Event 8 – The Healing of the Leper

Matthew 8:2-4, Mark 1:40-45, Luke 5:12-16

^L While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell ^K on his knees, ^L with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

^K Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”

Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came ^K from everywhere ^L to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.