting Jesus’ ability You can make me clean, he humbly begged Jesus to heal him.
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