Thanks for advances in modern medicine and germ theory, most of us have never experienced leprosy. However, our culture knows a thing or twenty about shame; thus, it is not hard for us to imagine the stigma and subsequent shame that lepers lived under in the ancient world. In biblical times, lepers had to mark their foreheads so everyone knew to stand aloof from them. As if that were not enough, they were also required to cry out, “Unclean” when walking in public. One cannot help reading Matthew’s account of Jesus healing a leper with an empathetic lens. Today, as I was studying Matthew 8: 1-4, I was blown away by the courageous vulnerability and risking faith of the unnamed leper.

Lessons from the Leper’s Approach

To be a leper willing to approach anyone seems like a massive feat in and of itself. Imagine all the terrible, traumatic experiences a leper would have associated with past attempts at intimacy or friendship. I bet that leper’s amygdala recorded hundreds of looks of disgust, fear, and contempt from past attempts at approach. Yet, when we meet him in Matthew’s gospel, he approaches Jesus himself just when word of Jesus’s authority and power were reaching their height. One would think that the “great crowds” mentioned by Matthew would be a strong deterrent for a leper’s approach. But not so our leper. He came anyway.

“And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8: 2).

The Greek captures his approach with more clarity and power than the English translation. The leper came (proserchomia) and knelt (proskuneo) before Jesus. Proserchomai is translated “to approach” or “to draw near,” both of which are powerful acts of courageous faith for one scarred by rejection and shaped by the distance of others. The leper very likely had a payload of poor past experiences that he had to push through to even draw near to Jesus. Yet, he presented himself vulnerably before the one whom he rightly recognized as kurios (master; lord; one with absolute rights and authority).

Not only did he present himself, he prostrated himself before this kurios. The Greek word translated knelt (proskuneo) paints a powerful picture of one paying homage to another by laying prostrate and kissing his feet. Putting these two words together, we begin to see in technicolor the faith of this leper. First, he approached him, then he submitted himself vulnerably before him.

I have never had the extreme experiences of a leper, but I know the fear of overcoming past pain and shame enough to approach someone in full awareness of the places of weakness and vulnerability you bring with you. It takes courage, faith, and an awareness of the character of Jesus to bring our real selves before him with real desire.

The leper doesn’t actually ask Jesus anything. He comes with a strong theological statement: “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (Matthew 4:2). Here, again, the Greek word makes the story come alive. The Greek word thelo, translated “will,” literally means “to desire”, “to wish, or “to intend.” There are other Greek words for “will” that have less heart and affection to them, but the leper used thelo which connotes a deep desire, even a delight.

The leper essentially says, “If it’s your pleasure, you can make me clean.” What a gutsy, theologically-informed patient is our leper friend.

Jewish minds knew well the Psalms, so this leper likely grew up hearing and maybe even memorizing “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). The leper was no fool; he recognized in Jesus an authority on earth who had power and authority to do whatever pleased him.

And so he came, bowed, and vulnerably brought his desire before Jesus. When is the last time you tried that in prayer?

Lessons from Jesus’s Response

While I learned from the leper’s approach, I wept at Jesus’s response.

“And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean” (Matthew 4:3).

The leper stretched out of his comfort zone to approach Jesus vulnerably; Jesus responded in kind. He stretched out his hand and touched the untouchable. Both his touch and his words were signs of healing and reassurance. Once again, the Greek enlivens this short, powerful moment of encounter. The word ekteino, translated “stretched,” can also be translated “to extend,” “to reach,” or “to cast forth as an anchor.”

Jesus extended himself toward the one who approached him with vulnerable, raw faith. He stretched forth to meet him. He delighted to reassure him of his willingness and power.

When we vulnerably come to Jesus in trust and submission, we can trust that he will stretch himself to meet us. Even when it is not his will to meet our request with the same response he gave the leper, we can be assured that he greets us with welcome. He hears our requests; he notices and names our desire, even when our desires don’t align with his.

When we stretch our faith by bringing our real selves into his presence, he stretches towards us. When we extend trembling hands with our fears or needs or desires, he extends a love-scarred hand to receive them (even when he seems to say no).

We have a purview that the leper didn’t have when he approached Jesus. We live on the other side of the Cross. As such, we know that Jesus vulnerably laid his desires out before his father in Gethsemane but ultimately chose the Father’s will that we might come into his presence freely, boldly, and regularly with great familiarity and reverence (Hebrews 4: 14-16).

I don’t know about you, but I need courage to come (and keep coming) to the presence of the Lord. I needed the lesson learned from a leper today.