Matthew 8:1–4 (ESV) — 1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds
followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before
him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be
clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go,
show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a
proof to them.”
NOTE: By this point,
Jesus had healed many. But in the book of Matthew, this is the first detailed
description of an individual receiving healing. The only previous paragraph in
Matthew talked about groups coming to him for healing. This specific healing
event was very important to a Jewish observer. There are two chapters in
Leviticus that detail very specifically what a Jew is to do when healed of
leprosy. The problem is that no one has ever used those two chapters. Only two
people are mentioned that were healed of leprosy, one was Miriam, which
occurred before the writing of Leviticus, and the other was Naaman, who was not
Jewish and not under the law. Consequently, the Jews considered this a
Messianic miracle that would identify the Messiah to the people. In fact, Jesus
makes very clear that the man follow the directions in Leviticus and go to a
Priest and offer the gift required. This would have been an extraordinary event
that would have set off alarm bells in Jerusalem, and the priests would have
known about it, and could then move to investigate the claims, which they do.
Matthew is making a very clear case that this is the promised messiah.
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