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Commentary on Luke 5 verses 12–16
Here is, I. The cleansing of a leper, Luk 5:12-14. This narrative we had both in Matthew and Mark. It is here said to have been in a certain city (Luk 5:12); it was in Capernaum, but the evangelist would not name it, perhaps because it was a reflection upon the government of the city that a leper was suffered to be in it. This man is said to be full of leprosy; he had that distemper in a high degree, which the more fitly represents our natural pollution by sin; we are full of that leprosy, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot there is no soundness in us. Now let us learn here,
1.What we must do in the sense of our spiritual leprosy. (1.) We must seek Jesus, enquire after him, acquaint ourselves with him, and reckon the discoveries made to us of Christ by the gospel the most acceptable and welcome discoveries that could be made to us. (2.) We must humble ourselves before him, as this leper, seeing Jesus, fell on his face. We must be ashamed of our pollution, and, in the sense of it, blush to lift up our faces before the holy Jesus. (3.) We must earnestly desire to be cleansed from the defilement, and cured of the disease, of sin, which renders us unfit for communion with God. (4.) We must firmly believe Christ's ability and sufficiency to cleanse us: Lord, thou canst make me clean, though I be full of leprosy. No doubt is to be made of the merit and grace of Christ. (5.) We must be importunate in prayer for pardoning mercy and renewing grace: He fell on his face and besought him; they that would be cleansed must reckon it a favour worth wrestling for. (6.) We must refer ourselves to the good-will of Christ: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst. This is not so much the language of his diffidence, or distrust of the good-will of Christ, as of his submission and reference of himself and his case to the will, to the good-will, of Jesus Christ.
2.What we may expect from Christ, if we thus apply ourselves to him. (1.) We shall find him very condescending and forward to take cognizance of our case (Luk 5:13): He put forth his hand and touched him. When Christ visited this leprous world, unasked, unsought unto, he showed how low he could stoop, to do good. His touching the leper was wonderful condescension; but it is much greater to us when he is himself touched with the feeling of our infirmities. (2.) We shall find him very compassionate, and ready to relieve us; he said, "I will, never doubt of that; whosoever comes to me to be healed, I will in no wise cast him out." He is as willing to cleanse leprous souls as they can be to be cleansed. (3.) We shall find him all-sufficient, and able to heal and cleanse us, though we be ever so full of this loathsome leprosy. One word, one touch, from Christ, did the business: Immediately the leprosy departed from him. If Christ saith, "I will, be thou justified, be thou sanctified," it is done; for he has power on earth to forgive sin, and power to give the Holy Spirit, Co1 6:11.
3.What he requires from those that are cleansed, Luk 5:14. Has Christ sent his word and healed us? (1.) We must be very humble (Luk 5:14): He charged him to tell no man. This, it should seem, did not forbid him telling it to the honour of Christ, but he must not tell it to his own honour. Those whom Christ hath healed and cleansed must know that he hath done it in such a way as for ever excludes boasting. (2.) We must be very thankful, and make a grateful acknowledgment of the divine grace: Go, and offer for thy cleansing. Christ did not require him to give him a fee, but to bring the sacrifice of praise to God; so far was he from using his power to the prejudice of the law of Moses. (3.) We must keep close to our duty; go to the priest, and those that attend him. The man whom Christ had made whole he found in the temple, Joh 5:14. Those who by any affliction have been detained from public ordinances should, when the affliction is removed, attend on them the more diligently, and adhere to them the more constantly.
4.Christ's public serviceableness to men and his private communion with God; these are put together here, to give lustre to each other.
(1.)Though never any had so much pleasure in his retirements as Christ had, yet he was much in a crowd, to do good, Luk 5:15. Though the leper should altogether hold his peace, yet the thing could not be hid, so much the more went there a fame abroad of him. The more he sought to conceal himself under a veil of humility, the more notice did people take of him; for honour is like a shadow, which flees from those that pursue it (for a man to seek his own glory is not glory), but follows those that decline it, and draw from it. The less good men say of themselves, the more will others say of them. But Christ reckoned it a small honour to him that his fame went abroad; it was much more so that hereby multitudes were brought to receive benefit by him. [1.] By his preaching. They came together to hear him, and to receive instruction from him concerning the kingdom of God. [2.] By his miracles. They came to be healed by him of their infirmities; that invited them to come to hear him, confirmed his doctrine, and recommended it.
