“There came a man full of leprosy.” And everyone kept their distance….. Except Jesus.
In the ancient world, the term “Leprosy” was used to cover a wide range of skin conditions. It was a lot more broad than what we know today as leprosy. Cases ranged from mild to very severe. And it was just as psychologically damaging as it was physically painful.
There was also a horrible stigma attached to leprosy. So, along with the physical ailment there were the social consequences leprosy brought, especially within Israel. People with leprosy were declared unclean and cast out from society. And in order to be reinstated to Israelite society a leper had to be fully healed and go through that elaborate ritual of cleansing, which we just read about in Leviticus 14.
There were also religious and ritual consequences to leprosy. Because they were declared to be unclean, they were shut out from Temple worship.
They couldn't participate with God's people in the rites and ceremonies the Lord instituted for his worship. And in a culture where ritual observance was considered so essential to one's relationship to God, that would've been horribly crushing.
And so, leprosy was a disease that was terribly demoralizing—physically, spiritually, socially, and religiously. And we have to understand that and keep it in mind in order to really grasp just how striking Jesus' encounter with this leprous man is...
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