Luke
5:12-16
The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50
3. The signs of the Messiah, 4:31-6:11
iii] The sign of the leper - Lord over sickness
SynopsisJesus' Galilean mission continues in both word and sign. In this episode, Jesus heals a man with leprosy when asked "if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus chooses to do so, but asks the leper to observe proper practice and go and show himself to a local priest to confirm that he is clean, and thus able to return to his community. This miracle only heightens the reports of Jesus' wonder-working ministry, and so prompts popular enthusiasm, so much so, that he is forced to withdraw into the countryside for down-time and prayer.
Teaching
The messianic age dawns with a word of authority as the messiah wills to cleanse those trapped in sickness unto death.
Issues
i] Context: See 4:31-44. This passage is the third episode in a section which deals with the acts of the Messiah, acts which reveal the nature of the messiah's authority, 4:31-6:11. The episodes are in the form of messianic signs which together reveal the simple truth, "he does what only God can do."
ii] Background: Leprosy / Hansen's disease was a greatly feared incurable disease. The disease starts with skin lesions, moving to loss of hair, loss of feeling, and rotting of flesh and bone. It was often confused with common ulceration or skin conditions, conditions confirmed by a local priest when the problem righted itself. Being contagious (all the synoptic gospels record the tradition of Jesus touching the leper), lepers were forced to live beyond the city bounds, so when Luke tells us that Jesus was en mia/ twn polewn, "in one of the towns" (Mark doesn't specify), he must have been on the outskirts of the town, cf., Leviticus 13-14. It is unclear whether the lepraV, "leprosy", is a skin disease or leprosy, either way, Jesus healed the man immediately.
iii] Structure: The sign of the leper:
A request for healing, v12;
The word of healing, v13;
Jesus' instruction, v14;
Jesus' popularity increases, v15-16.
iv] Interpretation:
Fitzmyer notes that this episode is a simple miracle-story of healing, in fact Taylor classes it as the perfect form of a miracle-story. The standout elements include the touch of Jesus, the nature of the leper's request ("If you are willing"), Jesus' statement "I so will", the immediacy of the healing, and Jesus' demand "Don't tell anyone."
Although the episode presents as a primary element of the apostolic tradition of Jesus' healing ministry, as recorded in Mark chapter 1, Evans notes Luke's interest in the healing of lepers, cf., 17:11-18, and his addition of "lepers are cleansed" to the Isaiah quotation, 7:22.
The episode focuses on the will of the messiah and his authority to carry out what he wills. Stein thinks that this fact is emphasised by Luke when he leaves out Jesus' emotions recorded in the Markan tradition. Jesus' determined will is what matters, not the fact that he felt sorrow for the man.
v] Synoptics:
See 3:1-20. All three gospels align, except that Matthew does not record Mark 1:45 / Luke 5:15-16. Alignment is particularly evident with regard to the memorable elements of the episode. It is in the introduction and conclusion where the main differences are found. Although it is usually held that Luke has followed Mark, both the alignment and differences in the record seem to indicate a common oral tradition. This is supported by the fact that at times, Mark and Luke agree against Matthew, and at other time, Matthew and Luke agree against Mark.
One interesting difference, found only in Mark, is the description of Jesus' emotion, his "being moved with compassion", RV. Luke is into the personal attributes of his subjects and so if he was working off Mark, it would be unlikely that he would leave this fact out. Added to this, Luke does not use Mark's embrimhsamenoV, "angrily charged [the leper]", and exebalen, "cast [him] out" - the words are somewhat strong, if not unfriendly.
Of course, the chronological alignment of Luke and Mark (and at times Matthew) supports the theory that Luke has used Mark, but then, both Mark and Luke may well follow a well-known chronology of Jesus' ministry, here his Galilean ministry. Matthew, on the other hand, is more concerned with theology than chronology.
