Did Jesus touch the leper before or after He healed him?

[Pastor_Bob]

Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. (KJV)

I was recently preaching a message how that Jesus, seeing this leper, touched him before He healed him because the man was suffering emotionally and not just physically. After the service, a man came to me and said, "You know that Jesus healed the leper before He ever touched him, don't you? If Jesus would have touched the leper, He would have violated the Law."

That certainly is not supported in the text, but maybe I'm missing something?

 

[JonShaff]

Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. (KJV)

I was recently preaching a message how that Jesus, seeing this leper, touched him before He healed him because the man was suffering emotionally and not just physically. After the service, a man came to me and said, "You know that Jesus healed the leper before He ever touched him, don't you? If Jesus would have touched the leper, He would have violated the Law."

That certainly is not supported in the text, but maybe I'm missing something?

Holy Vessels make the unholy person clean when it touches them...i'll find the verse shortly...

 

[Jerome]

Puzzling, isn't it, when people think they know better than Scripture.

Reminds me of this howler from Calvin:

The Bible: Genesis 29
11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.
12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother...

Calvin: Commentaries on the first book of Moses, called Genesis
"The order of events, however, is inverted in the narration of Moses; for Jacob did not kiss Rachel till he had informed her that he was her relative."

 

[Pastor_Bob]

Haggai 2:11 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. (KJV)

Is this the passage you were thinking of JonShaff?

 

[canadyjd]

It wouldn't have been against the law to touch the man. Normally, a person would be considered ceremonially unclean if they touched a leper. I don't see it making Jesus "unclean".

 

[JonShaff]

Haggai 2:11 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. (KJV)

Is this the passage you were thinking of JonShaff?

Thanks for looking, but it wasn't the one i was thinking of. It has to do with one of the sanctuary vessels touching someone and making them clean.

 

[atpollard]

If Jesus would have touched the leper, He would have violated the Law."

• [Lev 15:7 NASB] 7 'Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
• [Num 19:11 NASB] 11 'The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days.

Touching a leper is not a sin. It merely rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean (unable to enter the Temple or offer a sacrifice) until sunset. Even touching a corpse, like several OT prophets did, only renders one ceremonially unclean for seven days.

 

[JonShaff]

Boom...found it lol

Exodus 29:37
Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

 

[Deacon]

• [Lev 15:7 NASB] 7 'Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
• [Num 19:11 NASB] 11 'The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days.

Touching a leper is not a sin. It merely rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean (unable to enter the Temple or offer a sacrifice) until sunset. Even touching a corpse, like several OT prophets did, only renders one ceremonially unclean for seven days.

Leviticus 14:18
The process of declaring a leper clean involves a priest who touches the one who is yet to be declared clean.

Rob

 

[atpollard]

Leviticus 14:18
The process of declaring a leper clean involves a priest who touches the one who is yet to be declared clean.

Rob

Sort of a Yes and No thing:

• [Lev 14:1-7 NLT] 1 And the LORD said to Moses, 2 "The following instructions are for those seeking ceremonial purification from a skin disease. Those who have been healed must be brought to the priest, 3 who will examine them at a place outside the camp. If the priest finds that someone has been healed of a serious skin disease, 4 he will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. 5 The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. 6 He will take the live bird, the cedar stick, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop branch, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 7 The priest will then sprinkle the blood of the dead bird seven times on the person being purified of the skin disease. When the priest has purified the person, he will release the live bird in the open field to fly away.

Step 1 begins after the leper has been healed and the Priest examines (looks) them outside the camp. The healed person being purified is sprinkled.

• [Lev 14:8-9 NLT] 8 "The persons being purified must then wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean and may return to the camp. However, they must remain outside their tents for seven days. 9 On the seventh day they must again shave all the hair from their heads, including the hair of the beard and eyebrows. They must also wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean.

Step 2: the healed person bathes and washes their clothes, becoming 'ceremonially clean' and able to enter camp, but not a tent, for seven days.

• [Lev 14:10-14 NLT] 10 "On the eighth day each person being purified must bring two male lambs and a one-year-old female lamb, all with no defects, along with a grain offering of six quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a cup of olive oil. 11 Then the officiating priest will present that person for purification, along with the offerings, before the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 12 The priest will take one of the male lambs and the olive oil and present them as a guilt offering, lifting them up as a special offering before the LORD. 13 He will then slaughter the male lamb in the sacred area where sin offerings and burnt offerings are slaughtered. As with the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest. It is a most holy offering. 14 The priest will then take some of the blood of the guilt offering and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

Step 3: On day eight, the 'ceremonially clean' person makes a guilt offering and the Priest touches him with blood from the offering.

