The Importance of the Miracle of Healing Leprosy
There are many scriptures where Jesus- heals a Leper such as Matthew 8:1-4, went to Simon the Leper’s house in Matthew 26:6, tells the disciples to cleanse the Lepers in Matthew 10:8, and heals ten Lepers in Luke17:11-19. So, what is this deadly disease and why is it so important that Jesus healed it? Let us look at what the disease is, why it was important for Jesus Himself to heal it, and what the significance in healing this disease meant.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica *1, scientists theorize that the leprosy bacillus enters the body through a break in the skin or through the mucous membranes of the nose. The disease can be transmitted from person to person by prolonged close contact, but even today scientists are uncertain of the exact mechanism. The geographic distribution of the leprosy bacillus is a mystery. Some scientists suspect that the organism exists in the soil in many parts of the world, but, again, because it cannot be grown in a laboratory culture, the only evidence of its presence in a given region is the appearance of the disease itself in humans or other animals that are susceptible to it. Besides humans, the only animals known to develop leprosy in nature are New World armadillos and African primates. In the late 20th century, experiments with a mouse model of the disease showed that transmission is indeed possible through the intact lining of the nose and through breaks in the skin but not via the mouth, lungs, or digestive tract or through unbroken skin. And, although leprosy can be produced in mice by exposing them to the bacillus, the disease cannot be transmitted from an infected to an uninfected mouse. Even Britannica states that like many diseases, leprosy was considered to be a form of divine punishment for worldly sins, and the outward signs of the disease were taken as proof that leprosy victims were utterly embroiled in sin. Special laws required the use of separate seats in churches, separate holy-water fonts, and in some cases a “lepers’ window” or slot in the church wall through which the afflicted could view the mass without contaminating the congregation or the ceremony.
Along with Encyclopedia Britannica, let’s look at the Old Testament * to see some of the rules behind this disease to get a better idea of it. Exodus 4:6 says; Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. God was using this as a sign to Pharaoh and the Egyptians knowing it would cause fear and make them believe Him. Leprosy was evidently shrouded in fear throughout all the ages for both those that had the disease and those that didn’t, and for good reason. Numbers, chapter 12, tells us the story of Aaron and Miriam speaking against Moses and God hearing it. For punishment, God made Miriam leprous, “like snow”, and when Aaron turned toward Miriam he beheld her as “Leprous”. Aaron then told Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” Even Moses cried for God to heal her, to which God answered for her to be shut outside of the camp for seven days, and after that she may be brought in again. Leprosy was serious business! 2 Kings, Chapter 5, tells us the story of Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, who was healed of Leprosy. This chapter also tells us about Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God. Gehazi saw opportunity to make a profit off of the healing of Naaman and then lied to Elisha to cover up what he had done. God punished him with the disease. The last verse, 27, says; therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever. So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. So we have many references to show the representation of the disease as sin made visible on the body and that it separates the person from all others, including God.
Let’s look at the importance of Jesus healing the disease now. In Francois P. Viljoen’s article, “Jesus healing the leper and the Purity Law in the Gospel of Matthew”, Francois states that it is argued that Jesus, as the Holy One and miracle Healer, is not defiled by coming into contact with the leper. Purity flows from Jesus to heal the leper. As a teacher of the Law, Jesus enacts the true intention of the Law, which is to establish a holy community of believers within the Kingdom of heaven. This healing action forms a step towards the coming of the Kingdom of heaven. Thus, the purity laws find their fulfillment in Jesus. As a result of this action, cultic purity transforms into a moral activity for the followers of Jesus. Francois, using much of Leviticus chapters 13 and 14, Laws about Leprosy and their Cleansing, shows how Jesus needed no purifying because God cannot be made impure and that He purifies those so that they may be near Him. This fact alone proves Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of God, God in the form of man, therefore He has the power to cleanse and needs no cleansing Himself, a massive point the Pharisees totally missed. But Francois goes even further than this as he states, “Though Jesus emphasizes that he did not come to abolish the Law (Mt 5:17-19), he clearly demonstrates an alternative interpretation of the Purity Law.” Jesus didn’t abolish the laws such as Leviticus chapters 13 and 14, but He completed them with His pureness and His love. He knew the true reason and meaning behind the law, and He could fulfill it all by His Holiness and Righteousness! Francois clearly points out not only how Jesus was a walking completeness of God’s laws, but He was also able to complete them as well in other people by forgiving them of their sins. Francois states this, “Purity can be described as the condition that God requires of his people. Only those who are pure may come in contact with him. In the Hebrew Bible purity is linked with the requirement of righteousness (Chilton 2000:877). The psalms explicitly state this association. Only the one who has clean hands and a pure heart may ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place (Ps 24:3-4; cf. Ps 18:21; 26:4-7; 51:4, 8, 9, 12; 119:9).”
