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.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. -Mark 1:40-45
Stay Away!
What Scripture calls ‘leprosy’ likely included a range of serious skin conditions, all of which rendered a person ceremonially unclean. God prescribed specific rules for those infected with leprosy. For example, we read:
“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” -Leviticus 13:45-46
One infected by this disease was to make it known by both their appearance (torn clothes and long hair), as well as vocally announcing that they were unclean. This was to warn others not to come near, lest the disease spread. But the point I want to highlight here is the last clause of verse 46. The leper was to dwell outside the camp. He was to live alone.
I bring this up because it gives us insight into the location of the leper that Jesus encounters at the start of this story. According to God’s law, this man was to dwell outside of the camp—alone (Lev 13:46; Num 5:2). He was to have no contact with anyone in the city—driven away from the people as one who was unclean.
While Mark does not explicitly state the man’s location, the Mosaic law required lepers to dwell outside the camp. This makes it highly likely that the encounter occurred on the outskirts rather than within the town itself.
At the beginning of this passage, the leper is outside the camp.
Cleansed & Conversing
This leper then comes near to Jesus, imploring Him to heal the disease. In a demonstration of faith, the leper rightly says, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus, being “moved with pity,” touches the leper and makes him clean. With the leprosy gone, the man is now able to dwell among the people. In fact, Jesus commands him to go show himself to the priest so they can verify that he is no longer unclean. This was to be done according to the law of Moses (Lev 14:1-9).
Additionally, the now cleansed man was instructed by Jesus to “say nothing to anyone”. This instruction was not followed. The man began to freely talk about what had happened. We will assume the very best of this man and conclude that he did this because of the deep gratitude that he felt for what Jesus had done for him. After all, he had been outside of the city for who knows how long. Now he is free to dwell amongst his people. The leper has been brought into the city.
Driven Out
Jesus begins this story inside one of the “next towns” within Galilee (Mark 1:38). He was freely moving about preaching and casting out demons (Mark 1:39). However, once this leper was cleansed and began speaking freely, Jesus’ ability to continue doing this changed.
Verse 45 tells us that, “Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places…” The irony is striking: the man’s restoration resulted in Jesus’ restriction. The one who had been isolated now moved freely, while the One who cleansed him was pushed outside the city. In other words, the isolation the leper experienced because of his leprosy was now being experienced by Jesus.
Jesus was dwelling outside the camp.
A Picture of Substitution
The primary meaning of this text is more concerned with the divinity and compassion of Jesus as the God-man. Contextually, Mark will labor in every chapter that follows to demonstrate that Jesus is in fact, God. However, we can also observe something beyond the primary meaning. We can see a picture of a greater cleansing. A cleansing from the leprosy of the soul. A cleansing from our sins.
This leper began the story outside of the camp, then was cleansed and ended the story in the camp. Jesus began the story in the camp, and as a result of cleansing the leper ended the story outside of the camp. They, in effect, traded places. This gives a beautiful picture of the true greater cleansing that Jesus came to offer.
Where Adam brought the curse through a tree (Gen 3:17) Christ would become a curse for us upon a tree (Gal 3:13).
The Father “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21).
Indeed, Jesus Christ was “pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus Christ took our curse upon Himself, bearing our sin, and was pierced and crushed upon the cross of Calvary to save our souls.
In the language of this text, Jesus became ceremonially unclean to make us clean. He took our place outside the proverbial camp of God to bring us in. He has traded places with us. In the words of Hebrews, “Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.” (Heb 13:12).