Part 5: Touching a Metzorah

History has chosen to look favorably upon the healed leper for his courageous display of faith. However, there is still more to the original story than what initially meets the eye.

Yeshua Touches a Metzorah

Then Yeshua put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Yeshua said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.

– Matthew 3:3-4

Unlike the various impurities outlined in Leviticus chs. 12 & 15, ṣāraʻaṯ is not a natural occurrence.[1] The irony of Yeshua’s encounter with the leper is the predicament that may have made him a metzora in the first place. Yeshua’s warning to the cleansed man is an opportunity for him to begin life a new on the right foot: “See that you tell no one.” Presumptively, one might say that the man contracted ṣāraʻaṯ through an unbridled tongue and/or subversive behavior.[2] At any rate, after his healing, he displays the latter when he neglects the very first charge Yeshua gives him:

And He [Yeshua] strictly warned[3] him and sent him away at once… Instead, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Yeshua could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction (Mk. 1:43, 45).

By the end of his ministry, Yeshua had run short of tolerance for those who would openly receive his healing but shrug his kingdom message:[4] “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes (Mat. 11:21).”

History has chosen to look favorably upon the healed leper for his courageous display of faith, and rightfully so: “Sir, if thou art willing, thou art able to cleans me…”[5] However, there is still more to the original story than what initially meets the eye. There is little doubt that the man’s faith made him well, but what often escapes the casual reader are the social dynamics and legal ramifications that undergird these stories.

Yeshua’s recorded encounters with lepers and people of other infirmities share a legal and social tension that challenges both trained and casual readers. The Epistles bear testimony to Yeshua’ sinless life,[6] yet at the center of each healing seems to be a discussion that calls into question his deference to Torah. According to all three gospel accounts,[7] when Yeshua healed the leper, he reached out to touch him. Since severe forms of טומאה are communicable by touch,[8] and since Yeshua just as easily could have healed at a distance,[9] some argue that Yeshua willfully violated the purity laws. The Moody Bible Commentary explains: “When Yeshua touched him, He was formally violating Lev. 5:3; but the Law was to benefit people (Mk. 2:27), and to help someone was no real infringement of the Law.”[10]

Moody’s interpretation, and others like it, are problematic on multiple levels: First, we have demonstrated that contracting טומאה in and of itself is not a violation of Torah. Impurity is only problematic when the sanctity of the Temple is compromised (Lev. 15:31) or when טומאה is contracted by transgression of a negative commandment (e.g, Lev. 18:1-30). There are many occasions where it is natural and necessary for an individual to knowingly contract טומאה.[11] In the days of the Temple, the focus on purity would not have been as magnified in the Galilee as it was in Jerusalem, where encountering frequent traffic to the Temple was the norm. The fact is that many pilgrims contracted טומאה on their ascent to worship in Jerusalem so that mikveh and the sprinkling of the ashes of the Red Heifer were a regular occurrence in the hours preceding the festivals.[12]

Second, Leviticus 5:3 does not purport that one who contracts טומאה is in violation of Torah. Rather, the phrase וְנֶעְלַם מִמֶּנּוּ וְהוּא־יָדַע “but it was hidden from him then he knew,” speaks of someone who knew of his impurity, but in a moment of forgetfulness either ate sacred food or entered the sanctuary.[13] Yeshua’s case is not a matter negligence, neither was he likely to encounter Terumah[14] in the northern Galilee region. Lastly and parenthetically – goodwill towards men is not always a warrant to set aside the commandments especially when human life is not in any real danger and transgression can be avoided. Hypothetically, if Yeshua were in violation of a negative precept, then Moody’s justification of Pikuach Nefesh (saving a life) would be misapplied.[15] The point is, Yeshua did not violate Lev. 5:3, so the argument is moot.

Despite this clarification, there remains so much confusion in Christian and secular scholarship surrounding the leper and the ramifications of his impurity. Questions surrounding his quarantine and isolation abound due to the dramatic description of his required behavior in vv. 45-46. Failure to understand the social enigma or the rationale of the leper’s isolation has led to misguided and erroneous conclusions about Yeshua’ relationship to the purity laws.