Text - 5:12
A leper cleansed, v12-16: i] A request for healing, v12. Luke generalises the location, but presumably a town in Galilee, or more widely Palestine ("Judea", 4:44). A leper comes to Jesus, with Luke making the point that he is plhrohV lepraV, "full of leprosy." Luke is possibly saying that it is the real thing. The man's request is not necessarily pleading, begging, but edehqn certainly implies urgency. The request implies faith on the man's part, given that the healing is simply a matter of Jesus being willing to perform it, not whether he is able to perform it.
kai egeneto (gimomai) aor. "-" - and it became, happened. Transitional; see egeneto 1:8.
en tw/ + inf. "while" - in the [to be]. This construction introduces a temporal clause, contemporaneous time; "while, consequently." The construction can often be a touch causal as well as temporal.
twn polewn (iV ewV) gen. "of the towns" - [he in one] of the cities. The genitive is adjectival, partitive.
elpraV (a) gen. "leprosy" - [and behold a man was full] of leprosy. The genitive is adjectival, attributive, idiomatic / content, "filled full of leprosy" = "with full-blown leprosy"; "with leprosy all over him", Cassear, "with a mass of leprosy", Barclay.
idwn (oJraw) aor. part. "when he saw [Jesus]" - [but/and] having seen [jesus, having fallen upon face, he begged]. As with "having fallen", an attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to ask"; "he saw Jesus, fell on his face and asked / implored him saying / with these words." Usually treated as adverbial, temporal, with "having fallen" attendant on the verb "to ask", as NIV. The action of prostrating oneself expresses respect here, possibly even reverence. The use of the title "Lord", probably here with the sense "Sir", further emphasises respect. Note Matthew agrees with Luke on the use of the title.
autou gen. pro. "him" - him. Genitive of direct object after the verb "to ask of."
legwn (legw) pres. part. "-" - saying. Attendant circumstance participle, redundant, as NIV. As usual Culy treats it as adverbial, here instrumental, expressing means; "with these words", Cassirer; see legwn 4:35.
ean + subj. "if" - [lord] if, as the case may be [you may will then]. Introducing a third class conditional clause where the proposed condition has the possibility of coming true. The "if" does not express doubt in Jesus' ability to heal, but deference, ie., the leper is making a statement about Jesus' authority - "you are able to cleanse me, if you so desire"; "you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to", CEV.
kaqarisai (kaqarizw) aor. inf. "[me] clean" - [you are able] to cleanse [me]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to be able". Not declare clean, which is all the priest is able to do. The leper recognises Jesus' divine authority. "if you want to cure me, you can", Barclay.
v13
ii] The word of healing, v13. Jesus now breaks with convention, as well as hygiene rules, and touches the man, declaring that he is "willing" to heal him. Not only is Jesus able to heal him, he is willing to heal him. The statement "be cleansed" serves to underline, not only the complete nature of the healing, but of the leper's full inclusion in the covenant community - he no longer has to live beyond the camp, Lev.13:45-46. A priest can only declare a healed person cleansed / clean; Jesus makes a person clean.
ekteinaV (ekteinw) aor. part. "reached out" - [and] having stretched out [the hand he touched]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to touch." Touching a person infected with leprosy further demonstrates Jesus' power over the disease.
autou gen. pro. "the man" - him. Genitive of direct object after the verb "to touch."
legwn (legw) pres. part. "he said" - saying [i am willing, be cleansed]. The participle is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of his reaching out to the leper, "he stretched out his hand and touched him with the words", Moffatt.
euqewV adv. "[and] immediately" - [and] immediately [the leprosy went away]. Temporal adverb. All three accounts use this adverb to emphasise the effectiveness of Jesus word of authority.
ap (apo) + gen. "-" - from [him]. Expressing separation, "away from"; a stylistic repetition of the apo prefix of the verb aphlqen, "to go away from."
v14
iii] Jesus' instruction, v14. These verses do seem to imply that Jesus wants to keep the miracle a secret. Jesus may want to limit the problem of a discipleship driven by either wonderworking hysteria, or messianic fervour. Yet, it is more than likely that, at this point in his ministry, Jesus is openly displaying the signs of the coming kingdom. It is only later in his ministry, in the face of outright rejection, that Jesus resorts to parabolic riddles and muffled signs as an act of judgment on a stiff-necked people. So, Jesus tells the leper to go straight to the priest for the inspection of his body, rather than to dilly-dally with his friends and neighbours. Once the priest has declared him clean, the leper can then offer the appropriate sacrifice as "a testimony (witness) to them", ie., evidence to his neighbours (not the priest) that he is indeed "cured", even better, "cleansed" in the sight of God, and thus rightly included in God's covenant community.
