The Outcasts of Israel: The Lepers
The Outcasts of Israel [0:16]
We are turning our attention to the theme that makes the Gospel of Luke the favorite Gospel of a lot of people. Jesus ministering to the outcasts of Israel. Jesus and people who are on the fringe of society. Rejected by society. Minimalized. Excluded. Sometimes despised and pushed down. And some even excluded from the worship of God in the temple by the law of Moses itself.
People like who? People like tax collectors and prostitutes. Women and widows and the poor. The paralyzed, the blind, the lepers. Samaritans and the demon possessed. For me this is the most fascinating thing to study in the Gospel of Luke. Paul said in Romans: [B]e willing to associate with men of low position. (Rom. 12:16) People of low status. That is Jesus.
When the prophet Simeon held baby Jesus in his arms, he said to Joseph and Mary: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel.” (NIV, Luke 2:42)
And that is where we find Jesus in Luke: Helping the helpless. Lifting the lowly. Many in Israel will rise. Luke was a compassionate physician and he has this great focus in the Gospel of Luke and in Act on the compassion of Jesus and the church.
The Lepers [2:32]
So, we are going to begin with the lepers. The lepers were the lowest of the low. Two compassionate healings in the Gospel of Luke. A leper who came close to Jesus and asked him to make him “clean.” (Luke 5:12-14).) And ten lepers who stood at a distance and asked Jesus to have mercy on them. (Luke 17:11-19)
But before we get into this too deeply, we have to understand one thing about leprosy in the Old Testament. And in the Gospels. When we think of leprosy we think of what is known as Hansen’s disease. Hansen’s Disease is a horrific way to live. And a horrific way to die.
But we really don’t know that this disease called leprosy in the Old Testament and Gospels was. Scholars have studied the symptoms which are described in Leviticus 13 and they have suggested that leprosy could have been any number of skin diseases. It has been suggested that if you had psoriasis you would have been a leper. Or measles, or small pox, or scarlet fever. Or others. (Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentary on Leviticus 13". "Dr. Constable's Expository Notes". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/leviticus-13.html. 2012)
Did the ten lepers whom Jesus healed have something like measles or small pox? Or some common skin disease like psoriasis, which we have today? It is quite possible. If you have some kind of skin disease today, it is quite possible that you would have been a leper in Jesus’ day. You would have to show yourself to the priest. If he said you were a leper, you were a leper. And your social life and your religious life would be turned upside down. We will get to all of that later.
But before we can understand the miracles, we have to understand the lepers. If we only see the healing of a leper as Jesus compassionately healing a skin disease, we miss the spiritual symbolism of the miracle. Symbolism which reaches back to leprosy in the Old Testament. We have to begin in the Old Testament. So, let’s dive in.
Divine Punishment [5:27]
Lepers had this stigma that lepers were lepers because lepers were sinners. Not sinners like all men are sinners. But sinners like Moses’ sister Miriam. And Elisha’s servant Gehazi. And King Uzziah. The Lord struck Miriam, Gehazi and Uzziah with leprosy because of egregious, sinful acts.
Miriam [6:09] (Num. 12:1-15)
In Numbers Miriam and Aaron. I am sure you know the story. Aaron and Moses are brothers and Miriam is their sister. Moses married a Cushite woman. And Miriam and Aaron had a problem with that. They began to talk about Moses. And they challenged Moses’ authority: “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has not he also not spoken through us as well?” (NIV, Num. 12:2)
And when the Lord heard this he summoned Miriam and Aaron and Moses. The Lord came down out of the pillar that led Israel by day and night. The Lord stood at the entrance to the tabernacle. Moses stood before the Lord. Aaron stood. Miriam stood.
The Lord reminded Miriam and Aaron that Moses is my prophet. I speak to him “face to face, clearly and not in riddles. Why weren’t you afraid to speak against my servant?”
The Lord’s anger burned against them. And when the cloud went back up, Miriam was covered with leprosy. Some kind of a skin disease. And Aaron cried to Moses for mercy. Mercy for Miriam. “Please Lord, ...do not let her be like a stillborn infant...with its flesh half eaten away.”
Miriam was like a stillborn infant. You find this connection between leprosy and death. Stillborn. And the rabbis and the Jews thought of leprosy as “living death!”
