If you really want to get a sense of the background to this event, you might want to read Lev.13-14.  Though by the time you get to this Bible Study, I’ll have tried to paint the background in for you during the sermon.  It remains to be seen how helpful that will have been!!

Everything about this moment speaks of the compassionate power of Jesus.  Obviously enough the ‘healing / cleansing itself’ demonstrates that.  The crowd will have collectively held its breath as Jesus reached out to touch this man.  Uncleanness – in the Levitical sense of the word – was contagious.  If you came into contact with it, it could claim you.  The Leprosy Mission’s website reminds us that:  Leprosy spreads through water droplets that have come from a person that is infectious. For example, when an infectious person sneezes or coughs.  Most people who develop leprosy have been in long-term contact with an infectious person, which means they live with or near them, or perhaps work with them.  In the world of Leviticus, the reality of the disease, is a kind of shadow-sacrament: an outward and physical sign of an inward and spiritual reality. 

And yet, ‘Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man’ (5:13).  That in itself is an act of incredible compassion for one who has been denied human touch for many years (judging by how far the disease has spread).  At a leper’s approach, people would have backed away, recoiling.  And yet Jesus comes towards, reaches out, touches.  Such compassion alone would be admirable.  But this is barely scratching the surface of what happens in that touch.  Jesus holiness is more powerful than the uncleanness of a fallen creation.  The leper becomes ‘contaminated’ by Him, rather than Jesus being ‘contaminated’ by the leper.  The man rises from the ground both healed and cleansed. 

But there remains two further moments of compassion in this short account.  The first is Jesus sending him to pronounced clean by the Levitical Priests.  That is a public declaration that the man is clean and is to be welcomed into the life of the Church.  It is also a powerful testimony to the Priest(s) about the reality of who Jesus is (but that’s a sermon for another time!).  The second is Jesus’ refusal to use the man as a PR stunt.  ‘Don’t tell anyone…’.  Not that Jesus is afraid of publicity or profile.  But he will not, and does not want to exploit those who have come to Him in desperation. 

Questions:

What has this leper had to overcome in order to get close enough to fall to the ground before Jesus?   What does this teach us about what we need to be prepared to do as we come to Jesus?

I’ve suggested this miracle has an almost ‘sacramental’ element, where the physical dynamics (amazing in themselves!) are pointing us to deeper spiritual realities.  Do you agree?  why / why not?  If you do, what do you think those deeper spiritual realities are?  What are we learning here about Jesus?

What would you say to someone who said that Jesus will always heal those who come to Him like this?  …or that there are those in the Church who have a ‘gift of healing’ (e.g. I Cor.12:9), and through whom Jesus works by His Spirit to consistently heal?

Why has convinced the leper that Jesus is able to cleanse him?  And why has that not served to convince him that Jesus would be willing to do so?  How would you use this insight to help someone who wasn’t sure that Jesus would cleanse them?

When Jesus tells the man to ‘offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing…’ (5:14), he is referring to Lev.14:1-11.  As you read through the ceremony for cleansing, can you explain how each element is helping us to ‘see’ what Jesus achieves on the cross?  Can you think of NT passages that build on this ceremony?

…if you’re stuck, here’s a freebee to get you going: I John 5:1-8. 

Why does Jesus not use his miracles into spectacles for His own publicity?  What does this teach us about how we should treat those who become Christians? …or who experience Jesus doing something miraculous in them or for them?  How should we view people who do use the miraculous to publicize their ministry, or their Church; or to give themselves standing amongst God’s people?

5:16, ‘Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed’.  Do you follow Jesus’ example in this?  What do you think is the connection between Jesus’ exercise of His ministry, and His habit of prayer?  What can we learn from this?

perhaps as a focus for your time of prayer as a group, you could visit the Leprosy Mission website.  If you click on ‘Get involved’, then in the drop down menu, on ‘Pray with us’, there is downloadable PDF with news, stories and prayer requests.