It’s so much bigger than we thought! This story of the leper healed is in Mark 1:40-44. It is full of how Jesus approached healing and how he does so today.

The story occurs at the start of Jesus’ ministry and so in Mark’s mind, is a healing that sets out Jesus’ incredible vision for healing. You know the story of the leper healed. Jesus touches the leper and heals him. Then sends him to the priest to check his healing.

Incredibly Jesus heals four things:

1.The leprosy

This is in fact not just a healing of the disease but a creative miracle. Leprosy affects a person’s nerves so that the leper doesn’t feel pain. As a result when lepers worked in the fields, or used a knife, they would feel no pain if they cut themselves accidently. Hence, leper’s often lacked fingers, suffered bad injuries or became disfigured. So these fingers and disfigurements would have regrown!!

2.His relationship with God

Jesus is much more interested than simply healing us of physical diseases. He wants to reconnect us with God and an intimate friendship with Him.

Because of the leper’s disease he was not allowed to worship in the temple, as he was unclean. That is why Jesus said to him, “Be clean”, so that he would know that he could now enter the amazing presence of God.

3.His sense of rejection

Jesus touches him. This was an astonishing thing to do. Why?

• Because he had a contagious disease and Jesus wasn’t afraid of catching it. Indeed he didn’t catch it but healed the leprosy instead!
• Because no-one touched lepers or went near them for fear of catching it and because they were deemed unclean by the Jewish law.

So lepers experienced much rejection as a result of this. So when Jesus touched him, full of compassion, he healed the leper of his rejection also. He communicated and transmitted the powerful love of God for him.

4.His disconnection from the community

Jesus tells him to go to see the priest. Why? He was already healed! Because the law stated that if a person was healed, they needed to go to the priest to confirm this, so that they could be restored to their family and community.

Jesus is passionately interested in our relationships with our families and others and healing any disconnect.

So in this story of the leper healed, Jesus healed four things at once, in one short encounter with him.

Conclusions

• So when we ask Jesus for healing, let’s ask him to heal all aspects of our life. Let’s have a huge vision of God’s healing for us.
• Also when we pray for others we must ask Jesus to heal the whole person.
• Also ensure first that the person’s relationship with God is restored first.

See also “Prayer books: 5 of the best and most practical books”

For more on how to get ready for a divine visitation, see my book, “GRACE OUTPOURINGS: 21 Days Revival Devotional“