"And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him, and saith unto him,I will, be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away, and saith unto him, see thou say nothing to any man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places. And they came to him from every quarter."
Mark 1:40-45.
Our Lord was at this time sowing the seed of the kingdom in Galilee, visiting its towns and its villages. In the midst of a country village, or at the market-place of a larger town, he often stood among the people; the true Wisdom lifted up her voice (Prov, 8: 1, 3), proclaiming life to the sons of men.
On one of these occasions he was met by a leper; or rather, it seems, he was interrupted by the unexpected visit of a man all white with leprosy. The Evangelist Luke (v. 12) speaks of the occurrence as taking place in one of the towns. If so, the case was altogether remarkable; for, according to the ancient law that shut out the leper from the camp, no one in that state was allowed to enter the gates of any city. Like the four unhappy men (2 Kings 7:3), the leprous person might come up to the gate, but must not enter. In the case before us, however, the man's misery and earnestness appear to have led to a perilous experiment. Persuaded of the Lord's power to heal, longing to put it to the test, almost sure, also, from rumours that had gone abroad, that his willingness might embrace such a case as his, the man will venture to do this new thing - he will come in all his leprosy into the city! He will rush along, and ere ever the angry people have had time to recover from their astonishment at the boldness of the leprous man, he hopes to find himself cured and whole at the feet of Jesus. There was both daring and doubting in his action. He is like Esther venturing into the presence of the king, 'If I perish, I perish.'
What a lively picture of a soul awakened to true anxiety for salvation! O to see many such in our day! O to see the 'kingdom of heaven thus taken by violence.'
The earnestness of the man is seen yet farther in his manner. He 'knelt' before the Lord, and next 'fell on his face' (Luke 5.12); his attitudes giving emphasis to his words. Even as our Master himself, when clothed with our leprosy, in the garden of Gethsemane, first fell on his knees before his Father, and then prostrate on his face as his agony increased.
He'besought' Jesus - he addressed moving cries to him, and this was the burden of them all, 'IF THOU WILT, THOU CANST MAKE ME CLEAN!' He has some fear, some doubt, some secret dread lest the Lord should see reasons for withholding the exercise of his power; but still he has great faith. He does not, like Martha, consider Christ's power as needing to be sought from God (John 11:22); he believes the power to be lodged already in Christ's person; he believes, too, it is power so great, that it can reach his case. Yet, let it be remembered, up to this time, there had not occurred any case of leprosy cured. As yet, Jesus had not, so far as is recorded, healed any such. History, however, told of Namaan healed by miracle; and this man does not doubt but Jesus can work this miracle, if he will.
Brethren, if this man reasoned thus in himself, 'though Jesus has never yet done so great a thing as the cleansing of a leper, yet he has done enough to convince me that he can, if he will' - surely much more may every soul here say, 'if Jesus has saved souls as guilty as mine, then surely he can save me.'
There was in this leper's case an unhappy dimness of vision as to the Saviour's grace. 'Whether or not he has a heart that will go the length of taking up the case of one so unholy as I am, I know not' - this was the man's lingering suspicion. But the Lord Jesus had so much grace in his heart toward sinners, that, in spite of his doubt, he took up the man's case at once. 'Moved with compassion, he put forth his hand.' The word is, 'his bowels yearning, he put forth his hand.' It is remarkable how often we are told of our Master's compassion. In Matthew 15:32, at the sight of the multitude; in Matthew 20:34, looking at the blind men in vain rolling their eyeballs to find the sun ; in Luke 7:13, when he met the weeping widow of Nain at the gate. All who knew Jesus, knew and felt that he had bowels of mercies, and in this they could not fail to recognise the very character of Jehovah; 'the multitude of whose tender mercies' Psalm 51:1.) were the theme of David's song, and the hope of David's heart.
Jesus 'put out his hand and touched him.' He touched the leper. He was not afraid of being contaminated; he knew that no pollution would come from the man to him, but that, on the contrary, healing would go from him to the man. Christ is the fountain that cleanses others, and is itself never polluted. Christ can let John lean on his bosom, and in so doing can convey purity to John, while John communicates no stain to his Master.
Though Jesus touched the leper, he did not, in so doing, break the Mosaic law; for the law forbade any contact with the defiled, only on the understanding that this contact would spread the defilement. But Christ's touch removed it, instead of receiving its contagion. Even as he ate with publicans and sinners, and yet broke no law of God; for he did so in order to draw them forth from their miry clay.
Jesus saith unto him, 'I will, be thou cleansed.' Our Master is as willing as he is able. He exhibits both qualities here in equal degree, and at one moment. It is with Divine brevity that he expresses himself, in the very style of him who could say, 'Let there be light.' But there is infinite fulness revealed by these simple words; for herein we see the heart and the hand of 'God manifest in flesh,' and find that the depth of his grace and the extent of his power are alike unsearchable.
'And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed.'
Here again is the finger of God. How characteristic of Godhead is this immediate effect! 'He speaks, and it is done.' Nothing is a barrier to the Lord's will and power. And hence it is that in pardon of sin the stamp of the Divine character is plainly seen in the sinner being at once and completely forgiven. A gradual pardon, or an incomplete pardon, would want altogether the mark and impress of a Divine original.
