Luke 5: 12 16 Jesus Cleanses A Leper

Target year level: Year Nine

Scripture text

Introduction

The passage is located in the section of Luke’s Gospel that deals with the ministry of Jesus in Galilee (Lk 4:14 - 9:50).

The Gospel is the first of a two-part work, Luke-Acts. Luke-Acts is sometimes thought of as a novel in two parts. The Gospel gives an account of the life and mission of Jesus and the Acts of the Apostles tells the story of the rapid expansion of the early church. The two books were probably written in the latter decades of the first century.

For further information, see the Teacher Background information, Who wrote the Gospels and when?and the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Introduction to Luke.

World behind the text

Luke’s Gospel tells the story of Jesus’ public ministry, culminating in Jerusalem. The Acts of the Apostles continues the narrative of the Jesus Movement as it moves beyond its predominantly Jewish terrain to the wider Gentile, religiously, linguistically and culturally diverse Greco-Roman World, culminating in the proclamation of the Gospel by Paul in Rome.

In the passage, Jesus cleanses a leper, it is important to understand that in the ancient world, the poor lacked basic material necessities and so life was extremely tenuous and hazardous. This perilous situation was exacerbated for those who suffered from a disease such as leprosy. Such people were commonly among those minorities who were socially and religiously marginalised and at times actively persecuted. A further background factor in relation to Luke’s account of the cleansing of the leper is that many early Christians believed that Jesus Christ would soon return and the world would come to an end even in their own lifetime. Luke’s own orientation seems to be that Christians are in ‘for the long haul’ and therefore practical concerns such as caring for those who were suffering from diseases such as leprosy and who were thus poor and marginalised are to be a major concern of individual Christians and of church communities as a whole. For further detail about Jewish understanding of leprosy go to Jewish Encyclopaedia Leprosy.

World of the text

A number of prominent themes and emphases in Luke’s Gospel have a close connection with Luke 5:12-16. Michael Fallon heads his extended commentary on Luke 5:12-16 ‘Jesus heals a social outcast’. By choosing this heading, Fallon understands that a major emphasis in Luke’s Gospel is on caring for the poor and marginalised so that they may be freed from social and religious oppression. For further information go to Michael Fallon msc commentary on Luke 4:14 – 8:56 (pdf).

Luke 5:12-16 is one of many texts in Luke that focus on compassion, mercy, forgiveness, healing and liberation for the poor, the diseased and the marginalised. Some examples are Luke 4:18; 7:22; The Rich Man and Lazarus 16:19-31; Story of Zacchaeus 19:1-10.

Luke 5:12-16, dealing with the healing of the leper, has parallels in the other Synoptic Gospels (Mt 8:1-4 and Mk 1:40-45). The accounts of the three synoptics are similar, with Matthew and Luke drawing on Mark’s text. In comparison to the other synoptics, however, Luke reinforces his theme of the poor and the marginalised. Luke points to the absolutely abject situation of the man with leprosy having him ‘fall on his face’/’with his face to the ground’ (v. 12). Luke also emphasises the ‘many crowds cured of their diseases’ (v. 15) and the need for prayer in the midst of the overwhelming plight of suffering humanity (v. 16). For comparison of these parallel texts of Mt. 8:1-4; Mk.1:40-45 and Lk.5:12-16 go to the Synoptic Gospel Parallels.

World in front of the text

In a way, both our secular and religious media today are akin to the author of Luke-Acts in pointing to forms of disease, poverty, marginalisation, injustice and oppression in our contemporary world. In his Gospel as a whole, and in 5:12-16 in particular, Luke presents a compassionate Jesus, a man of prayer. Luke’s Jesus confronts the causes of poverty, marginalisation and injustice and acts to bring healing to those in distress. Such is the challenge for individual Christians and Christian communities in our time and our context.