When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
When Jesus comes down from the mountain, large crowds follow Him—drawn not only by His teaching, but by something deeper: the authority with which He speaks and acts (cf. Mt 7:28–29). In this brief but powerful encounter with a man suffering from leprosy, Jesus reveals the heart of God—not only willing to heal, but to restore the outcast to communion.
In the biblical world, leprosy referred not only to Hansen’s disease but to a range of chronic skin conditions, including rashes, ulcers, or discolorations (cf. Lev 13:1–46; NABRE footnote). These made a person ritually unclean, barring them from worship and community life. The leper’s words—“If you wish, you can make me clean”—show a deep trust in Jesus’ power, but also a surrender to His will. A few verses later, a Roman centurion will express the same kind of faith: “Only say the word…” (Mt 8:8). Jesus will praise the centurion for this same kind of faith, marveling that such faith had not been found even in Israel. Both men believe that Jesus can heal, but neither demands it. True faith trusts not only in what God can do, but in what He wills to do.
Jesus breaks through social and ritual boundaries by touching the man. According to Levitical law, touching a leper rendered one unclean (Lev 5:3; Num 19:22), but here the reverse happens: the purity of Christ is not defiled—rather, it purifies. This act likely brought both physical healing and spiritual restoration, returning the man not only to health but to worship and community.
In ancient Israel, worship was not a private act—it was the heart of communal and covenant life. The Temple was where God’s presence dwelled, and being barred from it meant more than missing a ceremony. It meant being cut off from God’s people and from the visible means of grace. To be ritually unclean (as lepers were) was to be excluded from worship (cf. Lev 13:45–46), from offering sacrifice, from feasts, from life in the covenant community. So, when Jesus heals the leper, He is not only restoring his body—He is restoring his place in the covenant, his ability to worship, to offer thanks, and to belong again.
Jesus’ miracles point to this deeper restoration. As He says when healing the paralytic, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” (Mt 9:6). His healings are never merely physical—they are signs of a grace that heals the soul and reconciles the person to God.
Jesus commands silence—not to hide His identity, but to ensure the man fulfills the Law properly. This is not fear of ritual impurity or secrecy, but a call to humility and obedience. Jesus’ power makes the unclean clean—He is not defiled, but glorified.
The man is told to “offer the gift that Moses prescribed” (cf. Lev 14:1–32), which involved two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, followed by sacrifices of a lamb or turtledoves. These rituals signified both purification and thanksgiving. By sending the man to the priest, Jesus shows that He fulfills, not abolishes, the Law (cf. Mt 5:17)—and that the healing He brings is meant to restore the man fully to God’s people.
Lord Jesus, You are not ashamed to touch the wounded and the outcast. Cleanse me not only of what is seen, but of all that separates me from You. Restore me to the joy of Your presence, and help me live as one made whole by Your mercy. Amen!
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Orchard et al. (1953).
- The Navarre Bible: Matthew, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. Chiu et al. (2018).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§1421–1424, 1505.
- The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, ed. Brown et al. (1990).
- Leviticus 13–14; Exodus 4:6–7; 2 Kings 5; Mark 1:40–45; James 5:14–15; 1 John 1:9.
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