Many have highlighted the remarkable feature of this story at the start of Matthew 8 that Jesus did the ‘unclean’ thing by ‘touching’ the leper when he could easily have healed him with a word as we see in the next story of the Centurion’s servant.
The touch of Jesus is not incidental because in touching this man Jesus was intentionally communicating the value of this person made in the image of God. Probably disfigured by the disease, the man possibly looked ugly and was shunned by everyone but not by Jesus. Scholars tell us that they had to wear a particular robe and shout, ‘unclean, unclean’ as they came into public places. They were ostracised from family and friends and had to live in leper colonys. And certainly they were not permitted anywhere in the precints of the temple and therefore cut off from worshipping God. But God was now on the streets of Jerusalem. The temple was not located in one place anymore, the temple went where Jesus went. The presence of God previously fixed in one place was now mobile. And it was the touch of God that this leper experienced.
It was a touch like no other. It visibly healed him from his leprosy as Jesus reached out to him but a healing far deeper than the external leprosy took place. In touching him, Jesus touched his soul, his inner man and brought the touch of God to those recessed parts where only God can touch. The rejection, alienation, shame, pain and ostracisation were all swept away with one touch from Jesus.
Jesus is still touching hearts today. More than anything else one touch from Jesus will help and heal us. But like the leper we must come to Him, we must recognise our illness, our inability to help ourselves and express our faith. The leper did that when he declared his faith in Jesus’ ability. What sickness are you facing today, what ache, pain and trouble. Come to Jesus. One touch from Him and you will be made well.
From the Bible Speaks Today Commentary:
“Leprosy sentenced sufferers to a living death. It cut them off from civilization and made them live alone. ‘He remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.’ The disease gradually spread and sensation ceased; more and more parts of the anatomy became disfigured or fell off. The outcome was death. Never was there a disease that so separated victims from their fellows. Never has there been a condition that so illustrated the spiritual condition of humankind. For sin is a terrible disease that separates us from our fellows and from God; it spreads, and it is fatal. No wonder the man with leprosy had to cry, ‘Unclean!’ to warn bystanders to keep their distance.3 Significantly, whereas other diseases are ‘healed’, this alone is said to be ‘cleansed’. The trouble was, of course, that leprosy sufferers did not get healed! There was no known cure.
There is therefore a dramatic appropriateness in the fact that the first mighty act of Jesus, in Matthew’s presentation, was the cleansing of a man with leprosy. It was something extraordinary and eloquent, even more so than the memorable television pictures of Princess Diana touching people with Aids at a time when many were afraid to do so. Here is someone who actually touched a man whom others shunned. It was unthinkable: but so is the love of God to sinners.”
– Michael Green, The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven (The Bible Speaks Today; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), 114–115.
“Thank you Heavenly Father for cleansing me from the deathly effects of the leprosy of sin. You did this by sending Your only Son Jesus to die in my place so that I could by grace through faith receive this indescribeable gift. Thank you as well today when I get polluted by the things around me, when my mind and sould is contaminated I can come to you for cleansing and everytime I hear You say, ‘I will, be clean’. Thank you for the ever cleansing flow of your healing flow. As a church I pray we will bathe in this flow, enjoya nd celebrate this flow and through our lives direct the flow to other needy people around. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen”
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Life by the Word 