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The miraculous healing of the leper in Mark 1: 40–45 made me proud for two things when I was younger: that Jesus had the ability to cure all illnesses and that I didn’t have sickness. Beyond teaching me about Jesus ‘ incredible ability to treat even the most vile of diseases, which I definitely wouldn’t have to worry about thanks to modern medicine, the tale didn’t seemed important to me, a nonleper.
Is the mystery more significant, then? This short article will examine the biblical-theological value of the leper’s cleaning.
The Priesthood, Leprosy, and the Need for Cleansing
Although Mark 1: 40–45 is related, the target of Mark 1: 40–45 is on cleansing rather than cure. In the span of five verses, the words” clean” or” cleanse” appear four times (v. 40, 41, 42, 44 ). Leprosy, which is a term used in the Old Testament to describe various body conditions ( Lev. 13 ), which declared people to be obnoxious in accordance with Mosaic law. People who touched a leper would also have entered the ceremonial void ( see v. 45–46 ).
Leprosy’s importance is more philosophical and metaphorical than natural and medicinal, in terms of uncleanness. Lepers needed a preacher to declare them holy, not a doctor to give them medication. As part of the leper’s cleansing process, the priest was required to offer a” evil giving” to “make repentance” for the pariah in accordance with Leviticus 14: 19. Without the evil delivering, the leper would continue to worship God at the temple. A dead man walking in the garden, many like Adam, cut him off from God’s presence. The leper received atonement and cleaning, but the law only performed an exterior and royal cleansing. After all, what comes out of the heart is what ultimately defiles a person ( Mark 7: 20 ).
Because he wanted us to know that Jesus is a better preacher who cleanses the body more deeply than the skin, Mark recorded the wonder of the leper’s cleaning.
In 1:24, a man with an unclean spirit identified Jesus as the” Holy One of God,” a title Aaron was given in Psalm 106: 16 ( cf. Number. 16: 1–3 ). The Aaronic clergy of the old covenant were able to cleanse a leper, but they don’t cleanse everyone. Jesus was able to accomplish both. In the narrative that follows ( Mark 2: 1–3: 6 ) and the anticipation of Jesus ‘ confrontation with the high priest in 14: 53–65, Jesus ‘ priestly cleansing and his instruction to the leper to go show himself to the priest set the stage for his conflict with Israel’s religious leaders. Who is the true preacher, Mark asks his visitors?
The Aaronic clergy of the old covenant were able to cleanse a pariah, but they don’t cleanse everyone.
The miraculousness of Jesus’s touch on the leprosy does not make him sick. Perhaps Jesus ‘ feel reflects how he identifies himself with criminals and guarantees their forgiveness. We receive his majesty, and He takes our smear. The detoxification that this priest offers goes deeper than the surface of the skin; it purifies both the body and the brain.
Leprosy is referred to as death and banishment.
Leprosy is a term used in the Old Testament to refer to suicide. God struck Miriam with leprosy when Aaron and Miriam sinned against Moses ( Number. 12: 1–15 ). She came to be both a stillborn child and as “one deceased” (v. 12 ). By covering their upper lip as they yelled” Unclean, unclean,” as though they were mourning the dead, they were putting on a posture of mourning ( Lev. 13: 45, see. 10: 6, Ezek. 24: 17, 22–23 ). They were cut off from God’s life-giving existence while they were living in their leprous condition outside the camp where they went through their own forlorn exile.
Leprosy was also associated with Egypt as a symbol of suicide. When Pharaoh refused to permit Israel leave, God afflicted the Egyptians with boils ( Ex. 9: 8–12 ). In Leviticus 13, disease is one of the body conditions that is linked to skin. When God delivered Israel from Egypt, he foretold them that if they refused to keep the covenant, he would use the “boils of Egypt” and “scabs and itch” on them ( Deut. ). 28: 27 ). Leprosy’s connection with Egypt and suicide suggests that lepers required a cleansing that may follow the exodus pattern.
God brought his people to his life-giving presence at Sinai, making them a kingdom of priests, and brought them out of the tomb of Egypt through blood ( Passover ) and water ( sea ). 19: 6 ). After being sprayed with blood and fuel and washed with water, a purified leprosy moved from the camp where they were before the migration to come to living with God in Israel’s station ( Lev. 14: 1–14 ).
A pariah was consecrated to God in the same way that a priest was to be done with his cleaning. The big toe of his right foot, the fingers of his right hand, and the lobe of his right ear were all sacrificed with sacrificial body ( Lev. 14: 14, Ex. 29: 20 ). He reclaimed his position among the priestly country to glorify the living God.
Past and Leper’s Exodus
The leprosy in Mark 1: 40–45 is both a prisoner and a sign of captivity. He has the condition of Egypt. He is a portrait of Israel. Israel may have been in the area when Jesus arrived, but they remained entangled in God’s moral captivity. They required liberation from the tyranny of evil, Satan, and death, not the enslavement of Egypt or Rome.
Perhaps Jesus ‘ touching reveals that he shares their sins and seeks to save them. We receive his majesty, and He takes our smear.
In fulfillment of Isaiah 40: 3:” The voice of one crying in the wilderness:” Patient the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” ( Mark 1:13 ), Mark wants us to comprehend the leper’s cleansing as part of the new exodus that Jesus came to lead. God would construct a roadway through the forest to bring an exodus out of captivity and to Jerusalem ( Isa. 35: 8–10, 40: 3 ). On that highway—the” Way of Holiness” ( 35: 8 ) —no “unclean” person will journey ( 35: 8 ), and in the restored Zion, the “unclean” will not dwell ( 52: 1, 11 ).
When Jesus” stretched out his side” to the leper, he imitated God’s plan when they led the first migration out of Egypt ( Mark 1: 41, Ex. 3: 20, 7: 5 ). In fact, Jesus is not just another imitation of God; he is the same God who saved Israel from Egypt and who fulfilled his promise to deliver his citizens from captivity through the prophet Isaiah. Jesus made the leper a part of the end-time Israel, a new group of sacred and cleansed priests.
The leprosy is a reflection of our own situation, not just a guy with an awful skin problem that we don’t have to deal with thanks to modern medication. The leprosy reminds us that we too must yell out to Jesus for the death penalty and cleansing from sin. The good news of the church is that Jesus declared,” I may, be clean,” to everyone who comes to him in devotion.
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Originally sourced via trusted media partner. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/lepers-cleansing-our-salvation/