autw/ dat. pro. "him" - [and he gave orders, commanded] him. Dative of direct object after the para prefix verb "to give orders to."
eipein (legw) aor. inf. "[don't] tell" - to tell [no one]. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of direct speech expressing what Jesus ordered.
alla "but" - but. Strong adversative standing in a counterpoint construction; "not ....., but ......"
apelqwn (apercomai) aor. part. "go" - having departed. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperative verb "to show"; "go and show yourself to the priest", ESV.
tw/ iJerei (uV ewV) dat. "to the priest" - [show yourself] to the priest. Dative of indirect object.
peri + gen. "for" - [and make an offering] about [the cleansing]. Here adverbial, reference / respect; "concerning you cleansing"; "and make an offering in token of your cleansing", Cassirer.
sou gen. pro. "your" - of you. The genitive is adjectival, possessive, or verbal, objective, "performed on you."
kaqwV "-" - as, just as [moses commanded]. Comparative; "in accordance with what was laid down by Moses", Cassirer.
eiV + acc. "as" - to = for [a testimony = evidence]. Here the preposition expresses purpose, "in order that"; "to prove to them that you really are cured", Barclay.
autoiV dat. pro. "to them" - to = for them. Dative of interest, advantage. An evidence to the people is likely, but possibly evidence to the priests, and by extension, to the people, so Thompson.
v15
iv] Jesus' popularity increases, v15-16. The introductory de is usually taken here as contrastive, "but", ie., the leper was commanded "to tell no one", "but .......", ie., he didn't do what Jesus told him to do and this resulted in the news of the messianic sign spreading far and wide, and a consequent explosion of messianic fervour. Yet, as indicated above, it is unlikely that Jesus wanted the leper to keep his healing secret. So, de here is transitional, introducing a step to a general description of Jesus' increasing popularity brought on by his messianic preaching and signs. Mark has the oJ exelqwn, "the one having gone out", doing the preaching - presumably the leper, although a somewhat overstated proposition. Luke corrects the Markan tradition by having o logoV, "the word", dihrceto, "spreading". The spread of the news is dramatic. Large crowds seek out Jesus to hear his words and experience his healing hand. Mark tells us that the crowds are so large that the local towns cannot contain them; Jesus is forced to stay in the countryside, and even then the people flock to him. Luke seems to imply the same situation, with Jesus driven into the countryside, but while there, he recuperates with regular prayer time. So, as with Mark, Luke tells us that Jesus' initial messianic ministry receives wide popular support. In the following three conflict stories, the hardening of Israel to Jesus and his logoV, "word / news", begins to take shape.
de "Yet" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the narrative; best left untranslated.
dihrceto (diercomai) imperf. "spread" - [but/and the word about him] was passing through, spreading [more]. The imperfect is probably being used to indicate background information, but possibly to emphasise durative aspect, "news about him kept spreading", CEV. "Now, more than ever, the news spread throughout Palestine."
kai "so that" - and. Possible with a consecutive sense; "and as a result ....."
akouein (akouw) pres. inf. "to hear" - [many = large crowds were gathering, assembling] to hear [him and to be healed]. As for "to be healed", this infinitive is adverbial, final, expressing purpose; "in order to hear him and be healed." "Huge crowds gathered to listen to him and to have their illnesses cured", Barclay.
apo + gen. "of" - from [the sicknesses, illnesses]. Expressing separation; "away from."
autwn gen. pro. "their" - of them. The genitive is adjectival, possessive, or verbal, subjective.
v16
h\n uJpocwrwn (uJopocwrew) pres. part. "[Jesus] often withdrew" - [but/and he] he was withdrawing [in the wilderness and was praying]. As with "praying", this present participle with the imperfect of the verb to-be forms an imperfect periphrastic construction, possibly emphasising aspect (eg., a regular practice), as NIV - often withdrew and was always spending time in prayer.
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