(2.)Though never any did so much good in public, yet he found time for pious and devout retirements (Luk 5:16): He withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed; not that he needed to avoid either distraction or ostentation, but he would set us an example, who need to order the circumstances of our devotion so as to guard against both. It is likewise our wisdom so to order our affairs as that our public work and our secret work may not intrench upon, nor interfere with, one another. Note, Secret prayer must be performed secretly; and those that have ever so much to do of the best business in this world must keep up constant stated times for it.
(Ep. ad Adelph. 3.) Now the leper worshipped the Lord God in His bodily form, and thought not the Word of God to be a creature because of His flesh, nor because He was the Word did he think lightly of the flesh which He put on; nay rather in a created temple he adored the Creator of all things, falling down on his face, as it follows, And when he saw Jesus he fell on his face, and besought him.
Go, show yourself. This was for the sake of the priests. For the leper was afraid to touch him lest he defile him. But the Lord touched him to show him that he would not be defiled, he, at whose rebuke the defilement fled from the defiled one.
Let us learn from the words of the leper not to go about seeking the cure of our bodily infirmities, but to commit the whole to the will of God, Who knows what is best for us, and disposes all things as He will.
(26.) And His works He indeed performed among the people, but He prayed for the most part in the wilderness, sanctioning the liberty of resting a while from labour to hold converse with God with a pure heart. For He needed no change or retirement, since there was nothing which could be relaxed in Him, nor any place in which He might confine Himself, for He was God, but it was that we might clearly know that there is a time for action, a time for each higher occupation.
(Orat. 1. in Resur. Christ.) And because the Deity is united with each portion of man, i. e. both soul and body, in each are evident the signs of a heavenly nature. For the body declared the Deity hidden in it, when by touching it afforded a remedy, but the soul, by the mighty power of its will, marked the Divine strength. For as the sense of touch is the property of the body, so the motion of the will of the soul. The soul wills, the body touches.
The fourth miracle after Jesus came to Capernaum was the healing of a leprous man. But since He illumined the fourth day with the sun, and made it more glorious than the rest, we ought to think this work more glorious than those that went before; of which it is said, And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy. Rightly no definite place is mentioned where the leprous man was healed, to signify that not one people of any particular city, but all nations were healed.
In falling upon his face he marked his humility and modesty, for every one should blush at the stains of his life, but his reverence kept not back his confession, he shows his wound, and asks for a remedy, saying, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Of the will of the Lord he doubted, not from distrust of His mercy, but checked by the consciousness of his own unworthiness. But the confession is one full of devotion and faith, placing all power in the will of the Lord.
He heals in the same manner in which He had been entreated to heal, as it follows, And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, &c. The law forbids to touch the leprous man, but He who is the Lord of the law submits not to the law, but makes the law; He did not touch because without touching He was unable to make him clean, but to show that he was neither subject to the law, nor feared the contagion as man; for He could not be contaminated Who delivered others from the pollution. On the other hand, He touched also, that the leprosy might be expelled by the touch of the Lord, which was wont to contaminate him that touched.
In the words which follow, I will, be thou clean, you have the will, you have also the result of His mercy.
He says then, I will, for Photinus, He commands, for Arius, He touches, for Manichæus. But there is nothing intervening between God's work and His command, that we may see in the inclination of the healer the power of the work. Hence it follows, And immediately the leprosy departed from him. But lest leprosy should become rife among us, let each avoid boasting after the example of our Lord's humility. For it follows, And he commanded him that he should tell it to no one, that in truth he might teach us that our good deeds are not to be made public, but to be rather concealed, that we should abstain not only from gaining money, but even favour. Or perhaps the cause of His commanding silence was that He thought those to be preferred, who had rather believed of their own accord than from the hope of benefit.
And that the Priest also should know that not by the order of the law, but by the grace of God above the law, he was cured. And since a sacrifice is commanded by the regulation of Moses, the Lord shows that He does not abrogate the law, but fulfil it. As it follows, And offer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded.
Or because the law is spiritual He seems to have commanded a spiritual sacrifice. Hence he said, As Moses commanded. Lastly, he adds, for a testimony unto them. The heretics understand this erroneously, saying, that it was meant as a reproach to the law. But how would he order an offering for cleansing, according to Moses' commandments, if he meant this against the law?
