Jesus Healed Lepers
Autumn, AD 27
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| Jesus Heals a Leper |
Late in Jesus' first year of ministry, Jesus healed a man with a skin disease.
Leprosy in the Bible can refer to a wide range of skin diseases, from simple eczema to contagious medical leprosy. In any case, visible skin disease led to isolation and rejection in first century Judaism, as Rabbi's attempted to follow strictures laid down in Leviticus, the third Book of Moses. In the view of the rabbis, healing a leper was as difficult as raising someone from the dead.
A "leper" was compelled to wear torn and shabby clothes to set themselves apart, and was not allowed to enter a walled city. They were "unclean," meaning they were not accepted in the temple. Outdoors, if someone approached them, they were supposed to call out "Unclean! Unclean!" They were allowed in synagogues only if the building had a wall or screen that separated them from the rest of the congregation. If someone were to touch them he or she would also become unclean, and would have to follow certain rules to be ritually cleansed. If a leper were to recover from his skin disease, only a priest could inspect him to declare him clean again. Once clean, the former leper was to give a sacrificial offering at the temple in thanksgiving.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all report this first leper-healing of Jesus in their Gospels (Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45, Luke 5:12-16). In Matthew, Jesus' action is strongly associated with the crowds following Jesus immediately after the Sermon on the Mount. In Mark, the healing is associated with his first preaching tour of Galilee. In Luke, the healing takes place in "one of the cities."
The three "synoptic" Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) condense Jesus' three-and-a -half-year ministry so that it appears to take place over the course of perhaps a year. John's Gospel makes clear that several years pass during Jesus' ministry, by his citations of the number of annual Jewish holidays that Jesus attends. The synoptic Gospels often gather the stories and statements of Jesus on a topical basis, to enhance the teaching potential of each Gospel. In Matthew especially, it seems unlikely that Jesus would be telling the leper to keep his healing secret while they were still in the midst of the crowd from the Sermon on the Mount.
Simon the Leper
In the last week of Jesus' ministry, on Wednesday the day before the Last Supper, Matthew and Mark report that Jesus gathered and ate at the house of one "Simon the Leper" in Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem (Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:3). Simon fades into the background of this story, while in the foreground Jesus is anointed by precious oil poured onto his head. (Not on his feet, as occurs at an event earlier in his ministry.)
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| Simon the Leper's House |
I suggest that the leper-healing event took place in Bethany, probably near the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, old friends of Jesus from before the start of his ministry. It was likely on a deserted street, where Jesus charged the leper to not tell anyone about what happened to him, but to go to a priest for inspection of his cleanliness and to make his offering in the nearby temple. This would have happened during a visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths which took place in the week of October 11, AD 27.
Simon the Leper is introduced to the two Gospels with no further explanation or identification. He could not have invited guests into his home unless he had already been declared clean (by a priest) of his uncleanliness. The placement of his name suggests that he was a person well known to the potential readers of these Gospels. As such, it also provides affirmation and testimony to the truth of the Gospel, as it connects the written story with eye-witnesses who were both at the event and known to the readers of the Gospel. Luke in writing his Gospel may not have had access to this particular Passion Week story.
The Kingly Anointing
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| Jesus Anointed |
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