Jesus healed lepers in the Bible throughout His ministry. I want to take a closer look at these New Testament examples of something God did in the Old Testament as well.

In my last post, I examined the cases in the Gospels of Jesus healing many sick people at one time. In this post, we will see the significant of Jesus healing leprosy.

We previously saw how God healed lepers in the Old Testament. We will find Jesus doing this much more in the New Testament as His miracles and ministry of the Kingdom of God showed that God was doing amazing things in the new covenant.

I want to examine the accounts of Jesus healing lepers in the Gospels and see what the significance of His healing ministry to lepers was. Jesus does everything with a purpose and we will find in is no different with this ministry to lepers.

What Is Biblical Leprosy?

In the Bible, leprosy refers to any skin disease or disorder. It can be a long-term illness of the skin that could even last a person’s lifetime. Many times it was a short-term disease of the skin that would heal.

God tasked the priests with knowing exactly when to diagnose it and when to pronounce it clean (Leviticus 13-14). A person with leprosy went go to the priests after being quarantined because leprosy was an extremely contagious disease that could infect household, neighborhood, and even worse in the whole Israelite community.

A person with leprosy would not be able to go to the temple and worship God with everyone else until he was declared clean. If the leprosy was-long, we see in the New Testament that there would be leper colonies were lepers would gather together because they cannot infect one another. But the leper also would be away from his family for their protection. It was actually a very lonely disease.

The Significance of Healing a Leper

Early in Jesus’s ministry, He healed a leper who came to Him. Three of the four Gospels record this healing (Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16). We get some details from different Gospel accounts that help us to see the whole picture.

Matthew gives the most straightforward account of how Jesus healed the leper. A leper came to Jesus while He was teaching. This may have been a leper who was not a long-term case. He was able to walk up to Jesus while Jesus was in a crowd.

Like his leprosy might have been quite severe because Luke, the doctor, describes him as being “full of leprosy.” We are struck by the faith of this leper. He tells Jesus, “If You will it, You can make me clean.” The lesson for us today is that Jesus said, “I will. Be clean.” Luke tells us he was immediately cleansed. Jesus often heals people immediately in the Gospels.

Mark records that Jesus was moved with compassion for the leper, reached out, and touched him to heal him. Lepers were considered unclean and should not be touched. This is why they cannot stay with their families. Jesus is not afraid to touch the leper because He cannot be made unclean.

Jesus also told the leper to go to the priest. Just as in Levitical times where the priest would check lepers to see if they were clean, Jesus does not buck the system. In fact, the leper can be cleansed by Jesus and then give the evidence of his health through the priest. The priest confirms he is healed just like our doctors do today.

The significance of Jesus healing the lesson is that Jesus wills for us to be healed. It is not His will in the Gospels were today for us to be sick. Another lesson we notice here is that the priests can confirm the health of the leper. When Jesus heals you, you will know it, and doctors confirmed the healing when you get your check-up.

The Significance of Healing Ten Lepers

Another account in the Gospels tells us Jesus healed ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). The lepers called to Jesus in a loud voice but were not close to the people. Perhaps this happened just before He entered the city.

I don’t know if there is any significance to their being ten lepers. It doesn’t matter how many people are sick. Jesus can heal one or many at a time. This time, Jesus does not touch the lepers. Instead, He tells them to show themselves to the priest.

I wonder if all ten lepers were Gentiles. At least the one who returned to thank Jesus was a Samaritan. Galilee and Samaria have a higher population of Gentiles. All ten lepers cried out to Jesus in desperation. They would not be healed and be able to rejoin their families and communities without healing.

Jesus has such power to heal that He does not need to touch them. He just tells them to go present themselves to the priest for examination and confirmation. As they are going to show themselves to the priest, they were healed. Amazing!

However, only one of the ten when realizing he was healed turned back and ran to Jesus and thanked Him. I would like to think that when people are healed, they give Jesus thanks and praise for His amazing work in their bodies.

But only one returns to thank Jesus. They still have to show themselves to the priest. I wonder if the other nine were truly cleansed by the time they reached the temple to show the priest. I can imagine that they were all cleansed because God is good to us even when we are not thankful to Him.

Jesus is puzzled because He asks three questions about the other nine. They did not return to thank Jesus or give praise to God. He does not tell the one leper he returned that he had to go to the priest. He simply says, “Your faith has made you well.”

The significance of Jesus healing these ten lepers is that we must be thankful when Jesus heals us. Do not take His wonderful gift of healing for granted no matter how small your illness is. Give Jesus all the praise and glory for what He has done in your body and life. And don’t stop praising Him!

He Can Heal You Too

Just as Jesus healed lepers, He can heal you of any skin disorders from skin cancer to simple effects of the skin over time. Nothing is too difficult for God (Luke 1:37). Our skin issues are nothing compared to His power to heal. Just ask Jesus to heal you and watch what He can do! Take these lessons and significance from Jesus healing lepers to know He can do the same for you.

Praying for Your Healing

Let us go to God in prayer. Jesus, we know You are mighty to heal any disease or affliction. We cry out to You like these lepers did because only You can heal our skin disorders. I pray for my brother and sister in You that You would touch them and heal their disease. No matter what skin disease they have, You are the cure. Instill faith in my brother and sister Your healing miracle in their life today. In the mighty and all-powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Up Next

Jesus healed lepers and skin diseases in the Gospels. Next, we will look at the faith of the centurion with a sick servant.

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