In the beginning, God created all things, and He created them good. After the Fall of humanity, God promised to redeem all of creation and overturn the works of Satan. The work of redemption of man who was cursed and deserving of death thus begun, the story of God’s salvation continued to unfold. Leprosy, an incurable disease leading to death, was a result of the curse of the Fall.
God’s willingness to hear the cry of His people and bring healing and restoration to them is seen throughout the history of Israel in many ways. Exodus 3:7-8 reveals that God heard the cry of His chosen people and sought to deliver them from their slavery in Egypt. This same compassion is shown by Christ in the cleansing of the leper. Remarkably, in this passage in Exodus God says, “I know their sorrows” (Ex. 3:7).
One cannot help but make a connection to Isaiah 53. The Suffering Servant is called “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (3). The following verses say that He took our sorrows and griefs upon Himself, bore our transgressions, and was punished for our sin. In reference back to the levitical laws, Jesus was willing to take upon Himself the uncleanness of sinners by allowing the leper to come to him, and by touching the leper.
This cleansing of the leper also intimates Jesus’ desire to cleanse the hearts of His people. David, an archetype of Jesus, pled with God to create within him a clean heart, and to purge him with hyssop (in reference to the application of blood from the Passover rituals) because of his sin. Moreover, David mentions that sacrifices were not what God was looking for, but a contrite heart (Ps. 51). This internal washing that is signified in the cleansing of the leper is referred to in other places of Scripture as well. In Ezekiel 36 God says “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols” (v. 25); God works more than outward cleansing in His people.
Mark specifically mentions this later in His gospel in Jesus’ discourse with the Pharisees (chapter 7). Jesus tells them specifically that what is in the heart of man is what makes the man unclean. He calls them to purify their hearts. James reiterates this call in his letter: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (4:8, emphasis mine). Further, Jesus’ interaction with the leper is exemplary evidence for the truth found in the first half of this same verse: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
The reality of Jesus’ willingness to cleanse His people climaxed when He took our uncleanness upon Himself on the cross. Paul makes this direct connection in Galatians 3:13, noting that Christ became a curse for us because, quoting Deuteronomy 21:23, all who hung on a tree were cursed.
In a wonderful flourish of few words, Paul makes a direct connection in this same passage to the kingdom purposes of God. Christ’s agenda was to usher in the new covenant by fulfilling the old. This new covenant, according to Jeremiah 29-31 was a covenant of the heart. Paul states that the reason Christ became a curse for is so that we might be partakers of the blessings promised to Abraham and receive the promise of the Spirit of God in us. In order for us to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, we first need to be cleansed. God promised to place both a new heart as well as His Spirit in us (Ez. 36:26-7). As John wrote, it is the blood of the Son of God that cleanses us from all sin and unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9). The final outworking of this kingdom cleansing will be evident as we sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb, clothed in fine linen, clean and bright.
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