In the Old Testament under the Law of Moses a Leper and anyone who touched a leper, was
unclean:
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ’Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous’ - Numbers 5:1
Lepers were placed outside the communities and where marked by their torn clothes. If they ever came within sight of another person, they were required to cry out, “Unclean, unclean” as a warning to
the healthy person to avoid contact. Any contact with a leper would make the healthy people
unclean themselves:
“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” - Leviticus 13:45-46
Jesus came with a greater power and a greater authority. In the Old Testament the clean could become unclean by touching the unclean and the holy thing could become unholy by coming
into contact with an unholy thing. But, with the coming of Jesus there was released a holiness
that could make the unholy holy and make the unclean clean.
When Jesus touched the unclean leper the leper was healed. When Jesus said to the unclean
leper “Be clean!” the man was immediately clean and healed. This is something that had never happened. With Jesus the unholy become holy and the unclean become clean.
It is interesting to note that Jesus then sent the healed leper to the priests in the Temple at Jerusalem. Amazingly, there is an entire chapter in Leviticus explaining how a person who has
been healed of leprosy can be examined and brought back into Jewish society. It was rarely
used. But, on this day Jesus sends the healed leper to the priest to be examined and to offer
the sacrifice for having been cleansed of leprosy as Moses had written 1400 years earlier.
Jesus says he wants the leper to follow this prescribed ritual because it would serve “as a
testimony to them.” The priest would have to examine the man, ask him questions and investigate how this amazing change of events occurred. The priests would have to ask, “How did the unclean become clean?” And, the answer would be, “Jesus.” Indeed, when the priest recorded the event in the meticulous records they kept, he would have had to write down as his own testimony something like this: “During today’s rituals there was one leper who was declared healed of leprosy after having been examined by the priest on duty. This unclean man was healed when another Jewish man called Jesus touched him and commanded him to 'Be clean.' "
When Jesus came to the Temple Mount there would already be records by the priests themselves testifying to the miraculous power and cleansing ability of Jesus. There should have been no
reason not to recognize the Lord when he came to his Temple. |
