While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came to him who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” So he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. (Luke 5:12-13)
Jesus was a radical in his days.
The Bible records many of Jesus’ healing miracles. His healing of a leper is one of them.1 The story tells about a man covered with leprosy who approached Jesus. The man fell face down before Jesus and pleaded, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” What happened next caused everyone’s jaw to drop. Jesus “reached out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing.'”
Why is this radical?
In Jesus’ days, leprosy was not only a biomedical issue but more of a social disease. People with leprosy were rendered unclean and had to live in isolation.2 Moreover, anyone who came into contact with a leper would also become unclean. This added to the stigmatization and debilitating influences of the disease. Therefore, people with leprosy were ostracized from their community and considered social outcasts. Lepers often lived alone or with other lepers away from families and friends.
Jesus stopped.
Jesus was already famous for his authoritative teaching and miracles by this time. And He was often surrounded by a large crowd. Jesus could have just gone ahead with His other work, and no one would have accused Him of ignoring the leper. However, Jesus stopped what He was doing for the man. He was not too busy or too important for the leper.
Jesus touched.
Jesus could have healed the man with His word alone3, but He chose to touch the leper. The biblical authors emphasized Jesus’ deliberate actions – He “stretched out his hand” and “touched,” even though Jesus was well aware of the law that uncleanness was communicable.
Jesus was willing.
Jesus had the power to heal the leper. More importantly, He had great compassion for the sufferings and pains this leper had lived with for so long. Jesus touched the leper and said, “I am willing.”
Jesus made the leper clean.
By touching the leper, Jesus was not made unclean. Instead, Jesus made the leper clean. “Immediately,” the Bible says, “his leprosy was cleansed.” Jesus’ healing was immediate and complete.
So, why is this radical?
Jesus showed radical compassion.
Jesus was not annoyed by the leper’s appearance; He was not bothered by the leper’s plea.
Jesus was not too proud to reach down, too preoccupied to attend to the leper, or too stingy with His grace.
Jesus stopped for the leper because He saw him.
Jesus not only heard the man’s plea for cleansing but also heard the man’s cry for connection.
Jesus touched the leper with His hand AND His heart.
Jesus’ compassion is not only radical but extravagant.
Jesus displayed radical courage.
Jesus knew the law. He knew it was against the Mosaic law to touch a leper.
Jesus also knew that the teachers of the law were watching Him closely. They were trying to accuse Him of breaking the law because they were jealous and afraid of His growing popularity.
Did Jesus ignore the leper like everyone else did? Did He withhold His compassion for fear of others’ opinions? Did Jesus deny the leper to maintain His reputation? The answer to these questions is a resounding NO!
Jesus courageously and boldly crossed social boundaries, challenged socially constructed barriers, and reached out to the social outcast.
Jesus demonstrated radical power.
Jesus reached out to the man when he was shunned by his own people. Jesus touched the leper when no one else dared to approach him. Being defined by his leprosy, disavowed by society, and devoid of human contacts and social support, the leper must have felt incredibly lonely, worthless, and hopeless. Jesus’ reach must have given him hope – the hope that he would finally be healed and out of his miserable condition. Jesus’ touch must have overwhelmed him and given him a sense of dignity. Jesus healed the leper’s damaging emotions.
Being cleansed of leprosy, the man could now reconnect with his family, return to society, and resume worshiping at the temple. Jesus healed the broken connection between the leper and the community.
With simple yet powerful two words, “Be clean!” Jesus healed the man of his physical disease, leprosy, an infectious skin disease incurable in Jesus’ time. The immediate and complete healing demonstrated His divine power and authority.
The message of salvation in this passage should not escape our attention. In the Biblical accounts, leprosy is a metaphor for uncleanness, prohibiting the leper from living in the community, let alone worshiping God in the temple. Leprosy, therefore, is a vivid picture of sin’s ugliness and destructiveness. The effect of sin is devastating. It keeps us in bondage. There is no freedom and no hope. Sin distances us from the community and alienates us from God.
But Christ’s death and resurrection have defeated sin and death. He made a way that all who believe in Him can come to God. If, like the leper, we are willing to come to Jesus by faith despite the gravity of our sins. He will forgive us, heal us, and restore us to wholeness.
Jesus’ power is perfect and complete. Jesus brought total healing – physical, emotional, social, and spiritual.
Jesus exemplified radical love.
Why did Jesus walk the dirt roads to share the good news? Love.
Why did Jesus stop for the leper while everyone else tried to avoid him? Love.
Why did Jesus risk religious leaders’ abuse by touching the leper? Love.
Why did Jesus leave His heavenly throne and come to live among us? Love.
Jesus embodied radical love, the unconditional love He lavishes on us!
The message
The message in this story is loud and clear. The world values a person based on what she can deliver, how much she can produce, and how well she can perform. And yet, Jesus values a person’s heart, a heart of faith, love, and compassion.
Society cannot see past a person’s disabilities and define the person by what he lacks. Jesus, on the other hand, sees the person as God’s image-bearer, created to do good works. The church is called out by God to be different from the world, to stand against worldly value systems, and to tear down man-made boundaries. The message in this story should remind us to reach out to those who are often on the fringe of society with compassion and make the good news of Jesus Christ accessible to them. We must unashamedly show Jesus’ radical love to those often considered unloveable by society and boldly proclaim that no one is outside the reach of God’s healing grace.
[i] This miracle is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 8:1–4, Mark 1:40–45 and Luke 5:12–16.
[ii] Leviticus 13:45-46.
[iii] Matthew 8:5-13.