21: Healing of the Leper

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
Mark 1:40–44

Leprosy is, perhaps, the paradigm of uncleanness in the Tanakh, and leprosy is very important to understanding this encounter. Modern readers most often relate leprosy to sin because of narratives like Numbers 12:10–11.

When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.

And 2 Kings 5:26–27.

But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.

Leprosy is not always attributed to a sin, however. The Mosaic Law makes much of the results of specific sins, such as idolatry and unfaithfulness in marriage, but most often considers leprosy a matter of uncleanness rather than moral failure. For instance, Leviticus 13 does not mention a moral failure in relation to leprosy:

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body.

In Leviticus, we see a house and a garment can both be leprous as well as people:

And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days.
Leviticus 14:33ff

When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease …
Leviticus 13:47ff

Since a house or garment cannot “sin,” there must be some other category of understanding of leprosy that readers can bring to this encounter between Jesus and the leprous man.

Rabbis have often noted that among the classes of laws and sacrifices in the Levitical Law, there is a clear separation between uncleanness and sin.

Sin is ethical. It is something you do that makes you unclean.

Uncleanness can, however, be ontological. Humans, by nature, are just unclean.

In more Christian theological terms, each of us is a sinner—we are unclean—who then sins. Anyone who is unclean cannot stand before God; their uncleanness must be covered in some way, regardless of whether that uncleanness is caused by merely being a part of a sinful world or for specific, identifiable sin.

How does this apply to the series of events described by Mark? Let’s return to the story.

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”
Mark 1:40–41

Many commentaries state Mark is showing Jesus’ power over sin in this passage—but this attributes something to the text Mark never says. It is easy enough to assume a link between sin and physical ailments like leprosy, but this man’s condition appears to be ontological—the result of living in a sinful world, rather than the result of a specific sin. If we frame the man’s leprosy as a form of uncleanness, rather than as a direct result of a specific, personal sin, we can understand Jesus’ pity. The man is certainly a sinner, but this evil thing—leprosy—has come upon him because he lives in a sinful neighborhood. Jesus feels pity for the man and his condition, rather than anger at the man’s sin.

Much is made of Jesus touching the man—and rightly so. Lepers were to live alone, without human contact. They were to ring bells as they went and intentionally make themselves unkempt to drive people away from their presence.

Being a leper was a lonely affair in ancient Israel. It would be made worse if there was no specific sin the leper could point to and say, “I am this way because of this sin.”

And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.
Mark 1:42–44

Understanding the way Israel understood leprosy can also help us understand one reason why Jesus told the man not to spread the news of his healing far and wide—because this was a healing of a condition that “just is” part of the world, rather than a healing related to a specific sin.

Mark specifically mentions another reason—“for a proof to them.” A proof to whom? The most natural reading is ”a proof for the priests.” Why would the priests need such a proof? First, to show them that Jesus is fulfilling the miracles expected of the Messiah.

Second, to show them that Jesus is not hostile to the Levitical Law nor the Temple. The disagreement that is about to develop between Jesus and the Pharisees (in fact, the disagreement that will ultimately end in Jesus’ death) is concerned with a specific reading of an individual point within the Mosaic Law: what is lawful on the Shabbat. Jesus is undermining their argument that Jesus does not follow the Law or take the Law seriously before the disagreement becomes acute.

Mark infers a third and final reason Jesus wanted the man to stay quiet about this miracle: So Jesus could continue to move freely. As a result of this man talking about this miracle, Jesus is forced to stay in “desolate places”—at least for a time.