But if the word is the healing of leprosy, the contempt of the word is the leprosy of the mind.
(Hom. 26. in Matt.) And since frequently men, when they are sick, remember God, but when they recover, wax dull, He bids him to always keep God before his eyes, giving glory to God. Hence it follows, But go and show thyself to the Priest, in order that the leprous man being cleansed might submit himself to the inspection of the Priest, and so by his sanction be counted as healed.
(ubi sup.) Or, for a testimony against them, i. e. as a reproof of them, and a testimony that I respect the law. For now too that I have cured thee, I send thee for the examination of the priests, that thou shouldest bear me witness that I have not played false to the law. And although the Lord in giving out remedies advised telling them to no one, instructing us to avoid pride; yet His fame flew about every where, instilling the miracle into the ears of every one, as it follows, But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him.
He accepts his petition and confesses that he is able and says, "I will; be cleansed." He grants him also the touch of his holy and all-powerful hand. Immediately the leprosy departed from him, and his affliction was ended. Join with me, therefore, in adoring Christ, thus exercising at the same time both a divine and a bodily power. For it was a divine act so to will as for all that he willed to be present unto him. To stretch out the hand, however, was a human act. Christ, therefore, is perceived to be One of both, if, as is the case, the Word was made flesh.
(Mor. xxviii. c. 13.) Our Redeemer performs His miracles by day, and passes the night in prayer, as it follows, And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed, hinting, as it were, to perfect preachers, that as neither they should entirely desert the active life from love of contemplation, so neither should they despise the joys of contemplation from an excess of activity, but in silent thought imbibe that which they might afterwards give back in words to their neighbours.
Now the perfect healing of one brings many multitudes to the Lord, as it follows, And great multitudes came together that they should be healed. For the leprous man that he might show both his outward and inward cure, even though forbid ceases not, as Mark says, to tell of the benefit ho had received.
Now that He retired to pray, you would not ascribe to that nature which says, I will, be thou clean, but to that which putting forth the hand touched the leprous man, not that according to Nestorius there is a double person of the Son, but of the same person, as there are two natures, so are there two operations.
How typically the leprous man represents the whole race of man, languishing with sins full of leprosy, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; (Rom. 3:23.) that so by the hand put forth, i. e. the word of God partaking of human nature, they might be cleansed from the vanity of their old errors, and offer for cleansing their bodies as a living sacrifice.
And extending his hand, he touched him saying: I am willing; be cleansed. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. There is nothing between the work of God and the command, because in the command is the work. For he said, and they were made. You see therefore that it cannot be doubted because the will of God is power. If therefore his will is power, those who assert one will, certainly assert one power. Therefore, as having the power to heal, and the authority to command, he did not avoid the testimony of working. For he says "I am willing" because of Photinus; he commands, because of Arius; he touches, because of Manichaeus. And indeed the law prohibits touching the leprous, but he who is the Lord of the law does not obey the law, but makes the law. Therefore he did not touch because he could not cleanse without touching, but to prove that he was not subject to the law, nor did he fear infection as men do, but because he who could not be contaminated and freed others, the leprosy was driven away by the touch of the Lord, which used to contaminate the one touching. Likewise, it is miraculous that he healed in the manner in which he was beseeched: If you wish, you can cleanse me. "I am willing," he said, "be cleansed." You have the will, you also have the effect of piety.
For His sacred flesh has a healing, and life-giving power, as being indeed the flesh of the Word of God.
But mark, that after a man has been cleansed he is then worthy to offer this gift, namely, the body and blood of the Lord, which is united to the Divine nature.
