Following the Lord Jesus Christ: #25 Healing of a Leper

After the marvelous outpouring of the Word of God in the Sermon on the Mount, the great power of God was energized to heal and deliver many. Again, we follow Jesus, this time to witness the healing of a leper in three of the gospel records. (The color of the words in the scripture indicates the information that is unique to that gospel: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The words in boldface give information that is recorded in all three gospels.) Let’s go!

Matthew 8:1-4:
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  
And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Mark 1:40-45:
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.
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

Luke 5:12-16:
And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.  
But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Notice the unique emphasis in each gospel record. In Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as a king, so in this situation, we read that great multitudes followed him—as a great leader—down the mountain, and the leper worshipped him as he would a king.

The gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus as a servant. Here the leper fervently, on kneeling down to Jesus, beseeches him to heal him of his leprosy. Jesus, out of the heart of a true servant, shows great compassion, and heals the man of his leprosy.

Luke’s narrative presents the scene with Jesus, the Son of Man, demonstrating what the power of God can do in the life of a man or woman. It describes the scene in more physical, five senses terms such as 1) the time and place: “And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city; 2) what the man saw: who seeing Jesus fell on his face; 3) the people’s reaction:  But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities; and 4) Jesus own human reaction and need:  And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.”

Now we’ll pull it all together from the three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, for the complete story.

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.  And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold, there came a leper who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and worshipped him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.  And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them, and forthwith sent him away.
But he (the leper) went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter.  But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him (Jesus): and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities, insomuch that he could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Following the entire account all together, we see that after the man was healed, Jesus gave him very specific instructions to 1) tell no man, but 2) go show himself to the priest, and 3) offer for his cleansing. Why was he to do this? As a testimony, a witness to the priest and to the spiritual leadership of Israel that the man was legitimately healed.

Did the man obey? Sorry, no. He did not. In fact, he did the exact opposite. He “went out (not to the temple), and began to publish it much” and to “blaze abroad the matter”—the exact opposite of what Jesus told him to do.

So, wasn’t this a good thing the man did? Shouldn’t he have shared the good news of his deliverance with all who would hear? Wouldn’t many more believe in Jesus because of the man’s testimony? After all, wasn’t that the result—“great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities”?

NO! It is never a good thing to disobey instructions given by the Son of God. And in this instance, we find out why:

“But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him (Jesus): and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities, insomuch that he could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.”

Not only did Jesus have to withdraw into the wilderness, but consider also that the leper apparently did not go present himself to the priest and make a gift for his cleansing as required by the Law. (See Leviticus 14:1-7.) As mentioned previously, this was to be a testimony, a witness to the spiritual leadership of Israel that the man was legitimately healed. But without this proof, the priests could bring into question the validity of his healing. And they could sow doubt into the minds of the weaker among them, causing them to reject their Savior.

But of course, we know that Jesus continued to trust in the Heavenly Father to fulfill his calling to the very end. So that we, who are called God’s sons and daughters, have fulness of joy today because of the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:20, 21:
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

What a day we live in! We have this story from so long ago and it is as real today as it was in its time. And it is our story—yours and mine! Since we accepted the grace of God in our savior, Jesus Christ, we’ve been completely healed from the “leprosy” of sin, spiritually redeemed from all decay and corruption. Rejoice!

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