How would you feel if you were not allowed to be anywhere near those you loved. You had to be banished from the city and sent to live with a whole bunch of other people that were banished too. You were known as "dirty" and "untouchable" and "repulsive." No one wanted to be near you. That's exactly what the case was for those who had leprosy. Leprosy is a skin disease that is highly contagious and that has serious and permanent damage to the body, like the loss of fingers and the like. In the Bible times, these people were required before they came anywhere near anyone to shout, "Unclean! Unclean!" that way people knew that they were approaching and could get out of the way so they didn't catch the disease. But Jesus was different. He didn't run from the lepers. Today we're going to look at a passage in Matthew that talks about an encounter that Jesus had with one of many lepers of His time.
When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them."
One of the first things we notice is that when Jesus came down from the mountain, there was "great crowds" following him. This shows that Jesus was a very popular person. People had heard of what he had done, and came to see him. He wasn't just another guy on the street, people knew of him and wanted to see him in person. Even though there was a large crowd, that doesn't necessarily mean that all of those people were there out of discipleship, most were probably there due to curiosity as to whether or not the things they had heard were really true. In this story, Jesus gives them something to see.
First things first, the leper came to Jesus. In the passage, it does not mention anything about the leper announcing his coming presence like the law stated that he had to. The people that were gathered, i would image were freaking out. If someone that was "repulsive' and had a really contagious disease came running through the crowd, most would react by running away, but Jesus didn't. At this point, the leper kneels before Jesus. To kneel before someone shows respect, reverence, royalty. The leper knows of what Jesus can do, and seems to know that he is to be revered. When the leper says the Jesus, "Lord, if you are
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