Lk 5:12-16
12There was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where [Jesus] was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 13Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.” And the leprosy left him immediately. 14Then 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.” 15The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, 16but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
BE MADE CLEAN: The Greek word lepra (leprosy) is used by the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) for the Hebrew zara‘at. “Leprosy” in the Bible covers a variety of human diseases that affect the skin, none of which, however, is identifiable with modern leprosy, that is, the disease caused by Hansen’s bacillus. Whether or not Hansen’s disease existed in ancient Israel is disputed.
The leper in Israel was ordered to live alone “outside the camp” (Lv 13:46). The afflicted one was segregated from normal life, from the socio-religious life of the people of God, and became an outcast living outside of villages, cities, and encampments. This order appeared to be more related to ritual impurity than to hygiene. Ritual cleanliness was the immediate concern, not infection.
The rabbis thought that the cure of a leper was as difficult as raising a person from the dead. The cleansing of lepers, however, was expected as one of the signs of the Messianic age. When John the Baptist sent messengers to ask Jesus if indeed he was the one who was to come (that is, the Messiah), Jesus replied: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Mt 11:4-5).
In the Gospel, Jesus shows that he is different from the ordinary crop of rabbis. Instead of keeping a safe distance so as not to be rendered impure, Jesus stretches out his hand and touches the leper, in the process, healing him. He then orders the man to show himself before the priest in compliance with Leviticus 14. The proof is intended “for them,” that is, the community into which the cured leper is being restored.