Now there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where he was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 13 Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.” And the leprosy left him immediately. 14 Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” 15 The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, 16 but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
Under Luke’s description, the man is not simply sick. He is “full of leprosy” (v. 12), which in Scripture can refer to a range of serious skin diseases. In Israel’s law, this kind of condition carried a heavy burden on several levels. It could bring physical suffering. It also brought social separation, because a person with such a disease was kept apart from ordinary community life (Lev. 13:45-46). And it brought religious exclusion, because the person was considered ritually unclean and so unable to take part in public worship until he was restored (Lev. 13; Lev. 14). Luke presents the man as someone cut off on every side.
The man approaches Jesus with reverence and with a careful kind of faith. He falls prostrate and pleads, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean” (v. 12). The man’s faith is clear: he does not question Jesus’ power—“you can make me clean”—but he humbly places the outcome under Jesus’ will—“if you wish.” He does not claim a right. He does not try to force a result. He places both the power and the decision in Jesus’ hands. The request is also expressed in the language of “cleanness,” which fits the world of Leviticus, where the question is not only whether a person feels better, but whether he can return to the shared life of God’s people.
Jesus answers with the same clarity. He stretches out his hand, touches him, and says, “I do will it. Be made clean” (v. 13). The touch matters. Under the usual expectations, contact with what is unclean would make a person unclean. Here, the outcome is reversed. Instead of uncleanness spreading to Jesus, healing and cleansing spread from Jesus to the man. Luke’s point is not that Jesus ignores holiness, but that Jesus brings a holiness stronger than defilement and disease. The cleansing is immediate, as in the parallel account in Mark (Mk. 1:40-42).
Jesus then gives an instruction that shows what “restoration” means. He orders the man not to spread the news, but to go to the priest and to offer what Moses prescribed (v. 14). This refers to the procedure in Lev. 14, where a priest examines the person, verifies the healing, and the person offers the required sacrifice. That process did not “add” to Jesus’ healing. It formally returned the healed man to full participation in the covenant life of Israel. In other words, Jesus does not only remove a disease. He sets the man on the path back into the community’s worship and ordinary human life. The command also becomes “proof for them” (v.14), because the priestly verification makes the restoration public and undeniable.
Luke also shows a pattern he will return to more than once. The report about Jesus spreads, crowds gather both to hear him and to be cured, and Jesus withdraws to deserted places to pray (vv. 15-16). This withdrawal is not indifference to suffering. It keeps his mission ordered. He will not be reduced to a mere wonder-worker. His healing and teaching flow from his communion with the Father, and Luke repeatedly marks this rhythm of ministry and prayer (see also Lk. 6:12; 9:18; 11:1). Even here, after an act of mercy that restores an outcast, Luke ends by showing Jesus turning to prayer.
In this short scene, Luke holds several truths together. The man’s condition shows how suffering can isolate a person physically, socially, and religiously. Jesus’ touch shows divine compassion crossing a boundary that others would not cross. Jesus’ command to see the priest shows that his mercy restores a person to worship and community, not just to health. And Jesus’ withdrawal to pray shows that his public power is not detached from the Father, but rooted in constant communion with him.
Lord Jesus, you are not afraid to draw near to what is broken in us. Give us the humility of the leper who trusted your will, and the confidence that you can cleanse and restore. Teach us to seek you not only for gifts, but for yourself, and to return often to prayer as you did. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke, p. 116.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: Luke, p. 266.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), pp. 1049-1050.
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), p. 692.
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