The core of the gospel message is that of a servant healer who takes on our infirmities and bears our diseases (Mat. 8:17; Heb. 9:28). The question of Yeshua touching the leper is a rather silly conundrum: As followers of Messiah, we profess the merit of Yeshua on the basis of his sinless life, not a misconceived requirement of his perpetual state of ritual purity. Yeshua contracted טומאה in his lifetime, that is certain (Heb. 2:14-18). He could not be fully human otherwise, lest his atonement through death be made insufficient. In truth, there couldn’t be a more gospel worthy message than a Yeshua who reaches out to heal the leper while contracting טומאה in the process. As we have learned, at worse his state of purity would be suspended until evening upon ablution of body and garments. As he descended the slopes of the northern shore of Galilee that day, there was little risk involved for Yeshua being so far removed from the Temple. His gesture is the ultimate display of compassion.

It is noteworthy that in Luke’s gospel, the author mentions a second encounter that Yeshua has with a community of lepers (Lk. 17:11-19). The same author who records Yeshua touching a leper in 5:13 is careful to note that Yeshua maintained a distance between the ten lepers when ascending to Jerusalem (17:12). The circumstantial dichotomy between these two events are obvious: In the synoptic accounts of Matthew (8:1-4), Mark (1:40-45), and Luke (5:12-16), Yeshua touches the leper on an ordinary day with no intent to ascend to Jerusalem. Without contracting צָרַעַת, all that is required of him is to wash his clothes and immerse in the Galilee - the matter is so common and inconsequential that there is no need for Luke to address the issue. Whereas, in the story of Yeshua and the 10 lepers (Lk. 17:11-19), Yeshua is traveling for one of the pilgrim festivals; thus, Luke makes special note of what might otherwise seem to be an insignificant detail to modern readers. In both accounts, Yeshua demonstrates his deference to the Torah by instructing the lepers to travel to Jerusalem, show themselves to the priests, and to present the offerings that Moses required (Lk. 5:14; 17:14). If Yeshua was so faithful to the Law to the extent of what he required of the lepers, was not his own integrity of the sort that demanded his own submission to the Law in every regard? 

Conclusion:

One of the topics we have stressed at length is the culpability of the leper and God’s warning that he should repent of his wrong. When Yeshua healed the leper, he did so because he was moved to compassion; but he also admonished him sternly to remain tight lipped on the matter and to fulfill his covenant obligation immediately. Was Yeshua’s deliberate countenance an indication of the leper’s true spiritual malady? Or was the leper of the sort that would have needed to be coerced to travel to Jerusalem and show himself to the kohen? We may never know. But one thing appears to be certain: According to the Torah, leprosy was given as a divine signal for the victim to correct wayward behavior, and for the leper to utilize his social isolation for the elevation of his soul that he may be restored to the covenant community.

To this point, there is one topic that should we fail to mention, we would be truly remised; and that is the issue of the leper’s cleansing. While a full treatise is clearly beyond the scope of this paper, there is an important aspect of the leper’s purification that testifies to his unique dependance on, and relationship to the officiating priest: At the end of the leper’s process of purification, the Torah prescribes him a ceremony that is only given to the High Priest as part of his consecration and inauguration:

“Some of the oil left in his palm shall be put by the priest on the ridge of the right ear of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot — over the blood of the guilt offering (Lev. 14:17; cf. Ex. 29:20).”

In Exodus Ch. 29, the anointing of the right ear, thumb, and foot teaches that a kohen must dedicate all of his faculties to the service of God. As part of his inauguration, the kohen consecrates his member that hears, his hand that acts, and his feet that run to do the avodah of God on behalf of the people of Israel.[16] The fact that a leper shares this distinct ceremony with a Priest is indicative of what God always intended ṣāraʻaṯ to achieve: The leper’s rededication and rebirth as a restored covenant member of Israel.

According to the Torah, this miraculous teaching method is one that only had efficacy in the Land of Israel (Lev. 14:34) and when there was a class of officiating Priests in the Holy Temple (Lev. 13:2; 14:1-33). The Rambam notes in Hilchot Tzaraat that the Torah would seem to present the three main varieties of ṣāraʻaṯ in reverse order: First, God mercifully afflicts a person’s property (leprosy of the home) and then his garments; then, if the victim does not draw the proper conclusion and repent, he is stricken by an affliction on his body.[17] Those who refute the Rambam on the point of historical accuracy miss the point of the message entirely: Leprosy was given by God as a gift, as indicated by the words ונתתי נגע צרעת (14:34), to aid Israel in their spiritual and covenantal mission to be a light to the nations. Yeshua made the same point in reference to Namaan, and in so doing, brought an indictment against his people (Lk. 4:27). The same lesson is brought out in Luke Ch. 17 when Yeshua encounters the ten lepers: “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? (Lk. 17:17-18).”

