Jesus heals a man with Leprosy
During Jesus' day there was no cure for leprosy. Since it was contagious, a person with leprosy was an outcast, forced to live on the outskirts of town. In fact, the Old Testament laws required a person with a contagious, incurable disease to live outside of camp. If the person was healed from the disease, they were to present themselves to the priest, who would decide whether or not they were allowed to come back to camp. It may sound harsh, but this method of seclusion kept disease from spreading.
All three gospels tell us that Jesus had compassion on the man & healed him. I think it is interesting that the man didn't ask for healing, but rather made a statement that Jesus could heal him. There was no demand, just a simple belief - a simply trust that Jesus was able to do anything. Do you have that belief?
The conclusion of this reading tells us that Jesus asked the man to follow Old Testament tradition to go to the priest and be declared whole. Instead the man was so excited about his healing that he told everyone. Very understandable - if you had been cured of a death sentence, wouldn't you tell everyone? Unfortunately, the news made Jesus so popular with the people that He had to stay in the wilderness areas. Yet, people continued to come to Him. As we continue reading, we will see just how many people sought Him out.
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