A leper came to Jesus beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people." But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
- St. Mark 1:40-45
The scriptures - both Old and New Testaments - make it clear that there was no disease that caused more terror than the disease of leprosy. It meant a condemnation to a slow death, and it meant total social ostracization, too.
Jesus treated it with the same seriousness that society viewed it. When He sent the twelve disciples out, he commanded them to “heal the sick, cleanse lepers.”
The fate of the leper was truly horrible. The body becomes covered with ulcers; the appearance is changed over the course of time, losing the human look. The voice becomes hoarse; fingers and toes are lost. It really is a kind of “living death.”
Because of all of this, the leper was pronounced to be “unclean” and he was banished from living within society. He had to live apart, either alone or with other lepers. If anyone came close to him, he was required to shout out “Unclean, unclean...” So the leper had to bear not only the physical pain of his disease, but also the mental anguish of being completely banished from family, friends, and society in general.
This particular case outlined in Mark’s Gospel gives a revealing picture of Jesus: The leper described in this passage had broken the law when he approached Jesus, which was strictly forbidden. However, Jesus simply met this desperate act with understanding and compassion. He actually reached out and touched him, even though it was the general belief that physical contact with a leper was contagious. But Jesus knew well that he wasn’t unclean. He was simply a human being in desperate need. Then, having miraculously cleansed him, Jesus sent him to fulfil Jewish law by going to the temple priest. He would need a certificate to show that he was clean.
The Gospel makes it clear that Jesus didn’t defy conventions; rather, He submitted to them. But while fulfilling human requirements and expectation, we see divine compassion, power and wisdom, as Christ made this broken man whole again, healing him both in body and in soul.