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SUMMARY
Luke 5:13 vividly portrays a transformative encounter between Jesus and a man afflicted with leprosy, showcasing Christ's profound compassion and divine authority. In a radical act that defied societal and religious conventions, Jesus extends His hand to touch the leper, declaring His sovereign will to heal him. The immediate and complete departure of the leprosy underscores Jesus' absolute power over disease and His willingness to restore those considered utterly unclean and outcast, bringing about both physical and ceremonial purification.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Luke 5:13 masterfully employs several literary devices to convey its profound theological message. The most striking is Symbolism, where the physical leprosy represents not only a dreaded disease but also the spiritual uncleanness and social ostracism that sin brings. Jesus' act of touching the leper, which would traditionally make Him unclean, instead makes the leper clean, creating a powerful Paradox that subverts conventional understanding of purity and power. This highlights Jesus' divine nature as the ultimate source of purity, impervious to defilement. The Direct Discourse of Jesus' command, "I will: be thou clean," emphasizes His inherent authority and the directness of His will. The narrative also uses Economical Language, conveying a profound theological truth—Jesus' compassionate authority—with concise and impactful phrasing that underscores the immediate and complete nature of the healing.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Luke 5:13 is a pivotal moment that profoundly reveals the character and mission of Jesus. It demonstrates His divine authority over disease and impurity, affirming His identity as God incarnate who can command creation and bring about instantaneous transformation. More than just a physical healing, this act symbolizes Jesus' power to cleanse humanity from the defilement of sin, offering spiritual purification and restoration to those alienated from God. His willingness to touch the untouchable underscores the boundless compassion of God, who does not recoil from human brokenness but actively draws near to heal and restore, breaking down barriers of ritual law to extend grace. This miracle foreshadows the ultimate cleansing through Christ's sacrifice, making the unclean pure and bringing the outcast into fellowship.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Luke 5:13 offers profound encouragement and a compelling call to action for believers today. It reminds us that Jesus is not only supremely capable of healing our deepest wounds—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—but He is also profoundly willing to do so. Just as He reached out to the ostracized leper, defying societal norms and religious expectations, He extends His grace to those who feel unclean, unworthy, or isolated by their circumstances or past sins. This passage challenges us to confront our own fears and prejudices, urging us to follow Christ's example by reaching out with genuine compassion to those marginalized in our communities, seeing them not as problems to be avoided but as individuals deserving of love, dignity, and the healing touch of God's grace. It assures us that no condition, no matter how dire or defiling, is beyond Christ's compassionate reach and powerful will to make us whole and clean, offering complete and immediate transformation.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why was Jesus' act of touching the leper so significant and controversial?
Answer: Jesus' act of touching the leper was profoundly significant because it directly defied the strict Mosaic Law and prevailing cultural norms of the time. According to Leviticus 13:45-46, lepers were considered ritually unclean and had to live in isolation, warning others of their presence. Touching a leper would render a person ceremonially unclean, requiring purification rituals. By touching the leper, Jesus demonstrated His divine authority over the Law, His boundless compassion, and His unique ability to make the unclean clean, rather than becoming defiled Himself. It was a powerful statement that His kingdom operates on principles of grace and restoration, breaking down barriers and reaching out to the marginalized.
Did Jesus break the Law by touching the leper?
Answer: No, Jesus did not break the spirit or purpose of the Law; rather, He fulfilled it by demonstrating its ultimate intent: restoration and holiness. While the Law stipulated that touching a leper would make one unclean, Jesus' touch did not defile Him. Instead, His touch conveyed His inherent purity and power, making the leper clean. This act highlighted that Jesus is the source of purity and life, not subject to the defiling effects of sin and sickness that affect humanity. His actions consistently showed that the Law was meant to point to Him and His power to truly cleanse and restore, as seen in passages like Matthew 5:17.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Luke 5:13 serves as a profound Christ-centered fulfillment, revealing Jesus as the compassionate Son of God who not only identifies with humanity's brokenness but possesses the divine authority to utterly transform it. The leper's desperate plea and Jesus' immediate, authoritative response, "I will: be thou clean," perfectly encapsulate the essence of salvation. Just as the leper was an outcast, ritually unclean and separated from society, humanity is spiritually unclean and alienated from God due to sin (Romans 3:23). Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, willingly entered our defilement, not to become unclean Himself, but to impart His purity. His radical act of touching the leper foreshadows His ultimate identification with our sin on the cross, where He became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2-Corinthians 5:21). The instantaneous cleansing of the leper points to the immediate and complete spiritual cleansing available through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice, where our sins are not merely covered but entirely "departed" from us, as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Through His death and resurrection, Jesus offers not just a temporary reprieve but a radical, permanent transformation, restoring us to fellowship with God and making us truly clean and whole in His sight (Hebrews 10:10).