Jesus Healing Miracles – Jesus Cleanses a Leper

Jesus Cleanses the Leper

Leprosy was greatly feared by the Israelites, not only because of the physical damage done by the disease, but also because of the strict isolation laws applying to leprosy, making patients feel like feared outcasts of society. Leprosy is a terrible skin disease that cause people’s flesh to scar and decay. People suffering from leprosy often couldn’t feel physical pain, because leprosy destroys the body’s nerve endings. So lepers would frequently damage body parts (like fingers and toes) without realizing it.  Since leprosy was highly contagious, rules for separating lepers from other people were put into place as health safeguards. But the rules were humiliating for the lepers. Lepers were banished from healthy people’s presence to live in communities with other lepers (which were often located in isolated caves). Even today lepers are seperated from families and society and kept in seperate care centres. Families are often split. Lepers suffer both the disease and ostracism from society. Blessed Mother Teresa had done a lot of help to the Lepers in India. She had created a Leprosy Fund and a Leprosy Day to help educate the public about the disease and established a number of mobile leper clinics to provide lepers with medicine and bandages near their homes. Mother Teresa had established a leper colony called Shanti Nagar (“The Place of Peace”) where lepers could live and work. Missionaries of Charity sisters are taking care of the lepers in many places.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

Matthew 8:1-3

1. When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him;
2 and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.”
3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 Then 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, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus reached out and touched a man with leprosy!  This was not allowed then and now Jesus would be unclean…besides this man looked really bad and was sick! Jesus healed the man of his disease but also cleansed him from his sin without becoming infected himself.

Christ performs a miracle in which there can be no doubt that God alone healed him. God’s healing power is most obviously seen when He provides deliverance in a “hopeless” situation. He often works this way with us, allowing trials to become increasingly worse before. He works His will.  Sometimes Satan may bring wrong thoughts against prayer and Jesus in our mind. But at that time we should pray with more faith and devotion and kick out Satan from temptations. Sometimes we feel that Jesus is deaf to our prayers. But as the situation deteriorates, He may simply be letting the situation progress so that we have no doubt about who has come to our aid and whose power solved the crisis. In persevering, we grow spiritually, and He receives greater glory. Many times the sickness and pain may lead us to pray more and grow spiritually.

The message that we should learn from this story is that it doesn’t matter to Jesus what you’ve done, how you look or what other people think about you.  He made you and he loves you. Everyday Jesus is trying to reach out and show His love to you but sometimes we’re too busy to notice or understand his love. Sometimes we forget to thank Jesus for his love and affection.

Pray this prayer

“Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me…. Heal me who is sick.”

If you, your friend or relative is sick, then pray this Prayer for the Sick with strong faith in the greatest physician, Jesus Christ of Nazreth. If you have faith, miracles will surely happen.

Have you ever forgot to  thank and praise him for the healing you received from him?

Have you ever experienced that your sickness and pain helped you to grow spiritually and realise the love of Jesus?

If yes, share your testimony with others, in comment below, which will help others to understand the love of Jesus and get his blessings and healing.

May Jesus Bless you and your family.