Matthew 8:3

‘And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will. Be you made clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.'

We too should pause and worship as we consider this sentence and weigh up its significance. For in it we see compassion, and mercy, and thoughtfulness, and willingness to consider the most lowly of men, and on top of that power beyond expression. It summarises in its brief scope a manifestation of unique tenderness, together with a miracle of outstanding proportions.

‘He stretched forth His hand and touched him.' We can be sure that everyone else was backing off and keeping well away from this grotesque man, and they were no doubt waiting for Jesus to draw back and bid the man remember Who and what He was. No doubt the man was expecting it as well. And then the unbelievable happened. To the amazement of all present the Prophet actually stepped towards him and touched him. Apart from fellow-lepers no one had touched him since the day that his skin-disease had been confirmed. He must have been simply astounded. And no doubt all who followed Jesus were horrified. Not being aware of the depth of feeling about such cases we cannot appreciate how horrified they would have been. They would be as turned to stone.

Here we have the first reference in Matthew to Jesus' touch of power. It will be repeated a number of times in this passage. But in no other case will it produce the shock that it produced here. It was just not done to touch an obviously skin-diseased person. It was almost like touching the dead, and totally destructive of ritual purity.

And then Jesus said, “I will. Be clean.' We note that Jesus did not reply in the way that others would have expected. He did not say, ‘You mean if God wills.' He accepted that the man had seen what others had not seen, that all depended on His will. And so He spoke His will, and said ‘Be clean.' The voice that had once said, “Let light be” (Genesis 1:2), now said ‘Be clean'. It was the voice of the Creator, Who alone could restore a man from such a condition. Following the touch of power came the word of power, His powerful creative word (Hebrews 1:3).

A healing like this had happened once before to a man who had been in such a condition for a long time, but there the prophet had kept away from the skin-diseased man and had not touched him. And he had bid him go and wash in the Jordan, leaving the cure in God's hands (2 Kings 5:1). But a greater than Elisha was here, One Who could Himself directly remove uncleanness. It is a reminder that Jesus can make all men clean when they come to Him (John 13:10; 1 John 1:7).

‘And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.' The change was apparent to all, and none moreso than the man himself. We will not try to put into words what he thought. It was beyond words. The whole of his awful past had rolled away. The pain of years had fallen away. He was clean. All traces of his dreadful disease had gone. Once more he would be able to live and associate with other people, because of the One Who ‘Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases' (Matthew 8:17). For he was cleansed and healed. But notice the word, ‘cleansed'. He was also clean through and through. The great barrier that had been between him and the rest of mankind was gone, and for the first time for many years he would once more be able to enter the house of God and mingle with other worshippers.

The question may arise as to why Jesus was able to touch the leper and not Himself become unclean. The answer lies within the result of the act itself. The Cleanser could not be rendered clean by the uncleanness, for by His touch the uncleanness was removed. You did not argue about cleanness with the Cleanser. He removed uncleanness. As a result of His touch and His word it no longer existed. That is why in Jesus all things were rendered clean to those who are His.