Luke 5:12–16

Read the passage.

In this passage, a leper comes to Jesus and asks for healing. Without hesitation Jesus touches His hand to him and heals him. The great significance of this is that according to Jewish law, skin conditions, particularly progressive ones, caused a person to be ritually unclean. This meant they couldn’t worship God with the rest of the people or offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins. Lepers in particular had to isolate themselves from everyone else in order to keep the disease from spreading.

Jesus heals this man with a touch anyway. It is a pointer to the way Jesus takes on our sin to atone for it. He takes on the guilt and uncleanness and removes it so that He is unstained by it Himself.

Finally, Jesus tells the man to fulfill the Law by showing the priest that he is healthy, along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving to God, but also charges him to tell no one else about it. Jesus is trying to slow down the spread of His fame, because with everyone around Him all the time, it is hard for Him to get alone so He can pray.

Order our priorities to Your priorities, so that we do good works in Your name and also stop and pray in the correct proportions.