In brief
The leper of Galilee is a man whose name the Gospels do not give. At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, while Jesus is preaching in the synagogues of Galilee, he comes and kneels before him and begs to be made clean. Moved with compassion, Jesus stretches out his hand, touches him and cleanses him. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of this healing, which shows Jesus' compassion and power toward the outcast.
What does the name The Leper of Galilee mean?
The Gospels do not give his name and speak simply of a leper. He is called of Galilee because Mark places the story during Jesus' tour of the synagogues throughout Galilee (Mark 1:39-40).
The story of The Leper of Galilee
An outcast from society
Leviticus 13:45-46According to the law of Moses, the leper had to wear torn clothes, let his hair hang loose, cover his upper lip and cry: “Unclean! Unclean!” As long as he had the disease, he lived alone, outside the camp. The illness thus brought deep loneliness on top of physical suffering.
A prayer full of faith
Mark 1:39-40; Luke 5:12While Jesus is preaching in the synagogues of Galilee, a leper comes to him. He kneels, and Luke says he even falls on his face, and begs: “If you want to, you can make me clean.” He does not doubt Jesus' power; he simply leaves his request to Jesus' will.
Jesus touches him
Mark 1:41-42Jesus, moved with compassion, stretches out his hand and touches him. He says to him: “I want to. Be made clean.” At once the leprosy leaves him, and he is made clean. Jesus could have healed with a word, but he touches the one whom no one touched, and it is the leprosy that disappears at the contact of the Lord.
Go and show yourself to the priest
Mark 1:43-44; Matthew 8:4Jesus sends him away at once with strict instructions: tell no one, go and show himself to the priest and offer for his cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. Jesus respects the law, which provided for confirming the cleansing and restoring the man to the community.
News too big to keep
Mark 1:45; Luke 5:15-16But the man, as he goes away, begins to proclaim the matter openly. As a result, Jesus can no longer enter a city openly and stays outside in desert places, where people come to him from everywhere. Luke adds that the crowds grow, and that Jesus withdraws into the wilderness to pray.
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What The Leper of Galilee teaches us
- We can come to Jesus as we are, even when we feel unclean or rejected.
- The question is not whether Jesus can, but whether we trust him for what he wills.
- Jesus touches those whom others avoid, and his compassion invites the church to do the same.
- Obedience matters after the healing too: Jesus had given this man precise instructions.
Key verses
“Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, ‘I want to. Be made clean.’” The heart of Jesus, his gesture and his word come together to cleanse the one whom the law kept apart.
Matthew places this healing right after the Sermon on the Mount. The prayer of the leper, bowing before Jesus, becomes a model of humility and trust: he leaves everything to the Lord's will.
The law describes the leper's condition: torn clothes, a cry of warning and a solitary life outside the camp. This passage shows how far-reaching Jesus' touch is.
Sermons about The Leper of Galilee
Frequently asked questions
What was the name of the leper healed by Jesus?
The Gospels do not give his name. Matthew, Mark and Luke speak simply of a leper, or a man full of leprosy. He should not be confused with the ten lepers of Luke 17, of whom only one, a Samaritan, came back to thank Jesus, nor with Simon the leper of Bethany (Mark 14:3).
Why did Jesus touch the leper?
Mark specifies that Jesus was moved with compassion. He could have healed with a word, as he did elsewhere, but he chose to touch a man whom the law required to live alone. Instead of being affected by the disease, Jesus passed cleansing and healing on to the sick man.
Where is the story of the healed leper in the Bible?
The healing is told in Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45 and Luke 5:12-16. Mark alone specifies that Jesus was moved with compassion and that the man afterward spread the news. To understand the situation of lepers, read Leviticus 13:45-46 as well.