The laws of ṣāraʻaṯ have so much to teach us about God and the nature of his kingdom. They present customs and circumstance that inform us about types of behaviors that are toxic to God’s covenant community, and how God’s love for us is such that He gives clear signals that we may discern our shortcomings. The laws of purity teach us that contaminants cannot coexist in the realm of the Holy, and that decisive action must be taken when the integrity of the body is compromised. The leper’s declaration, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ twice reminds us of the alienating effects of sin, and the death it brings to ourselves and fellow members of the community. The lack of a prescribed cure reminds us that healing comes directly from God; and the encounters that Yeshua has with the leper demonstrate the depth of God’s compassion and the extent He is willing see our cleansing – in so much as He is willing to take on our disease and absorbs our impurites. Finally, the restoration ceremony reminds us of the unique relationship we have with the High Priest, and the necessity for us to humble ourselves before God just as the cleansed leper submitted himself to the kohen. Truly, the case of the metzora is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, “so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”

“What is his name?” [That is the question the Talmud asks concerning the identity of the Messiah]. And the rabbis say: “The leper of the house of Rabi is his name, as it is stated: ‘Indeed our illnesses he did bear and our pains he endured; yet we did esteem him injured, stricken by God, and afflicted’ (Isa. 53:4).”

– Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a

Footnotes:

[1] As we have shown, the Torah clearly makes a distinction between צָרַעַת and natural, curable conditions (e.g., Lev. 13: 6, 8, 23, 39).

[2] See footnote 63.

[3] Greek, ἐμβριμάομαι, 1) to be moved with anger, to admonish sternly (Strong’s G1690). Yeshua’ directive was not a suggestion.

[4] Matthew 4:17 – “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

[5] Matthew 8:2 YLT. This statement can also be taken negatively as a form of flattery. Buttrick & Arthur interpret as follows: “He speaks to Yeshua as if he were a wonder-worker whom he wishes to please with compliments (ibid.).” They cite a similar expression in the Epictetus Discourses: “Why then do you flatter the physician? Why do you say, ‘If you are willing, sir, I shall get well?” (The Discourses of Epictetus III. 10. 14-15).

[6] “He who knew no sin was counted as sin in order that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).” See others, 1 Peter 2:22; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5.

[7] Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45, and Luke 5:12-16.

[8] Impurity from a corpse (Num. 19:11, 16), whoever touches something made impure by a corpse (Lev. 5:13; Num. 19:22), whoever touches a zav/zavah or anything they touch (Lev. 15), etc.

[9] See Luke 17:11-14 where Yeshua heals ten lepers from afar.

[10] Rydelnik et. al. 2014, 1466.

[11] E.g., tending to the deceased in burial or comforting a contaminated mourner (e.g., Lev. 21:2). These and others are given remedies by the Torah in which purity can be restored (Num. 19:11-22). Others include marital intercourse, childbirth, and other natural impurities.

[12] Everyone going up to Jerusalem would immerse as they ascended the Temple Mount. This is well attested in modern archaeology – Of the approximate 700 mikvehs found in Israel, more than 200 have been excavated in Jerusalem alone. The highest concentration of mikvehs are at the southern steps of the Temple Mount and can be visited at today’s Open Air Archaeological Museum. In Temple times, when people gathered in the marketplace, there was still uncertainty as to whether a casual acquaintance was טמא. To be sure, immersion before ascension was practical and necessary. Admittedly, the focus on purity far exceeded practical norms in the first century. As the Talmud recounts, “the ritual purity of utensils was of more concern to them than the shedding of blood (Yoma 23a).”

[13] See Rashi to Lev. 5:2; Also, Talmud, Shevuot 14b.

[14] Food or gifts that are dedicated or derive sanctity from the Temple.

[15] A Jewish legal principle that the preservation of human life overrides any commandment. The Torah says: “You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live… (Lev. 18:5).” The Talmud interprets, “[It says that he shall] live by them, and not that he die by them (Yoma 85b).”

[16] Rabbi Hirsch to Ex. 29:20.

[17] Ibid., Hilchot Tumat Tzara’at 16:10.