• [Lev 14:15-18 NLT] 15 "Then the priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand. 16 He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the LORD. 17 The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified. 18 The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the LORD.

Step 4: The Priest touches the 'ceremonially clean' man and purifies him with olive oil.

• [Lev 14:19-20 NLT] 19 "Then the priest must present the sin offering to purify the person who was cured of the skin disease. After that, the priest will slaughter the burnt offering 20 and offer it on the altar along with the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person who was healed, and the person will be ceremonially clean.

Step 5: The Priest makes a sin offering for the person healed and they return to a normal life.

 

[atpollard]

I REALLY liked @JonShaff observation about anything unclean that touches the altar becomes clean. The altar is not defiled by the unclean, it sanctifies all it touches. How much more would that apply to God (the Son) than it applies to God's altar!

 

[JonShaff]

I REALLY liked @JonShaff observation about anything unclean that touches the altar becomes clean. The altar is not defiled by the unclean, it sanctifies all it touches. How much more would that apply to God (the Son) than it applies to God's altar!

Amen! That's how i understood it (concerning our Lord). To be fair, some translations do not read like that ( quoted the ESV). But i feel like that's the main premise of Leviticus's theme--God is HOLY, and only HE can make/declare someone clean/Holy/Pure. and Because Christ is SO Pure, Righteous, Clean and Holy, we cannot defile Him with our touch, rather, He makes us Holy,Righteous, Clean, Pure with HIS Touch--Giving us Access into the Throne Room of God, the Most Holy Place!

 

[kyredneck]

If Jesus would have touched the leper, He would have violated the Law

So? What? The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.

1 At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat.
2 But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him;
4 how he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?
6 But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath. Mt 12

 

[agedman]

Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. (KJV)

I was recently preaching a message how that Jesus, seeing this leper, touched him before He healed him because the man was suffering emotionally and not just physically. After the service, a man came to me and said, "You know that Jesus healed the leper before He ever touched him, don't you? If Jesus would have touched the leper, He would have violated the Law."

That certainly is not supported in the text, but maybe I'm missing something?

One can become confused if they place the aspect of remaining pure and right as one who also kept the whole law. The purity of Christ that allowed Him to be that perfect sacrifice for all sin was not subject to such that could be marred by the health of another. Rather such sacrifice was determined upon the health, purity, and lack of scare or soar of the sacrifice. The sacrificial lamb was certainly born of one unholy (Marry) yet was not unholy by contact with the unholy.

Another aspect concerns the law. The Lord stated that he did not come as being subjected under or to the law but one who by Devine right could fulfill the law especially in the aspect(s) concerning the atonement.

As one who fulfilled the law and was not ever subjected under the law (for there was never any unrighteousness found in Him), then the aspects of what was clean and unclean could not bring consequences upon Him.

The Scriptures are clear, and the time line is as follows:
The man appeared and kneeled before the Lord making an appeal.
The Lord was demonstratively compassionate - meaning that He touched the man.
The Lord while in action of touching said, "Of course I will, be healed."

The touch and voice were together, at the same time.

Such as we commonly great those visiting the assembly will at the same time extend a hand and say, "Good morning. It is good that you came, today. My name is ...." while touching (handshaking) that person. The hand is extended while the greeting is continuous and therefore the exact moment healing took place is not really important.

The importance in this event is that the appearance of the man and the plea of the man were met by the compassionate response of the Lord. The account demonstrates that foundational submission which leads to the compassionate response from the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is with all believers who come to the Lord in their putrid, stink, and filth and honestly seek from their Lord the relief and peace. He will never withhold from such. The Lord is abundantly compassionate to those who have nothing but their life, strength, soul, and mind to offer and do so in full honesty and truth.

However, let one never come with fluff and puff and expect anything from the Lord.

 

[Yeshua1]

It wouldn't have been against the law to touch the man. Normally, a person would be considered ceremonially unclean if they touched a leper. I don't see it making Jesus "unclean".

Can God be unlclean, or would His direct touch for that other party to now be cleansed?

 

[agedman]

It is irresponsible for one to appoint that our Lord could be polluted had he broken the law. As both the law giver and the fulfiller, He had no obligation to be subjected to that law. He was, in effect, above the law.

Else then when the gentiles scourged, built the cross, plated the thorns, robed, and beat the nails into the wood, or any other number of unclean violations, He would be unfit.

It would have been tough for the Lord to not be "polluted" by gentile sweat, and the oozing blood not mixed with prior crucifixion blood.

And it is a silly way of thinking that a mere leper could inflict such a disease of body and spirit upon the Lord Jesus Christ.