11, 12. (a) How were lepers regarded in Bible times, but how did Jesus respond when he was approached by a man “full of leprosy”? (b) How might Jesus’ touch have affected the leper, and how does the experience of one doctor illustrate this?

¹¹ Moved to relieve suffering. People with various ailments sensed that Jesus had compassion, so they were drawn to him. This was especially evident when Jesus, with crowds following him, was approached by a man “full of leprosy.” (Luke 5:12) In Bible times, lepers were quarantined so as to protect others from contamination. (Numbers 5:1-4) In time, however, rabbinic leaders fostered a heartless view of leprosy and imposed their own oppressive rules.a Notice, though, how Jesus responded to the leper: “There also came to him a leper, pleading with him even on bended knee, saying to him: ‘If you just want to, you can make me clean.’ At that he was moved with pity, and he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him: ‘I want to! Be made clean.’ Immediately the leprosy vanished from him.” (Mark 1:40-42) Jesus knew that it was unlawful for the leper even to be there. Yet, instead of turning him away, Jesus was so deeply moved that he did something unthinkable. Jesus touched him!

¹² Can you imagine what that touch meant to the leper? To illustrate, consider an experience. Dr. Paul Brand, a leprosy specialist, tells of a leper he treated in India. During the examination, the doctor laid his hand on the leper’s shoulder and explained, through an interpreter, the treatment that the man would have to undergo. Suddenly, the leper began to weep. “Have I said something wrong?” the doctor asked. The interpreter questioned the young man in his language and replied: “No, doctor. He says he is crying because you put your hand around his shoulder. Until he came here no one had touched him for many years.” For the leper who approached Jesus, being touched had even greater meaning. Following that one touch, the disease that had made him an outcast was gone!