Jesus and the Leper

Luke 5:12-14 - 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. Luke tells us that a man "full of leprosy" came to Jesus and "fell on his face." The leper came, perhaps from his primitive dwelling in the fields to speak with Jesus. He had no doubt heard Jesus message and believed in him. The Bible says the leper came to Jesus and "worshiped" him. He certainly knew that in the Law it was forbidden to bow down and worship any man, but only God. Jesus took note of this as the leper pleaded with him, "if you are willing you can make me clean," Jesus suddenly reached out and touched the man, and then spoke the word "I am willing, be clean" and the leprosy left the man. You can feel the compassion that Jesus had for this poor man, as Jesus reached out and touched him. This would have been a shock if anyone was close enough to observe, because touching a leper meant instant uncleanness. In reverence for the Law (Lev 14:2) he told the leper to go and present himself to the priest and offer the gift as a testimony to them.

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