So, let’s finally link our knowledge of what Leprosy was thought to be and what it represented, along with Francois’s article with his defining of Jesus of not only completing the law, but also creating the law, so He therefore is God because of His knowledge, purity, and inability to be made unclean or not pure, and finally connecting these to the significance of Jesus healing this disease. By now, you may be jumping for joy at how Jesus is the Messiah and how He is God in the form of man, able to forgive sin, to make pure, to make whole, to bring others back into the community or fellowship, able to cleanse the heart, He made the law, He is the Word of God and spoke the Earth and all of creation into existence, He completes the law, could we even say He is the law? Ok, maybe that last point is pretty out there, but all of the rest of those points are definitely preaching Jesus Christ, all powerful, all knowing, all present, all mighty! But let’s look at one more secular viewpoint to seal the deal and discover why it is so significant that Jesus healed this disease.
Wikipedia’s article *3 on “Jesus cleansing a leper”, states that Leviticus 13 outlines specific procedures for dealing with a person suspected of being infected with leprosy. A priest would have to inspect the lesion, and after a period of monitoring and observation, if the condition did not improve, the person would be declared ritually “unclean”. Leprosy was considered a sort of curse from God, of profound impurity. To be declared unclean because of leprosy meant that the unfortunate person had to tear his clothes and put a covering upon his upper lip and cry, “unclean, unclean.” As the Jews were concerned that the condition was contagious, such individuals were to live separated outside the camp. Ostracized from the community, they were left homeless without the support structure of family and friends. In approaching Jesus, the man was in violation of Levitical law. In touching the leper, Jesus also defies Levitical law. When the Son sent forth the disciples with instructions to heal the sick, cleansing the lepers was specifically mentioned in Matthew 10:8. British Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached a sermon likening the condition of a person afflicted with leprosy to that of someone in a state of sin. Leprosy symbolizes the defilement of sin which results in separation from God and the community.
First of all, let me say way to go Mr. Spurgeon! This goes right along with Francois’ earlier definition of impurity, or sin. Our sin has made us dead or cursed. After all, death did not enter the world until sin did as we have learned in the book of Genesis, in the Old Testament. Let’s read again in Genesis 3:17-19; And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” So, if the Earth was cursed by God, and Adam is made of the dust of it, then the flesh is cursed as well. Now we have the disease of Leprosy being called a curse by God. It’s a little too coincidental, don’t you think, that God would use this disease as a punishment, or curse, for sin, and God also uses cursing the ground of which Adam is made of to bring light to the sin situation, or in other words, make the appearance of the heart known to the human eye? Can we conclude then that the significance of Jesus healing the Lepers is to show that He is God and has the power and authority to forgive sin? Let’s look at one of the last points that was made in this article in Wikipedia.
‘When the Son sent forth the disciples with instruction to heal the sick, cleansing the lepers was specifically mentioned in Matthew 10:8.’ Jesus was giving over to His disciples amazing power and authority. Where is this power and authority coming from? Only God can pass His power on, so if Jesus is giving them power, then He must be God, and God has all power. Matthew 28:18-20 says; And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” And how many times did Jesus tell people that their faith has made them whole or they had been healed by their faith? Faith must hold power in it then, because Pentecost had not happened yet for the disciples and Jesus had already sent them out for many things including healing Leprosy. And how could the disciples go out and make more disciples then, unless it was a passing on of faith?
In concluding, the significance of Jesus healing Lepers, I find the disease to be the representation of sin in people, and how sin separates us from God and leads to death, both physically and spiritually. Jesus was/is God so He cannot be made impure and therefore is the only one who has the power to forgive sins, healing our spiritual leprosy and giving us life everlasting! Our faith in Jesus Christ is our source of power that comes from God. The love of God completes the law and is the gift of salvation for all who have faith in Jesus Christ. We must come to Him for cleansing and to be made pure so that we may one day enter into God’s presence for all eternity! How awesome is God for giving us the Bible and letting us see the story and the meaning behind ‘Jesus healing the Lepers’!