Well, Moses cried to the Lord for mercy. Fortunately for Miriam, the Lord healed her. And she was confined outside of the camp. For seven days she had to be separated from the camp. Separated from the people. But more importantly, separated from the tabernacle.
And we see this throughout the Old Testament. The leper is separated from the people to some extent. The leper is separated from the tabernacle, separated from the temple.
Gehazi [9:23] (2 Kings 5)
And much later in history there was the case of Gehazi. Naaman went to the king of Israel with gifts of silver and gold and clothing. And a letter asking the king of Israel to send Elisha the prophet to heal Naaman of his leprosy. And the king of Israel was upset. Listen to what he said: “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send me someone to be cured of leprosy?” (NIV, 2 Kgs 5:7).
Once again leprosy is like death. Healing a leper would be like raising the dead.
And Elisha told the king to send for Naaman. I will heal him and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel. (5:8) Lepers were only healed by the word of the Lord, as in the case of Miriam. Or by the word of a prophet, like Elisha. And isn’t that going to tell us something about Jesus?
Well, Elisha did heal Naaman. Naaman was told to dip, to baptize, immerse, in the Jordan River seven times. And he did dip. And he was healed.
Naaman was so grateful that he tried to give Elisha a gift. But Elisha refused the gift. And so Naaman took off.
But Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, followed after Naaman. To get gifts for himself. He lied to Naaman and was given two talents of silver and two sets of clothing.
So Elisha struck Gehazi and said: “Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” (NIV, 5:27)
So Gehazi went from Elisha. His skin was leprous. His skin was white as snow. (5:27)
So there is our second egregious sin and our second case of leprosy. And did you notice that Naaman’s leprosy became Gehazi’s leprosy.
King Uzziah [12:33] (2 Chron. 26:16-23; also see 2 Kg. 15:5ff.)
And later in history we have King Uzziah. We come to the sin of King Uzziah (also called Azariah). Uzziah became king at the very young age of sixteen. His father Amaziah was killed in battle and Uzziah came to the throne. Very successful king. Fought the Philistines. Ammonites brought him tribute. His fame spread all the way to Egypt. Life is good for Amaziah. Successful as long as he sought the Lord.
But then Uzziah was filled with pride. He decided he wanted to enter the temple, enter the holy place, and burn the incense on the altar. But only priests could do that. Eighty-one priests followed Uzziah into the holy place. Begging him not to burn the incense. “Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful. The Lord will not honor you!”
Well he became enraged. And the Lord struck him with leprosy on the forehead. And everyone ran out of the holy place. Uzziah and the priests. And Uzziah had leprosy for the rest of his life. He had to move out of the palace and live alone in a house away from the city. He was banned from the temple. And that is the way it was until Uzziah died.
And even after death. When Uzziah was buried Chronicles says it was “near his predecessors.” (2 Chron. 26:23). He was buried in the cemetery of the kings––but his sepulcher was at a distance. Away from the other kings. Why? “Because they said, ‘He had leprosy.’” Even in death, Uzziah was excluded.
Egregious sin. Miriam––Gehazi––and now Uzziah.
Stigma of Leprosy [15:33]
It is easy to see why lepers were viewed as sinners by their fellow Jews. Reasoning like this: The Lord struck three sinners with leprosy––therefore all lepers are sinners.
The Lord judged three sinners with leprosy––therefore all lepers have been judged by the Lord. All of this comes down to Jesus healing the lepers.
Lepers are guilty of some specific sin––like Miriam and Gehazi and Uzziah.
Lepers are separated from the people, outside the camp––like Miriam.
Lepers are separated from the Lord, banned from the temple––like Uzziah.
Lepers can be healed by a prophet––like Naaman.
Lepers can be healed by a word from the Lord––like Miriam.
Leprosy is a living death.
Healing leprosy is as hard as raising the dead.
They are healed only by a prophet or a direct word from the Lord.
So, we will end where we began: If we only see the healing of a leper as Jesus compassionately healing a disease, we miss the spiritual symbolism. If all you see when Jesus heals a leper is Jesus power to heal a disease, you are missing a lot. This is going to take a while, but we will get to all of that.
