In Bible times leprosy was a greatly feared disease. Those who had leprosy were banished outside the camp in the time of Leviticus, or outside the town in the time of Jesus. In either era, those suffering from the disease also suffered from being cut off from contact with the rest of the community, and being required to wear rags, cover their faces, and cry out “unclean, unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45).

In our present era we carefully restrict the term “leprosy” to mean one specific malady, Hansen’s Disease. Within the ancient world the term included many kinds of infectious situations: itches, rashes, and even mildew all fell under the category of leprosy. There was a reason for this, as we will see; but first we want to take a moment to lament that there were many instances where people with other skin infections were misdiagnosed as being leprous, and suffered greatly as they were cast out of society.

Still, in a time where health and illness were not well understood, the prescribed process of inspection shows a cautious method of testing to try to discern whether the symptoms were innocuous or infectious (Leviticus 13:29-37). It’s important to notice the twofold goal of this effort. As long as the disease was present, there was quarantine to keep the disease from spreading; and if and when healing took place, there was a process so that those afflicted could be restored to normal life with their family. The text recognizes that “healing” required both curing the disease and also reintegration into society; this is why, in Jesus’ ministry of healing lepers, he then sent them to the priest so that they could go home once again (Mark 1:44, Luke 17:14, and elsewhere).

This material is another example where we today don’t do things ‘the way the Bible says,’ but where we can still learn important lessons. In this case we can see that leprosy functions as a symbol for the power of sin. Something might look to us as if it’s just a very minor blemish, hardly even worth noticing; but it has this terrible tendency to spread into other areas of our life, and to infect other people as well.

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It is our desire to live in your presence, O Lord: pure of heart, uninfected by the ravages of sin. But we are unclean, infected with sin. Help us, Lord. Cleanse our hearts. Grant us the wisdom to see the dangerous and spreading diseases in our souls, and the grace to wash them from our lives.

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