READ: Luke 5:12-16: … And immediately the leprosy left him …
A leper in Israel was not permitted to participate in normal social contact in the cities or villages. He had to remain outside the camp (Num. 5:2). Leprosy was a disfiguring disease and a sign of sinfulness. Now a man with leprosy in an advanced stage suddenly comes close to Jesus. But Jesus does not send him away.
The man falls on his knees with his face turned toward the ground; such is his humility as he asks the Lord Jesus for help. His request contains a firm expectation that the Lord is able to heal him. This probably has to do with the many healings Jesus has already performed. But will He also do it for him?
What does Jesus do? Does He send him away? No, on the contrary, He stretches out His hand and touches him. Then Jesus uses His divine power to heal this man and at the same time declares that He wills the man to be cleansed. This immediately becomes visible to the man himself and to those standing around: yes, the man is completely healed! There is no trace left of his extensive disease.
Such total healing is characteristic of the miraculous healings Jesus often performs, as with Peter’s mother-in-law, the paralytic who walks away carrying his bed, the man with the withered hand, and the demon-possessed man in the country of the Gadarenes. No one can perform such healings except the One who is God.
The man who has now been healed receives two instructions. The first is to tell no one about it, and the second is to show himself to the priest as proof that he is now clean and to bring an offering for his cleansing, after which the priest declares him clean. The latter is in accordance with Lev.14:1-7.
As for the second instruction, the healed man will have carried it out. But this does not apply to the first instruction: the leper does not comply with it. On the contrary, the event is widely spread as news, so that a large crowd of people comes to Jesus. They want to hear Him and, above all, see Him perform miracles. But that is something different from repenting of their sins and accepting Him as their Saviour.
Why does Jesus not want the man to spread the news?
Sing: Ps. 41:1